Let me start off by saying, I am not the best of writer's. However, for the rest of the summer I can try to channel my inner Oscar Wilde. First off, as a brief introduction of myself, I am a rising junior studying petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. The opportunity to intern at TACC came about through a very spontaneous process, mainly through one of my professors in the Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering (PGE) department at UT. TACC presents a very unique opportunity, one that will undoubtedly increase my technical skills. Almost all the resources available at TACC require a computer science background for use, and my lack of programming knowledge will present a significant hurdle. Nonetheless, I hope to learn as many skills that I can with the help of the staff at TACC.
One thing that has struck me is the culture at TACC. It's a relaxed environment, where even highest ranking technical staff show up to work in jeans and a t-shirt. A natural resultant of the lax culture is the overall kindness of the staff at TACC. After the first week of my internship, I have failed to meet a single person who showed disregard for the undergraduate interns. A prime example of the welcoming culture occurred during one of our lunch breaks. I was sitting outside the cafe when a TACC worker approached me. He proceeded to ask me about the "young people" at the facility and what we were doing there. After asking a few other questions about the program, he wished me well in my research endeavors.
My research for this summer focuses on hydraulic fracturing, specifically on hydraulic fracture simulation. A vast majority of my work will be completed using MATLAB, a language that I learned this past semester. As of right now, I am familiarizing myself with hydraulic fracturing by reading a paper on the transmissivity of a fracture. I am also familiarizing myself with a popular synthetic fracture generation software, SynFrac. I hope to use this research as a tool to succeed in my upcoming hydraulic fracture class and in the long term as a career springboard. As an aspiring reservoir engineer, it's important to have a strong grasp over simulations. My goal for this internship is to leave as a better student, peer, and individual. Let's get there together.
One thing that has struck me is the culture at TACC. It's a relaxed environment, where even highest ranking technical staff show up to work in jeans and a t-shirt. A natural resultant of the lax culture is the overall kindness of the staff at TACC. After the first week of my internship, I have failed to meet a single person who showed disregard for the undergraduate interns. A prime example of the welcoming culture occurred during one of our lunch breaks. I was sitting outside the cafe when a TACC worker approached me. He proceeded to ask me about the "young people" at the facility and what we were doing there. After asking a few other questions about the program, he wished me well in my research endeavors.
My research for this summer focuses on hydraulic fracturing, specifically on hydraulic fracture simulation. A vast majority of my work will be completed using MATLAB, a language that I learned this past semester. As of right now, I am familiarizing myself with hydraulic fracturing by reading a paper on the transmissivity of a fracture. I am also familiarizing myself with a popular synthetic fracture generation software, SynFrac. I hope to use this research as a tool to succeed in my upcoming hydraulic fracture class and in the long term as a career springboard. As an aspiring reservoir engineer, it's important to have a strong grasp over simulations. My goal for this internship is to leave as a better student, peer, and individual. Let's get there together.