The 2022-23 Academic Year saw the growth of the Undergraduate Certificate in Data Analytics for the Petroleum Industry (CERT-DAPI), with enrollment of 11 students from three majors and graduation of a further 5 students from the first intake in Fall 2021. A generous gift from ConocoPhillips of $1,000,000 over five years has supported the development and operations of the program, and signifies ConocoPhillips’ commitment to help meet the growing demand for data science programs in universities. The program tracks build on courses drawn from the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, the Departments of Statistics, Computer Science & Engineering, Geology & Geophysics and the Mays Business School, but is open to any Texas A&M undergraduate student who can fulfill the certificate requirements. The program is administered jointly by the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and the Texas A&M Institute of Data Science. Prospective entrants can learn more about the certificate at the CERT-DAPI program webpage.
Program Structure
The program is organized following the Curricular Paths framework developed by TAMIDS, which builds on students’ varied disciplinary preparation, culminating in interdisciplinary team projects in a practicum that was developed for the program. Students receive an education in concepts, computation, and case-based learning to prepare them for data analytics and machine learning careers. CERT-DAPI provides opportunities for students to work on technical problems with global consequences in the energy industry. The awarding of the certificate recognizes students who are committed to further their education by preparing themselves for integrated data science and analytics roles in the petroleum industry
According to Dr. Siddarth Misra, Associate Professor in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, and Academic Program Coordinator for CERT-DAPI: “ The Texas A&M certificate program equips undergraduates with interdisciplinary data science skills to tackle global challenges in the petroleum industry. The program brings together students from diverse backgrounds to solve technical problems that no single discipline can address alone. The certificate includes practical projects such as completion data analytics, petroleum data mining and management, adaptive production forecasting using LSTM network, and chemical sensor data analytics, with guidance from companies like ConocoPhillips and Peloton during the course practicum.”
ConocoPhilips Data Science Undergraduate Scholarships
The gift from ConocoPhillips supports the Data Science Undergraduate Scholarship Program for students enrolled in CERT-DAPI, with eligibility based on scholastic achievement and partial completion of certificate requirements. The $4,000 awards qualify scholars for the Non-resident Tuition Waiver for Competitive Scholarship Recipients. 7 Scholarships have been awarded to date. Further details on the scholarship program can be found on the CERT-DAPI program webpage.
Current Scholar: Catherine Duong is a senior at Texas A&M studying statistics. She was Member of 1st place undergraduate team in TAMIDS 2023 Wildfire Data Science Challenge.
“I am sincerely grateful for the generous financial support that ConocoPhillips has extended to me through this scholarship program. It is a tremendous privilege for undergraduate students, such as myself, to have access to opportunities to explore different career fields with a specific focus on Petroleum Data Analytics. I am now better equipped and more confident to pursue a future career in this field. I am particularly excited about the prospect of utilizing the skills and knowledge I obtained from this certificate in a capstone project my senior year, as well as in future occupation.”
Former Scholar: Joseph Martini graduated in December 2022 in Petroleum Engineering, and is currently with Chevron as a Characterize & Define Reservoir Engineer in the Mid-Continent Business Unit.
“The Data Analytics Certificate was extraordinarily helpful in securing a full-time position post graduation in December 2022. Recruiters from some of the largest energy companies were excited that the university brought Petroleum Engineering students an opportunity to learn skills that have become a game changer in their day-to-day work; skills that previously had to be taught on the job. I am beyond grateful to ConocoPhillips for their generosity in helping start the program, as well as their funding of scholarships for students pursuing the program. Without this scholarship, adding an additional semester would have been a much harder decision.”
ConocoPhillips Data Science Graduate Assistantship
The ConocoPhillips Data Science Graduate Assistantships support for graduate students involved in the development and delivery of the program. 6 graduate students have received support to date. One of these is Oliver Rojas Conde, currently in the final year of the Masters in Petroleum Engineering with a focus on Data Science Applications, in particular, Causal Inference on geophysical datasets using Double Machine Learning.
“The ConocoPhillips Data Science Graduate Assistantship is a tremendous opportunity for me to delve deeper into the field of data science and its role in shaping the future of the oil and gas industry “, says Rojas Conde.
ConocoPhillips Data Science Faculty Fellows
Texas A&M faculty members who contribute to the development and operation of the program receive recognition as ConocoPhillips Data Science Faculty Fellows. Dr. Nick Duffield, TAMIDS Director, is pleased to announce the Data Science fellows for 2023
The 2023 ConocoPhillips Data Science Faculty Fellows at Texas A&M University. (Left to Right). Dr. David Bapst, Geology and Geophysics; Dr. Michael Ketzenberg, Mays Business School; Dr. Siddarth Misra, Petroleum Engineering; Dr. Toryn Schafer, Statistics.
The 2023 Fellows are:
- David Bapst, instructional assistant professor, Department of Geology and Geophysics, College of Arts & Sciences.
- Michael Ketzenberg, professor, Department of Information and Operations Management, Mays Business School.
- Siddharth Misra, associate professor and Douglas Von Gonten Faculty Fellow, Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, College of Engineering and Academic Program Coordinator for CERT-DAPI
- Toryn Schafer, assistant professor, Department of Statistics, College of Arts & Sciences