Professor Iraj Ershaghi, who worked with the Viterbi School's Distance Education Network to put the world's first Master's degree program in Smart Oil Fields Technology online, is the winner of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Education Service Award. He will receive the award at a ceremony at the organization's Sept. 25-27 convention in San Antonio, TX.

The award "recognizes outstanding effort and achievement in the area of continuing education and professional development of petroleum engineers," according to SPE spokesperson Margaret Watson.

"We were proud to be able to offer online the SOFT degree, the very first masters degree program of its kind anywhere," said Kelly Goulis, executive director of DEN.

DEN enabled Occidental Petroleum senior reservoice engineer Ray Ambrose to be among the first to earn the new credential while continuing on the job full time at the Elk Hills field near Bakersfield, California.

Ershaghi holds the Viterbi School's Omar B. Milligan Chair and is director of the Petroleum Engineering Program in the School's Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. He created the new SOFT curriculum after years of research in the subject.

Conventional oil recovery programs, he noted in an op-ed piece May 2, 2004 in the Los Angeles Times, often leave more than two third the discovered oil in an oilfield. He believes that new technologies can drastically improve this. "In our current climate we must do better, and I believe these methods will increasingly enable it."

In 2003, his longtime research on ways to use information technology to (among other things)accurately map oil deposits in three dimensions received a major boost when Chevron agreed to partner with USC to create the Center for Interactive Smart Oilfield Technologies (CiSOFT). Ershaghi serves as co-director CiSOFT.

In addition to an ambitious research program, CiSOFT also established an educational component, creating a set of new courses.

At the Viterbi School commencement ceremonies May 12, Ambrose and five other students — Nelia Jafroodi, Golnaz Alipour Kivi, Reza Rastegar, Moghadam Moadab, and Ehsan Tajer — received the first-ever degrees in the discipline.

The SOFT program is in addition to the Mork department's longstanding other offerings in Petroleum Engineering. In addition to Ershaghi's work at the Viterbi School and CiSOFT, he is also director of the West Coast Petroleum Technology Transfer Council.

 

SPE's Watson underlined the importance of Ershaghi's work.  "Continuing education is necessary throughout one’s career in order to keep pace with the march of technology and science. Here, continuing education is defined as teaching aimed at petroleum engineers who have already completed undergraduate or graduate degrees, but who seek professional development through topical courses and seminars. The importance of the CE Award is demonstrated by issuance to only select individuals who have contributed heavily to continuing education of petroleum engineers through either teaching of courses/workshops, establishment of curriculum, or service to the continuing education community."

 

The Society of Petroleum Engineers' mission is to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge concerning the exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources, and related technologies for the public benefit; and to provide opportunities for professionals to enhance their technical and professional competence.