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Page 1: UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA · University of Louisiana at Lafayette Petroleum Engineering Computer Lab Upgrade Dear STEP Grant Committee: We as the leaders of the organizations of the

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UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA

AT LAFAYETTE

STEP Committee

Technology Fee Application

Petroleum Engineering Computer Lab Upgrade

to Meet the Requirements of Simulation in

Curriculum and Professional Development

Title

Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari & Dr. Fathi Boukadi

Name of Submitter

(Faculty or Staff Only)

Petroleum Engineering

Organization

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Title: Petroleum Engineering Computer Lab Upgrade to Meet

the Requirements of Simulation in Curriculum and

Professional Development

Date: 7/16/2018

Name (Contact Person): Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari

Address: Madison Hall 222E

Phone Number: 337-482-6115 Email: [email protected]

Department/College/Org: Petroleum Engineering/ Engineering

Abstract:

When the oil and gas industry first began, it was based around people who were willing to get their

hands dirty. Over the last 150 years, this industry has become more innovative and efficient to

provide the energy demands of the world in a safer, more cost efficient and environmental-friendly

manner. There are numerous types of computer software packages which can model and simulate

situations which operate the oil and gas industry. In our department’s computer lab, we have been

fortunate enough to get several of these costly packages donated so students can be proficient in them

when they make it into industry. Unfortunately, we cannot run these software packages properly

because the computers do not meet the minimum specifications that the packages require. This is a

problem for teaching our students to learn the skills effectively.

Based on recent survey, 81% of the petroleum engineering students feel that the current hardware in

PETE computer lab does not meet the requirements for their curriculum and professional

development for the simulation of oil and gas operations. On behalf of petroleum engineering

department (both faculty and students), we are proposing that we need a major computer lab upgrade

in order to run the provided programs properly and contribute to the professional development of our

students. Below, we clearly elaborate the current situation of the PETE computer lab to replace 30

outdated computers with 30 modern workstations to address this immediate need for petroleum

engineering students.

Purpose for Grant and Impact on Student Body as a Whole:

The purpose of this grant proposal is to provide computers to our petroleum engineering students to

educate them with the computers skills required for their curriculum and professional development.

The major problem that is faced with the current computers is that they do not provide enough RAM

to run the petroleum engineering softwares, they are slow or they are broken. The computers we have

are equipped with either 4 or 8 GB of RAM. This amount does not meet the minimum requirements

of the software packages that we have installed on them and makes running them a great deal slower

(See Attachment #1). Also, the monitors we have are out of date and cause issues with display which

hinder the programs maximum performance.

One of the PIs of this grant, Dr. Mokhtari, recently purchased the COMSOL class kit software (with

more than $9,000 budget from VP research) to advance the computer skills in the college of

engineering. However, the efficiency of offered course on using COMSOL was low due to failed or

slow efficiency of working with computers in the PETE computer lab. Additionally, Dr. Mokhtari and

his colleagues recently received a grant with total funding of more than 9 million dollars to study

Tuscaloosa Marine Shale (TMS) in Louisiana and Mississippi. There is budget for the purchase of

several advanced computers for research through the TMS project and they will be located in

graduate research office in Madison 234. For educational purposes, however, the STEP grant is

required to upgrade the undergraduate computer lab (Madison Hall Room 132), so undergraduate

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students can also benefit from this significant grant since the PIs will attempt to translate the research

results to educational curriculum in undergraduate level for this huge shale oil resource in our

backyard in the border with Mississippi.

Because of the mentioned computer system issues, we are requesting to receive the funds to purchase

(60) Dell 22 inch Monitors-P22117H (double monitors to enhance simulation/learning efficiency),

(60) C2G 10ft Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort Adapter Cables, and (30) Precision Workstation

T3420 SFF computers. (See Attachment #2).

Projected Lifetime

Since this model of computer is considered medium to high grade, the lifetime of them can be

projected to be at least 8 years. With proper maintenance (five year warranty is included in the quote)

and room conditions they can last over 10 years.

People Responsible

This document has been produced as a result of teamwork between faculty (Dr. Mokhtari and Dr.

Boukadi) and several motivated students (Archie Metoyer, Jr, Shubhankar Shrey, Philip Wortman,

and Anh Le). Archie Metoyer took the lead in running the survey and preparing this document with

the supervision of faculty and input from other students. Philip Wortman used his computer skills to

set the computer packages based on the requirements for running PETE softwares, Shubhankar Shrey

surveyed the status of current computers in the PETE lab and Anh Le assisted in running the survey.

