UAF contest targets Alaska’s heavy oil

The University of Alaska Fairbanks has a contest aimed at getting petroleum engineering students from across the country to collaborate on ways to produce Alaska North Slope heavy oil.

UAF said participants in the Petroleum Engineering Challenge will solve the problem of producing heavy oil from a typical North Slope reservoir, with the winning team to be awarded a minimum of $2,000.

Teams must have two to five students from multiple colleges or universities; details are available at http://cem.uaf.edu/petroleumchallenge.

Obadare Awoleke, UAF assistant professor of petroleum engineering, is coordinating the challenge, part of a project within the Chancellor’s Innovation in Technology and Elearning program, a special project requiring creating an online community where students can build teamwork skills.

“I want to promote inter-university collaboration among petroleum engineering students,” Awoleke said in a statement. “The technology is there for students to look beyond the university walls and share knowledge.”

Deadline for initial submissions is Nov. 24.

- Petroleum News