Roommate issues…..

wow…I never imagined I would ever concern myself with such trivial affairs till date! But alas, things change, and here I am thinking of a possible grad life which brings with it the issue of shared accommodation and room-mate!! I was fortunate enough to get very friendly and understanding room-mates when I was in my college! But I might not be that lucky in grad-school!!! The experience I talk about here can be either the best or quite possibly, one of the worst we ever have in our lives…. Thus it is extremely important that all possible issues need to be sorted out before hand and a proper understanding needs to be developed!! I was going through Texas A&M website and saw this interesting article which I am reproducing here……It is quite comprehensive and a good start for all of us!!!

Remember…You are your Roommate’s Roommate!

Your roommate may not be a mirror image of yourself but remember that roommates do not have to be best friends. It is not necessary to share every aspect of college living together. In fact, learning to tolerate each other’s differences, without infringing on one another’s freedoms can be a valuable part of your education.

Good intentions do not always lead to good relationships! But, how do you sit down with someone you have known for years or with someone you have just met and attempt to discuss the expectations for the variety of situations that arise when you live together? This handout was designed to ease the getting acquainted process, as roommates. Although some of the questions may seem trivial at first, explore the answers with each other honestly and avoid the temptation to gloss over the differences.

(It is expected of us that we sit and talk with our prospective roommates and clear up any issues. The talking process turns into a very valuable learning process as well)

1. Introducing Myself: The Basics
Even though you may have talked about the basics, it is best to start at the very beginning, so take the initiative and jump in. Tell about yourself here before launching into all the other questions:

1. My full name…
2. Where my hometown is…
3. What my high school was like…and college if u are a grad student!! 
4. How many brothers and sisters I have – their names and ages…
5. What kind of neighborhood I grew up in (city, suburb, farm ( , etc.)…
6. How old I am and when my birthday is…
7. What I am majoring in…
8. Why I came to that specific university…

2. Preferences and Habits
Now that you know the basics about each other, move into some of the more serious areas. One person should answer every question in this section and then give the other a chance to ask for clarification. Next, the other person should answer every question in this section.

1. When I like to sleep and how many hours I need
2. What I have in the way of friends here
3. How important it is for things to be neat and clean
4. How I feel about my possessions – like what is okay for you to borrow or use and what things I prefer not to have others touch
5. The grades I hope to earn this year and how important that is to me
6. What my study habits probably will be like this term
7. Some habits of mine that it might be important for you to know about
8. What I like to spend money on when I have some
9. What my health is like most of the time and what I like to do for exercise
10. How I feel about living away from home
11. How I feel about having guests over to our home
12. What kinds of extracurricular activities I want to get involved in

3. About My Emotional Style
If you realize that you’ve been skipping questions or joking around, think about why. Make an effort to remain sincere and honest, and continue on.

The purpose of these questions is to help you learn some of your similarities and differences; do not be afraid to note some differences among yourselves – this is what makes us individuals.

1. Something that is likely to annoy me…
2. Something that will cheer me up when I’m down…
3. Something that can get me tense and uptight…
4. Times when I would prefer to be left alone…
5. How I feel about conflict (it might be helpful to think of past situations you have been in and how you have resolved them)…

4. About My Personal Values
When you are sharing reactions in this section, make an effort to be specific. Mention specific behaviors. Be open and honest.

Later, while you’re living together, if your values begin to change, remember this handout. Try talking out the issues again using your communication skills of listening, being specific, being open, honest, and considerate.

1. How do I feel about drugs and drinking… . 
2. Which aspects of my social life are important to me…
3. What my religious values are…
4. What other people seem to think are some important traits of mine (like parents or friends)…
5. What it is like for me to go out and make friends…
6. Things I feel roommates should do together – include activities such as: cleaning, grocery shopping, eating, campus activities…
7. How I feel about overnight guests in our home…
8. How I feel about parties and socializing…
9. What I want to do with my freedom away from home…

5. Conclusion
In conclusion, you should talk over the following topics to discover your points of agreement.

1. Something I like about you is…
2. It appears to me that an important similarity between us is…
3. I think an important difference between us is…
4. I think we might have to compromise on…

 

This hand out is given to all tamu freshers as a tool to try and get to know their roommates better!!! I hope this can be utilized by others as well and would help sort out issues!! I have deliberately removed a few points which I thought were completely irrelevant in the present context or which were too tamu specific!!!

Source: http://studentlife.tamu.edu/

1. Petroleum Engineering

My reason for taking up Petroleum Engineering first up has been simply a manifestation of my own selfishness ………………. …..However, be assured that I would come out with similar articles on all major engineering disciplines in the near future!!

 

Despite the recent instability in oil prices resulting from the latest Iraqi crisis and now the OPEC issues, the long-term outlook for employment in petroleum engineering is as strong as ever. Historically, petroleum engineers have been in short supply in the marketplace. “Today, there aren’t enough of us to go around,” proclaims Dr. Craig Van Kirk, professor and head of the petroleum engineering department at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. “The job market is excellent, salaries are the highest among all engineering fields, and oil and service companies are looking over the long haul to determine their staffing needs.”With average starting salaries hovering around the $50,000-a-year mark for BS students who can look out for fruitful careers ahead for motivation. They can also share the excitement of the industry with veterans like Van Kirk, who as a student, industry professional and now educator, has been immersed in the field for more than 25 years.

