The Power of Longhorn Love
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February 04, 2015
You might think what's love got to do with UT PGE - it turns out quite a bit. In honor of the month of love, we are celebrating couples that met and started dating in the department.
Since UT PGE is a small, tight-knit community, students spend a lot of time together through classes, research and student organizations, which in some cases blossoms into young love. Four couples told us their unique stories.
Alexandra Novgorodova (BSPE '09) & Federico Caldelas (BSPE '08, MSPE '10)
Alexandra: ConocoPhillips – Reservoir Engineer
Federico: ConocoPhillips – Reservoir Engineer
In the fall 2009 semester, Alexandra was a senior and the SPE President, and I was a graduate student who got involved with SPE mainly to hang out with Alexandra! We are not U.S. natives and actually come from different ends of the world – Alexandra is from Russia and I’m from Argentina – but our paths were joined by UT PGE. Our travel bug soon took us out of Texas to Calgary, Canada. However, we came back to Austin, where it all began, in November 2012 to tie the knot.
Our adventures together are just starting! We are set to move to Anchorage, Alaska this March, both working as reservoir engineers for ConocoPhillips. World travels is just one of the perks of the oil and gas industry; we are excited to see where it takes us next!
Divya Ramaswamy (MSPE '11) & Som Mondal (PhD PE '13)
Divya: IHS Inc - Senior Research Analyst in the North American Asset Valuation Team
Som: Shell - Production Technologist in the Unconventional Completions & Stimulation R&D Team
Som and I met in the first semester of our master's program in 2008 at UT Austin. We had both moved to Austin from different parts of India. As dorky as it sounds, it was the weekly petrophysics assignment in our first semester that kindled our friendship. A couple of years went by building life in the new city, making new friends and dealing with grad school. And gradually, through it all, my best friend and I fell in love.
Upon completing my program in 2011, I moved to Houston to work for an energy consultancy, while he stayed back for his PhD. Then came two years of weekend trips between Austin and Houston, which was great as it was an extension to my life in Austin with the same friends that I had left behind. A year back, Som graduated and moved to Houston to work for Shell. We don't miss the weekend driving too much, but we sure do miss Austin. We got engaged last August and plan to get married at the end of this year in Chennai, India, where I am from. No wonder Austin and the university holds a special place in our hearts.
Leticia Rubinos (BSPE '15) & Tim Wiener (BSPE '13)
Leticia: ExxonMobil – Drilling Engineer
Tim: Hilcorp Energy Company – Reservoir Engineer
Tim and I met in 2012 in the UT PGE student office while SPE and AADE were getting ready for the annual Engineering Fall Gathering. We immediately hit it off and became inseparable for the remainder of the school year. Tim was always there to give me advice whether it was for school, internships or life. He became my best friend.
During my last summer internship in Colorado, Tim flew me home for a weekend and he proposed. It has been an incredible seven months planning for our future, and we just started planning our 2016 wedding. After my graduation we will be taking a short trip to Peru, moving into our new home in Spring, Texas and I will start my career with ExxonMobil while he continues his career with Hilcorp Energy Company.
Taylor (BSPE '11) and Courtney Hubbard (BSPE '11)
Taylor: Resolute Energy - Operations Engineer
Courtney: EOG Drilling - Drilling Engineer II
Taylor and I officially met in our sedimentary rocks class in the 2009 fall semester of our junior year – Taylor sat behind me every day, and started walking me home after class. I thought he lived neared the Alpha Chi Omega house since Taylor would always walk me to the door, but the walk was actually quite out of his way! Taylor and I were also in the same petrophysics class with Dr. Sharma, and after class one day, Taylor asked me on a date to go see "Zombieland." We still have the movie tickets from October 24, 2009.
Taylor and I continued to date through graduation in May 2011. We received jobs in different cities, but we made it work through weekends, vacations, and a convenient two weeks on/two weeks off schedule while I was on a field assignment. Taylor proposed to me in Cancun, Mexico two years after graduation even though we were not yet in the same city. We got married October 19, 2013 while I was living in Houston working for Shell Oil, and Taylor was in Perryton, Texas with Mewbourne. Since then, we have both changed companies and cities landing us in Denver! I am working for EOG drilling in the Bakken, and Taylor is an operations engineer for Resolute Energy. We loved our experience in Austin and are appreciative of the opportunities graduating from the Cockrell School of Engineering at The University of Texas has made available to us!
