The University of Texas Permian Basin’s PetroBowl Team competed against a number of universities at a national competition in Los Angeles. At the annual Society of Petroleum Engineers PetroBowl Competition, teams compete against one another in a fast-paced quiz match on petroleum, engineering, and geology facts.
UTPB finished third out of five teams, narrowly missing the playoffs by just one win.
“We lost by just one point against University of Houston and lost against Texas A&M. Both schools only sent their PH.D. students, while all of us from UTPB were undergraduates. However, we won against Penn State in our group!” said junior petroleum engineering student Agnes Sjursaether, the communications and outreach chair for the UTPB Society of Petroleum Engineers student chapter.
During the competition students answer questions similar to a game of jeopardy. They practice twice a week with question pools created by SPE to study.
“It's a great way to network and learn more about the industry. It's also very fun meeting other petroleum engineering students across North America as there aren't very many of us,” said Sjursaether.
“I'm passionate about this because I feel that petroleum often gets a bad rep. We're here to show that we care about energy and the environment. The industry is constantly changing and it will be around for a while.”
Sjursaether says the team has helped him to be a better student.
“I am learning so much outside of my classes and I also get to meet other students across the nation that might be my colleague one day,” said Sjursaether.
UTPB junior petroleum engineering student Bryan Martinez says he joined the team because he was interested in the opportunity to compete with students from across North America.
“The connections I have made at the competition with fellow peers and industry leaders who share the same passion for oil and gas have helped expand my social network,” said Martinez.
Martinez is the vice president of the SPE chapter at UTPB, a role that he says has helped him make connections with business professionals in the industry.
“SPE has also helped bridge the gap between what we learn in class and what happens in the field through the field trips we take every Friday that show us real-world applications,” said Martinez.
The team is open to all students; however, they are looking specifically for more engineers and geologists that would be interested in competing with them.