IMPORTANT BUT OFTEN OVERLOOKED DISCIPLINE
“It’s an interesting field that is so important internationally, as well as to the economic health of the U.S.,” notes Van Kirk, whose involvement in petroleum engineering has taken him all over the world, to destinations spanning from Baghdad to Babylon and Southeast Asia to South America.“This area isn’t well-advertised in America,” notes Van Kirk. “Many kids coming out of college haven’t even heard of petroleum engineering. The same is true for mining and metallurgical engineering.”Colorado graduates aren’t the only ones who can rest assured of job opportunities in the coming months and years. The same holds true in Texas and Oklahoma, according to professors and department heads at top petroleum engineering programs there. “This spring’s graduates were all hired before January 1st arrived,” reports Dr. Roy Knapp, interim director of the School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. “Many students chose from among three to five offers with very good starting salaries.”Dr. Chuck Bowman, head of the petroleum engineering department at Texas A&M University in College Station, says the outlook for graduates there remains strong, though, he says, “there did seem to be some doubt creeping into employers minds” due to the drop of oil prices recently experienced nationwide…..the recent march northwards has acted as a catalyst for renewed demand!

OIL PRICES DRIVE INDUSTRY
“Historically, in my opinion, just about everything that has affected industry employment over time has been related in some way to the price of oil,” notes Bowman. “Through the late 1980s and into the ’90s, we saw the creation of much flatter organizational structures here in the U.S. We also saw some reductions at the staffing level.“At the same time,” Bowman continues, “new technologies have created a growing requirement for young, technically trained individuals. “Knapp at the University of Oklahoma shares a similar view. “Capital investment in the industry is high and is looking to grow even more, though that was somewhat clouded recently by low oil prices. Energy-use growth around the world is increasing by about 4 percent annually, however, so even if we have temporary excess capacity, that will be used up in a year’s time.“There is a pent-up demand for mega-projects, as well,” adds Knapp. “To be able to design and implement these kinds of projects you need a large supply of engineering skill.”All of these factors bode well for job opportunities in petroleum engineering presently, in the near future and well into the millennium. “Companies know that they have to plan well beyond today,” says Van Kirk of the Colorado School of Mines. “They’re not just planning for next year, either. They’re looking at the number of petroleum engineers they’ll need two, five, even 10 years from now.”

NEW TECHNOLOGIES BROADEN OPPORTUNITIES FOR GRADS
with the kind of technologies coming to the foreground; things are bound to get more and more interesting in the next several years. All three professors cite directional or horizontal drilling as a leading-edge technology affecting employment. They add the area of 3D and 4D seismic technology as spurring growth in the industry, as well.“The ability to achieve high-directional angle drilling is fairly new and it’s allowing oil companies to do more than they could even 10 years ago,” explains Van Kirk.Bowman of Texas A&M says horizontal drilling has been used widely in the region, where the ability of oil-bearing rocks to produce is limited because of restricted permeability. “Drilling horizontally creates more flow area, making an economical project out of something that otherwise wouldn’t work,” he says.Another noted technology impacting the industry, according to experts, is reservoir management. Bowman describes it as “using very sophisticated mathematical modeling techniques coupled with the 3D seismic pictures of underground reservoirs to do production simulations.” He says this allows engineers to come up with the best ideas of where to put wells. “In theory,” he notes, “we’ve known how to do that for a long time. Until recently, however, computers were not powerful enough to handle this complex level of mathematics.”As middle-size and even small companies begin to increase their use of such technologies, they, too, will be a more powerful force in the employment picture. “Many of these companies used to just seek five- to 10-year veterans looking to make a change from the majors,” says Bowman. “Now they’re looking increasingly to hire young graduates whose familiarity with cutting-edge technologies is strong and up-to-date.”

SMALLER COMPANIES HEAT UP COMPETITION
Bowman reports that while the traditional recruiters from major and semi-major oil companies, or from service industry firms such as Schlumberger continue to seek Texas A&M graduates, other employers have recently come on the scene. “Some of the more aggressive recruiters right now are the independents, such as Apache, Burlington Resources and Union Pacific Resources,” Bowman says. “Also, some much smaller but very sophisticated operators are coming to us, even if they need only one new person a year.”Van Kirk gives a similar view of recruiting activity at Colorado School of Mines, where major oil companies and service companies continue to hire petroleum engineers. Add to that the “couple thousand or so smaller independent oil companies you’ve never even heard of, as well as consulting firms, government agencies and environmentally focused companies looking to hire,” as Van Kirk explains, and the picture is brimming with possibilities.At the University of Oklahoma, Knapp explains that his view of the recruitment picture has changed dramatically just in the last couple of years. “It’s worth noting,” he says, “that two years ago, the people who hired our graduates were close to evenly divided into major international oil companies, independent operators and service companies.

“But now,” he continues, “because the major international companies are the ones who are able to embark on the mega-projects I mentioned earlier, they are back and they are so sophisticated at recruiting, they tend to dominate the picture. Likely three-quarters of our current graduates will go to work for majors such as Mobil, Exxon, Shell, Chevron, you name it.”

 

 

 

I have already posted this article once as a link before but decided I should put the content directly here as many would probably find it difficult to find! 

 

Some good petroleum engineering programs are:

 

 

STANFORD UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE STATION

UNIVERSITY OF TULSA, OKLAHOMA

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES, GOLDEN, COLORADO

UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA, NORMAN

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, UNIVERSITY PARK

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, VITERBI

LOUSIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, BATON ROUGE

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

HERIOT-WART UNIVERSITY, EDINBURGH

UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM AND ENERGY STUDIES – DEHRADUN

ISM – DHANBAD

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY – GUWAHATI (no specific program)

 

 

Source: http://www.graduatingengineer.com/

List of major petroleum companies: LIST OF PETROLEUM COMPANIES

Another great resource – a must see: PETROLEUM ENGG GUIDE

Link for petroleum engineers: http://www.peteng.com/