Petroleum Engineering Education

While the attention of all engineering branches is focused today on changesand improvements in the several curricula, we are concerned here with the manyquestions arising in industry and college concerning the preparation for thepetroleum engineering profession. The succession of problems confronting thepetroleum engineer demands a degree of versatility not ordinarily encounteredin other professions. As a consequence, the student cannot acquire mastery ofall the several engineering branches represented in field practice, and as analternative, he has learned to appreciate the value of thorough training in thebasic or fundamental sciences as a preliminary foundation for professionalwork. While our attention is directed primarily to the training of engineers ineducational institutions, it is necessary that the ultimate education of theprofessional engineer be kept in mind. It is apparent that his success as anengineer is limited not only by his educational and job experience, but by hisnative endowments: mentality, personality and health. The engineer's lack ofjob experiences often proves as much a handicap as the lack of adequate collegetraining. If the final product proves to be satisfactory, both industry andtechnical institutions are to be congratulated. However, if the product isfound wanting, the one most responsible should be apprehended. Fitness for Profession For the most part, students of engineering colleges have had their interestsin applied science awakened at a relatively early age. Many of them enteredcollege as a convenient means of acquiring a technical education, butundoubtedly would have had better prospects in a shorter program offered byinstitutions of noncollege grade. The activating motive of practical interestis also strong in students suitable for college training, but in many cases anintellectual interest must be awakened in order that it may survivegraduation. T.P. 1312