News

The Hildebrand Department’s graduate program in petroleum engineering is No. 1 in the country in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report rankings released today. UT PGE has held this top ranking continuously since 2003.

Associate Professors John Foster and Michael Pyrcz co-hosted the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering's (UT PGE) second annual Energy AI Hackathon March 25–27. About 100 students competed on 20 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 Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering has announced plans to host its second annual Energy AI Hackathon March 25–27 on the Forty Acres. During the three-day in-person event, teams of 3 to 4 students from across UT Austin’s schools and departments will work together to solve an energy challenge using data analytics with machine learning in Python.

The Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering has launched a Sustainable Energy minor, an 18-hour program available to students majoring in Chemistry, Environmental Science, Geological Sciences, Architectural Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geosystems Engineering and Hydrogeology, Mechanical Engineering, and Petroleum Engineering.

Dr. Silviu Livescu, who was most recently chief scientist of the pressure pumping product line at Baker Hughes, joined the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum Engineering and Geosystems Engineering faculty this fall as associate professor. Livescu brings to UT PGE expertise in research and development, innovation, commercialization, and intellectual property in the petroleum industry. He has more than 30 US patents granted and pending, and has published more than 60 papers and articles.

Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering alumnus Faruk Omer Alpak (MSPE ’00, PhD ’05) received the 2021 Lester C. Uren Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in September. The prestigious international award recognizes distinguished achievement in petroleum engineering technology, and recipients automatically become SPE Distinguished Members.

Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering alumnus Ashwin Venkatraman (PhD ’14) received the inaugural International Data Science and Engineering Analytics Award from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in September.

The Hildebrand Department’s undergraduate petroleum engineering program is once again No. 1 in the nation according to the 2022 U.S. News & World Report rankings released Sept. 13.

Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Associate Professor Maša Prodanović earned two prestigious industry awards in July — Distinguished Member from the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) and the Alfred Wegener Award from the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE).

Arvind P. Ravikumar joins the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering faculty as research associate professor this fall. Ravikumar brings to UT PGE a multidisciplinary approach to solving one of science and society’s most pressing questions — how global economies can usher in sustainable energy development in the face of climate change.