When many of us think of universities in Texas, we think of Big 12 football. However, the University of Houston’s Cougars football team isn’t the only exceptional “energy” on the college’s campus right now: The university is also laser-focused on meeting the needs of the evolving American energy sector.
As a result, Texas oil and gas folks can be confident that those fuels will have a continued importance in the energy business thanks to the extraordinary work that students and researchers are doing on the ground at the University of Houston.
The University of Houston has always produced countless top engineering graduates ready to work in the oil and gas sector. Now, research projects will not only keep hydrocarbons prominent for decades, but they are also finding ways to draw more energy from the sizzling Texas sun and its whipping winds. The school is increasingly a rival to places like MIT in advancing not just cleaner, safer and more efficient ways of extracting oil and gas from the earth, but also cleaner energy and zero-carbon energy. Its students and staff are undertaking research delving into everything from the impact of climate change to more efficient methods of energy storage for such things as solar power. Along the way, the university’s labs are also making oil and gas field exploration more efficient, by developing nanotechnology, for example, that can boost oil and gas recovery from existing wells with fewer chemicals.
As it strengthens its claim as the country’s premier energy university, the University of Houston has a lot going for it. Houston is “Energy Town, USA”—home to 17 energy-related Fortune 500 companies and more than 3,600 energy-related firms, including 600 exploration and production firms and more than 170 pipeline operators. The university has brilliantly leveraged its strong relationships in the industry by building programs that draw on those firms for everything from internships to co-op opportunities and adjunct professors.
Maybe that’s what makes the University of Houston’s academic programs so attractive—the fact that the school is not an ivory tower. The university develops courses and programs with the real-time input of leaders in the industry. The end result is students getting undergraduate and graduate degrees that make them ready to work in real jobs, armed with cutting-edge knowledge that the industry is hungry for. That’s especially true today as the existing workforce ages.
That close industry relationship is nurtured in part by the University of Houston Energy Advisory Board (EAB), made up of energy industry experts (including me) appointed by President Renu Khator to advance energy education and research. The university also boasts no less than 17 members of the National Academies—four members of the National Academy of Sciences and 13 members of the National Academy of Engineering.
From Subsea Safety to Solar
The university has programs aimed at everything from keeping our coastal waters clean to developing more renewable energy sources. Houston has the nation’s only subsea engineering program, undertaking cutting-edge research into the science and safety of accessing undersea oil and gas resources. The Subsea Systems Institute is a national research center (paid for with RESTORE Act funds that came from levies related to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill) that is operated in conjunction with Rice University and NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The University of Houston is also a partner in the Offshore Energy Safety Institute, which works with industry to improve offshore safety.
Alternative energy and renewables concentrations are also offered, supported by programs in architecture, environmental engineering, and environmental design.
While some of the best energy research is being done in those University of Houston labs located right in the heart of the energy-rich territory of the Gulf Coast, talented students and researchers are flocking to my home area, the Philadelphia region, which is the up and coming American energy hub. Drexel University has created the AJ Drexel Institute for Energy and the Environment, which researches such things as sustainable energy sources and technologies, how to create smarter electrical grids systems, and ways to improve energy conservation by innovations in building and construction materials.
Meanwhile, since 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Energy Frontier Research Centers across America to encourage universities to research such things as improving renewable and carbon-neutral energy. The idea is to encourage technologies that will disrupt the energy business while enabling the United States to remain at the forefront of an evolving industry. That research includes everything from a study at MIT into better ways of converting thermal solar energy into electricity to improving chemical energy storage at Binghamton University.
Back at the University of Houston, academics are also teaching skills to the next generation of would-be executives and middle managers. The university’s business school focuses on energy finance and energy management and even offers an energy-focused MBA. The UH Law Center offers a degree in international energy law in association with the University of Calgary.
Further, the university stays abreast of the latest developments by hosting its annual energy symposium series, which has become a hot ticket among leaders in Houston’s energy community. This year’s series will examine the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan, the future of shale development, and the outlook for nuclear energy, as well as advances in energy storage.
There was disagreement in the first presidential debate about the future of energy. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump supports expanded hydraulic fracturing efforts and new oil pipelines, but also wants offshore wind farms. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wants policies to make the United States the “clean-energy superpower of the 21st century.” If the University of Houston and other research institutions have their way, maybe both political camps will get their way.
