Schlumberger, the world’s largest oilfield services company, has donated a software package that will further advance the research and educational pursuits of students and faculty in both The Ohio State University College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences. This gift builds upon the nearly decade-long relationship between Schlumberger and Ohio State and extends the organization’s support to another area of the university.

A technology provider to the oil and gas industry for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing, Schlumberger’s software allows students and faculty to interpret seismic and well log data, build 3D reservoir models, create reservoir maps and run dynamic simulations.

“This new gift from Schlumberger expands its impact at Ohio State and enhances the student experience in our learning environments,” said David Horn, interim executive dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Access to this software enables our students to interpret and visualize real-world data, prepares them to be analytical problem solvers and provides them with a competitive advantage for career opportunities.”

For the College of Arts and Sciences, this is an extension of a 2018 software package, which has continued to benefit students. Courses with focuses on reflection seismology, borehole geophysics and quantitative reservoir modeling use Schlumberger software directly in the classroom, and in research, the software is vital to individual student thesis projects at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

“Schlumberger software is the standard for a variety of research projects funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, so the research that we and our students are able to conduct is greatly enhanced,” said Derek Sawyer, associate professor in the School of Earth Sciences who specializes in petroleum geology and geohazards.

Schlumberger’s latest software package also extends to the College of Engineering, benefitting the petroleum engineering program. The program was relaunched in 2017 as a minor offered by the William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. According to Ilham El-Monier, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, these new software licenses will enhance the growing program’s delivery of experiential education in courses and group projects. Additionally, engineering faculty and graduate students in related fields will have access to the software to advance research and support proposals for external funding.

“Computational tools are a fixture in most industries today,” said Ayanna Howard, dean of the College of Engineering, “so it is imperative that we prepare our students to command these tools in their careers. Schlumberger’s collaboration with us for increasing access to engineering curriculum opportunities ensures that our graduates can be contributors in the oil and gas industry on day one.”

By providing students across two colleges hands-on access to industry-standard software, Schlumberger is helping to develop future energy and sustainability leaders and drive research and collaborative opportunities between the College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences.