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School of Engineering

Graduate MS in Petroleum Engineering

Requirements

The candidate for the degree of Master of Science in Petroleum Engineering must demonstrate proficiency in petroleum engineering by passing the following courses:

  • PETE 2201 Recovery of Oil by Waterflooding (3 cr.)
  • PETE 2202 Petroleum Drilling and Production (3 cr.)
  • PETE 2203 Well Testing and Pressure Transient Analysis (3 cr.)
  • PETE 2204 Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes (3 cr.)
  • PETE 2205* Reservoir Simulation 1 (3 cr.)
  • PETE 2207* Mathematical Modeling in Porous Media (3 cr.)
  • PETE 2210 PVT and Rock Properties (3 cr.)
  • PETE 2214 Advanced Enhanced Oil Recovery (3 cr.)
  • GEOL 1413 Well Logging (3 cr.)

Two advanced mathematics courses

* Optional or on an ad hoc basis

In addition to these courses the student must satisfactorily complete at least an additional six graduate-level credits in engineering or science. Six credits of MS thesis are also required for graduation.

Teaching Practicum

All MS students are required to fulfill a one-term teaching obligation during their course of study. No course registration required.

Graduate Seminar

All full-time students must attend graduate seminar during the fall and spring terms and register for ChE 3001 Graduate Seminar.

MS Research Methodology

In addition to the courses listed above, all students are required to register for the 1-credit course CHE 2980: MS Research Methodology each term until graduation. Students in this course are evaluated on their performance in the research laboratory.

MS Final Examination (Defense)

A final review (oral defense) of the thesis must be conducted by the thesis committee in order to determine the acceptability of the thesis. Upon discussions with the research advisor that the MS thesis is done, the student forms this MS thesis committee in consultation with the advisor which must consist of the MS research advisor, at least one other faculty member from the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and at least one additional faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh. The committee may also include members external to the University.

The student should discuss with the advisor who would be best to be on this committee based on their expertise. The research advisor serves as the committee chair. The student should set up a time for the MS thesis exam allowing approximately two hours duration in consult with the committee. The student should give the committee copies of the written thesis at least three weeks before the defense unless the members agree to accept it closer to the time of the exam.

For this exam, the student makes a presentation—usually about 20-30 minutes in length, if uninterrupted—covering the main conclusions of the dissertation research. The organization of the presentation may vary somewhat but often includes the following:

  • Introduction and Background
  • Research Objectives
  • Results and Discussion
  • Conclusions

The committee may interrupt the presentation to ask questions or request a clarification. At the end of the presentation, the committee chair asks each committee member in turn if they have additional questions which they usually do. The committee may ask questions based on the material in the thesis and in fields related to the research. At the end of the exam, the student and all visitors are asked to leave and the committee discusses the results of the exam and votes to pass or fail. If a student passes, the student finalizes the thesis taking into account all requests by the committee for changes and receives the MS. If the student fails, the student can repeat the exam once.

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