1961 California Regional Meeting, Bakersfield, Nov. 2–3, 1961
We have one overriding problem in petroleum engineering education today. That problem is how to attract sufficient freshman students of high caliber.
There are some apparent reasons for this, and some potential solutions which I should like to propose. That there are many other ways to get at the problem I have no doubt; it is my primary purpose here to delineate the problem and, hopefully, to stir some interest in solving it.
First, let me point out that there seems to be reasonable agreement among industry, government, and the educational world on just what sort of graduates ought to be coming out of our petroleum engineering curricula. That we need leadership in our newcomers is plain; we also agree that this leadership must come from a combination of talents, primarily two: sound technical training, foundational for as far as the individual cans advance in petroleum engineering, and breadth of view, so that the individual does not become bogged down in a narrow specialization, losing his view of the horizons of this vital field of endeavor.
As far as technical training is concerned, we are sorely pressed. Petroleum engineering has mushroomed in the past decade. One man can not be well informed on all phases of the subject, all techniques. Indeed, it is a monumental task to keep abreast of the vast outpourings of literature in even one phase.
