M.S. Student Wins East Meets West Paper Contest
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April 17, 2014
While other UT PGE students competed this spring in Society of Petroleum Engineering’s (SPE) Regional Paper Contest held in Houston, M.S. Student Daniel Sanchez-Rivera was preparing for a paper contest of a different kind – an SPE international paper competition held in Krakow, Poland.
The fifth annual East Meets West International Student Petroleum Congress and Career Expo is hosted by the AGH University of Science and Technology, located in Krakow. Sanchez-Rivera placed first in the Expo’s student paper contest, which was comprised of participants from 20 colleges and universities from all over the world.
The trip to Poland was not his first chance to present his research on a global scale. In January 2012, he traveled to Saudi Arabia to showcase his research on pore-scale modeling at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).
Sanchez-Rivera’s project for his trip to Poland, titled “Reservoir Simulation and Optimization of CO2 Huff-and-Puff Operations in the Bakken Shale,” is part of his M.S. research. He says competing in the SPE local paper contest in January gave him the feedback he needed to succeed in Krakow.
“The valuable input of the judges and supervisors, as well as many additional hours of practice, allowed me to vastly improve my presentation and present a much refined version in Poland,” says Sanchez-Rivera. “This trip was a fantastic opportunity to display the quality of the research that is done at UT PGE. It was one of those experiences that transform daily work into meaningful results and lasting memories.”
Dr. Balhoff, Sanchez-Rivera’s graduate advisor, is proud to see one of his students win a prestigious research competition.
“Both Dr. Mohanty {Sanchez-Rivera’s other graduate advisor} and I are excited he received first place for his outstanding research and presentation skills,” says Balhoff. “I have been working with Daniel since he was an undergraduate student and have enjoyed watching him grow into a thriving researcher.”