AURAK Hosts Workshop on Innovation in Petroleum Industry

The American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK) today hosted a workshop titled ‘The Role of Innovation in Sustainability of Petroleum and Petrochemical Industries.’

The workshop, which was organized by the School of Engineering, addressed the issue of energy sustainability, including the latest trends and developments within the field of oil and gas production.

Launching the workshop with his opening remarks, Prof. Hassan Hamdan Al Alkim, AURAK president, praised the initiative, commenting on the importance of innovation within the field bearing in mind the finite resources.

Prof. Hassan also highlighted the ‘zero-energy house’ which is being produced by the School of Engineering, stating, “Workshops like these will be very important in our project’s success. It pleases me when I see experts from a range of different fields and industries coming to the university, as we can all learn from their knowledge and experience.”

H.E. Engineer Ahmed Al Kaabi, OPEC governor of the UAE and Assistant Undersecretary for Petroleum Gas and Mineral Resources at the Ministry of Energy, was one of several guest speakers at the workshop. Mr. Mark Scarbrough, a senior petroleum engineer at RAK Gas, focused on the rapid change that the industry has experienced throughout his 35 years of involvement, going back to 1981, emphasizing that innovation and improvement should be a continuous process.

Other speakers included Dr. Marc Durandeau, senior vice president of research and development at the Abu Dhabi Petroleum Institute’s research center, and Dr. Christopher Fredd, manager of Schlumberger Unconventional Resources Technology Integration.

AURAK’s School of Engineering offers two top-class programs in this field – B.S. in Petroleum Engineering and B.S. in Chemical Engineering – with vastly-experienced faculty members such as the program chair, Prof. Mohammad Awal, who before joining AURAK was team lead of the fracture mechanics research program at the Bartlesville Research Center of ConocoPhillips in Oklahoma, the largest independent U.S. oil company.