If the grant is accepted, Dr. Mehdi Mokhtari will take the lead in the purchase of computers and will

be responsible for the maintenance of computer lab He will consult with the leaders of student

associations in this regard.

Justification

Upgrading the Petroleum Engineering computer lab will majorly impact our student body by

providing professional computers to simulate and model situations related to the industry. Whichever

side of the industry our students decide to be a part of (Reservoir/Geomechanics, Drilling,

Completions, and Production), they will have to be proficient in operating computer software and will

need professional computers for that use. Starting their junior year, our students will take classes that

consist of learning the software packages. These classes include Phase Behavior, Drilling

Engineering, Petrophysics, and Reservoir Fluid Flow (See Attachment #3). Once they reach their

senior year they will work on a yearlong senior design project. This project consists of students

working as a team of engineers to create well plans, risk analysis, and overall operations for

producing oil and gas. Every software that our department offers will be required to be used

thoroughly. These courses are very important to the quality of engineers we produce in our

department and developing them into professionals prepared to enter the field. The enhancement of

PETE computer skills is also emphasized in the several past PETE industry advisory board meetings.

If we do not upgrade these computers soon, we will no longer to be able to give our students these

resources to learn and become skilled in and it can jeopardize our ABET accreditation. To portray

how important this is to our students, the leaders (Presidents and Vice Presidents) of the five student

associations in our department has put together a formal letter. In this letter, students explain why we

need a computer lab upgrade and how it will help them in their educational goals. There is also a

survey that portrays how dissatisfied our students are with the computer lab we currently have (See

Attachment #4).

Previously Funded Grants

There are no previous STEP funding awarded to the department of Petroleum Engineering.

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Budget Proposal

1. Equipment $54,180.00 (Quote Attached)

2. Software $

3. Supplies $

4. Maintenance $

5. Personnel $

6. Other $

TOTAL: $54,180.00

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Attachments:

1) Specifications for the current computer and the software used in the Petroleum Engi-

neering Computer Lab

Figure 1: Specifications for most of the current computers in the lab (4 GB)

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Figure 2: Specifications for the remaining of the current computers in the lab (8 GB)

Figure 3: Minimum system requirements for Schlumberger software Petrel.

Figure 4: Minimum system requirements for COMSOL.

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2) Quote for the requested equipment

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3) Flow Chart for Petroleum Engineering Curriculum

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4) Letter by student organizations along with detailed survey

Monday July 16, 2018

STEP Grant Committee

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Petroleum Engineering Computer Lab Upgrade

Dear STEP Grant Committee:

We as the leaders of the organizations of the Petroleum Engineering department feel that we

are in major need of an improved computer lab. As Petroleum Engineers, there are a number of

software that are essential in building the skills of simulating and modeling. As students, practicing

and mastering these software are vital to becoming professionals that are getting equipped to enter the

oil and gas industry. In saying that the software is highly professional, it requires high performance

machines to run them properly. As a department we currently have access to a few of the software,

but we unfortunately do not have a proper facility to operate these programs and maximum

performance. The problems we face with our current computer lab include: insufficient storage, bad

quality hardware, and major lagging. These problems make it quite difficult to fully build the skills

and become specialized with the programs. All in all, we want to better our department and build the

best engineers around. So in order to do this we are requesting the funds to receive an improved

computer lab.

A survey of ten questions was put together to display that it is not only us leaders who feel

that our computer lab needs improvement. The survey was sent to all Petroleum Engineering

Undergraduate and Graduate students. Of the students who responded, the results show that 35% feel

dissatisfied and 46% feel very dissatisfied with the current computer lab. This means that 81% of the

Petroleum Engineering students feel that they are not getting the skills that they should. The rest of

the detailed results are provided on the pages below. Thanks for your time and we hope you consider

our concerns.

Sincerely,

Brian Boatman (SPWLA Vice President)

Damon Emmitt (IADC Vice President)

Kassie Comeaux (AADE Vice President)

Coby Authement (Pi Epsilon Tau Vice President)

Mitch McElderry (SPE Vice President)

Archie Metoyer, Jr (SPWLA President)

Colby Williford (IADC President)

Allison Morency (AADE President/Pi Epsilon Tau President)

Bryan Holmgren (SPE President)

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5) Survey of Petroleum Engineering Students Sent to All PETE students from July 2, 2018-July

6, 2018. ( The survey was conducted by Archie Metoyer, the president of SPWLA student chap-

ter)

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