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Proceedings of the Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

Educating the Energy Engineer of 2030

Prof. Michael M. Ohadi

The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Abstract
Most recent research in engineering education explores the ways current engineering education practices must change to meet the needs of a twenty-first-century workforce and marketplace. Because of the complexities of current and future technologies, engineering professionals and engineering educators must increasingly adopt a systems approach. Furthermore, due to the “customerization” of engineering— the consumer-driven market for technological goods—engineers need to become accustomed to working with customers in a more public role than engineers have traditionally played. Engineers will also need to be more closely involved in public policy decisions, as technology and public policy are becoming increasingly intertwined.

Within the energy industry, demand for skillful engineers is higher than ever. Regardless of which scenario, the plenty-of-oil or the peak-oil scenario, becomes reality, it is clear that we have reached an era where the “black gold” is simply too precious to be burned. In the years to come we will see it increasingly used to produce value-added products, such as plastics and derivatives. Moreover, as “easy” oil continues to be less available, more-advanced technologies are required to find the oil and to best use it with minimal adverse impact on the environment. Twenty-first-century energy engineering education must prepare students to face these new challenges. This talk, therefore, considers possible reforms for engineering education, the unique needs of and challenges for energy engineering in general, and in the Middle East in particular.




 

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