AADE donation to support petroleum engineering program at University of Louisiana at Lafayette
The National Chapter of the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE) and the Lafayette Chapter have donated more than $76,500 to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL) to support its Petroleum Engineering Department Equipment Fund.
The Petroleum Engineering Department Equipment Fund at UL is used to support the Mud Lab, which offers petroleum engineering students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience beyond classroom instruction.
The AADE Lafayette Chapter donated $38,934 to purchase equipment, such as laboratory mixers, hot plates, hand-held balances, a Garrett gas train, a permeability plugging tester, interval timers, centrifuges and other required supplies. The AADE National Chapter donated $37,638 to purchase gas porosimeters.
“Providing opportunities to experience real-world applications makes these students better prepared to step into the workforce after graduation,” said Derrick Daigle, an AADE Lafayette Chapter steering committee member and Lafayette Chapter representative . “There is a huge difference between reading results from a textbook and actually using a permeability plugging tester in the lab and seeing how it works first-hand.”
The AADE Lafayette Chapter and its membership were involved in setting up the Benny Manual Mud Lab at UL. The Mud Lab was named to honor Benny Manual, a former AADE board member who worked to expand engineering education efforts during his life.
“AADE chapters are dedicated to education and investing in the future of the oil and gas industry,” AADE President Alden Sonnier said. “For the Lafayette Chapter, we feel that focusing on providing opportunities for engineering students at state universities is equally important as sharing trends, insights and new technologies at our monthly general membership meetings.”
Dr Fathi Boukadi of UL’s Petroleum Engineering Department attended a recent AADE Lafayette Chapter meeting to accept the donation and offer his thanks to the board and the AADE members for their continued support.