students

Some students, who spend time at the GRC in UK, continue their careers with Total. Here are just a few examples:

Mohammed Shahraeeni - Geophysics Student

My work in Total was a part of my master degree in IFP, France, and was related to probabilistic inversion of seismic data. The GRC is a dynamic research group, where you can explore new ideas, ask Geo-scientific questions or have a discussion with world class experts who can give you hints and help. The social life is also interesting; you can meet people from different countries and cultures and spend time with them. It is a very friendly and informal environment and you can learn a lot about different ways of looking at life. Another important advantage of working in the GRC as a trainee is the accommodation, where you will have a free, well managed room in a flat. And finally if you enjoy your work and be able to show your abilities you can expect a very pleasant outcome, which in my case is my PhD.

 

Carlos Menezes - Reservoir Student

Having worked in the manufacturing and R&D sectors for 5 years, after completing a bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering, I decided to make a change to the oil industry. To facilitate this move I undertook the MSc in Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College London, where I was offered a sponsorship from Total E&P UK. As part of this scholarship scheme I carried out my individual project for the MSc within the GRC department at Total in Aberdeen. My project involved looking at the feasibility of upscaling a petro-elastic model from the well log scale to a field simulation scale, and using this upscaled elastic model for comparing against observed seismic impedances. My time spent in the GRC during this period was very valuable and pleasant experience, where I was able to develop several new skills, and had the opportunity to work with other students and young engineers from all backgrounds.

With my mechanical engineering experience and reservoir/petroleum knowledge, I decided something in well operations would be best suited for me. My time at the GRC gave me the opportunity to meet some of the people in the drilling department and led to me being offered a position as a Well Engineer in the Well Maintenance and Servicing Department. I have been in this position for 2 years now and my main responsibilities have been shared between managing well integrity issues, and working within the area of stimulation, i.e. scale inhibition & scale removal treatments, fracturing etc. I am now currently responsible for all stimulation work where I carry out the necessary engineering, prepare work programmes and even follow through the job offshore in certain instances.

Marion Recordon - Geophysics Student

I did a six-month internship within the GRC in 2005 to complete my French diploma in geophysics. The topic was “GPEM (Global Petro-Elastic Model): the link between engineering and geophysics” and it consisted in programming a quasi-automatic generation of petro-elastic model. It was very interesting as it allowed me to deal with reservoir and geophysics problems. Furthermore, the atmosphere at the GRC was really friendly and it was really easy to ask for help or advice, which was really helpful as a trainee. It is also pleasant to know that you are working on projects that are the state-of-the-art geoscience research. My experience within the GRC confirmed to me that I should complete my initial studies in geophysics with a course in Reservoir Engineering at Imperial College in London to finally work as a reservoir engineer.

I have since been hired as a reservoir engineer by TOTAL, and my day to day work involves reservoir studies in headquarters in Paris. As headquarters works for affiliates all around the world I work on different subjects in different contexts, and I have had the opportunity to go to the affiliates.

Glyn Waterhouse - Reservoir Student

In summer 2007 I had the wonderful opportunity to spend 4 months in the GRC whilst completing an MSc in Petroleum Engineering.  I conducted a research project concerning a geostatistical approach to streamline-based history matching to investigate the robustness of a method that aimed to efficiently history match water cut data whilst also importantly reconciling known geological information.  The project was successfully presented at an Imperial College London SPE event in complete fulfilment of my MSc studies. 

I now hold the full-time position of Graduate Development Engineer at Total E&P in Aberdeen, responsible for the delivery of field development studies.  I believe an exciting and challenging career lies ahead and the time spent in the GRC certainly provided a great insight into how the latest technological advances can be applied to serve the industry’s future needs.  I will always look back fondly at the time spent in the GRC and the kind support that was provided.

 

 

 

 

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