Professor Matthew Balhoff has been selected as the new chair of the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering. He will begin his four-year term in July.

The University of Texas at Austin’s PetroBowl Team has won the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) 2023 North American Regional Competition held in March.

The Hildebrand Department’s graduate program in petroleum engineering is No. 1 in the country, according to the 2024 U.S. News & World Report rankings released today. UT PGE has held this top ranking continuously since 2003.

Three PhD students from the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering — Ibrahim Gomaa, Keivan Khaleghi and Dongyoung Yoon — have won the 2023 Chevron National Engineering Week Competition held in February.

Oxy President and CEO Vicki Hollub — the first female leader of an American oil and gas company — met with about 100 students and faculty members from the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering on March 3.

Oxy President and CEO Vicki Hollub — the first female CEO of an American energy company — will meet with Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering students when she visits campus March 4. Hollub will talk with students about the role of the oil and gas industry in a sustainable energy future.

Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Associate Professors John Foster and Michael Pyrcz co-hosted the third annual Energy AI Hackathon Jan. 20–22. About 100 students competed on teams representing schools and departments across The University of Texas at Austin, including the Cockrell School of Engineering, the College of Natural Sciences, the Jackson School of Geosciences and the McCombs School of Business. At least one undergraduate and one UT PGE student were on each team.

The University of Texas at Austin will be home to a new multidisciplinary research and education initiative — the Energy Emissions Modeling and Data Lab (EEMDL). Co-led by Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Research Associate Professor Arvind Ravikumar and McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering Professor Dave Allen, EEMDL will address the growing need for accurate, timely and clear accounting of greenhouse gas emissions across global oil and natural gas supply chains. Data and analysis from this new endeavor will help both public and private institutions develop climate strategies and actions informed by accurate, verified data, identifying opportunities for emissions reductions.

Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering PhD student Sheila Gerardo (MSPE 2021) won a best poster award at the annual Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) symposium in November.

The Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering honored six alumni with its Distinguished Alumni Award at a ceremony and dinner Friday, Nov. 11. The award is given annually to UT PGE alumni who are leaders in the oil and gas industry — educators, executives, innovators and entrepreneurs with unmatched industry expertise.