Marquez Hall - A Vision for the Future!!
Noble Energy Donates $500,000 Toward New Petroleum Engineering Building
A Message from Dr. Ramona Graves
In the last five months I have thought of the ancient Chinese curse often - “May you live in interesting times.” On Friday, May 11, 5:00 pm Craig stepped aside as the Colorado School of Mines Petroleum Engineering Department Head and a great vacuum was formed. On Friday, May 11, 5:01 pm I was sucked into the vacuum and became INTERIM Department Head. Our newest Research Faculty member, Dr. Bill Scoggins (also CSM President), wonders why I always capitalize INTERIM. I agreed to this position only for the time it takes to organize a search party/committee and find a new leader who can move the department into the next generation. We are advertizing but we need your help. I know the right person is out there and one of you knows who it is. If you have any suggestions on who you think the right person would be, please let me know - rgraves@mines.edu. You all know industry is changing, the students are changing, research into frontier areas is more important than ever, and retention of faculty is becoming more of an issue, so I strongly believe we need a new leader who can bring new creative ideas on how to move the department forward.
These are interesting times! Undergraduate enrollment is ~450 (the largest since the late 70’s, early 80’s), graduate student enrollment is ~90 (largest ever), our research volume per year is approximately $2MM and rising (largest ever), and our faculty number of 10 has been about constant for the last 20 years. This year we have made one great hire, Dr. Manika Prasad, and we presently have two offers out for new professors. We are concurrently searching for an additional three faculty members. This is academia so the hiring process is quite onerous, and although there are many qualified applicants, the worldwide demand or faculty is far outpacing the supply. Again, I ask for you help in suggesting persons you think might be a good fit for our faculty team.
Even with our high enrollments we are continuing our tradition of having outstanding field sessions for our students. Last summer we divided our sophomore field session, PEGN 315, into three trips with about 40 students in each group. This meant coordinating 4 faculty, 2 administrative assistants, 1 lab coordinator and 8 graduate students. Bill Eustes took one group to tour the Rocky Mountain, Erdal Ozkan went to the Gulf Coast, and Mark Miller did a California tour. A good, safe experience was had by all, thanks in large part due to the support of you alumni and your companies.
Jennifer Miskimins took 90 seniors to Massadona, PEGN 316. Her team included Donna Anderson, Research Professor in Geology, Linda Battalora, 6 PE TA’s and 2 GE TA’s. Due in large part to Jennifer’s outstanding organizational skills, a good, safe experience was also had by all. Next year, since our camp at Massadona cannot house 130 students, we will be having two, two-week sessions back-to-back.
Our new petroleum engineering building, Marquez Hall (Thanks, Tim, for the fantastic gift to kick off this project!), is going to be a truly magnificent facility for both teaching and conducting research. The design incorporates visualization capabilities, new undergraduate teaching labs, space for additional 40 computer stations, new “wet” research labs, along with space for our ever growing research centers. And on top of it all, it will be a green building. Working with the architects has been fun and challenging. For those of you who have designed and built a house, imaging designing and building a 57,000 square foot house with input from 10 spouses and 20 in-laws.
On a personal note, I’m doing ok. This summer I went on an 18 day safari in Zimbabwe, Botswana, and South Africa. My safari partners included Geri Thompson, Bob Thompson’s wife, and Katy, his daughter. I do still miss him! We really had a unique experience in that we “tent-camped” through the bush. I am so glad I did it, but I will never camp through Africa again!
My son, Jacob, was staying at my house watching dogs, plants, and mail while I was in Africa. On my return, he was cleaning my gutters and fell off the roof. He will recover but it will be a long process. He broke his back and crushed his hip. He was forced (by me the mom) to move back home because he was in a body cast for 4 months. He has just been given the ok to start walking and building up his strength. The doctors haven’t ruled out a hip replacement, but that should be in the future. Daughter Lacey has moved to New York to attend grad school. Last I heard she will be studying archeology!
Finally, please join us at the SPE ATCE alumni reception on Tuesday evening in Anaheim. This year the focus will be recognition of Craig and his service to CSM and the Petroleum Engineering Department. I am sure everyone reading this newsletter has been impacted by Craig’s 27+ years of leadership of the department. Dr. Bill Scoggins, CSM President and PE Research Faculty, will be there to help us celebrate. Everyone has a “Van Kirk story” so come and share them. You do not have to attend ATCE for you and your spouse to join in the celebration since the event will be held at the Anaheim Hilton (see inside for details). The CSM Foundation is hosting the event.
I am so thankful for the support and commitment of the faculty, staff, industry, alumni, and my kids. The continued success of the Petroleum Engineering Department is the ultimate example of team work at its finest.