CEM People | College of Engineering and Mines

Mohabbat Ahmadi

Associate Professor

Petroleum Engineering

mahmadi@alaska.edu | (907) 474-1903

Duck 411

Research Interests:

conventional and unconventional gas resources development
supercritical CO2 EOR/sequestration
enhanced oil recovery

Learn more about Mohabbat Ahmadi

Vahid Atashbari

Affiliate Professor

Petroleum Engineering

vatashbari@alaska.edu | (907) 474-2668

Duck 417

Research Interests:

origin of overpressure and pore pressure prediction
carbonate reservoir characterization
business models and business plans
oil price models and forecasting

Obadare Awoleke

Associate Professor

Petroleum Engineering

ooawoleke@alaska.edu | (907) 474-7574

Duck 407

Research Interests:

experimental and theoretical investigation into propped fracture conductivity in low and high permeability environments
heavy oil reservoirs (production, completion and stimulation related challenges)
data analysis using statistical and virtual intelligence techniques
the incorporation of uncertainty into the models used by petroleum engineers to predict oil and gas well productivity using time series analysis methods.
application of Monte Carlo techniques and stochastic differential equations to modeling uncertainty in petroleum production or reservoir engineering

Abhijit Dandekar

Department Chair | Professor

Petroleum Engineering

adandekar@alaska.edu | (907) 474-6427

Duck 419

Research Interests:

gas-to-liquids
gas hydrates
CO2 sequestration
effect of wettability on oil recovery

Curriculum vitae

Nicole Dufour

Office Manager

Department of Mechanical Engineering | Department of Petroleum Engineering

nmdufour@alaska.edu | (907) 474-7136

Duck 337

Santanu Khataniar

Professor

Petroleum Engineering

skhataniar@alaska.edu | (907) 474-5658

Duck 421

Research Interests:

water-flood and enhanced oil recovery
reservoir simulation
gas-to-liquid (GTL) transportation through pipeline
well log analysis

Samson Ning

Adjunct Associate Professor

Petroleum Engineering

sxning@alaska.edu | (907) 474-7734

enhanced oil recovery
pressure transient analysis
reservoir management

Learn more about Samson Ning

Dr. Samson Ning is a consultant for Hilcorp Alaska and an Adjunct Professor of the Petroleum Engineering Department of UAF since 1996.

He has 30 years of industry experience including 19 years at BP, 5 years at Schlumberger, and 6 years at China University of Petroleum. His areas of expertise include Enhanced Oil Recovery, Pressure Transient Analysis, and Reservoir Management. Before retiring from BP in 2016, he was in charge of the miscible gas injection EOR projects for Prudhoe Bay and its satellite fields for 8 years and worked on the light and heavy oil development at Milne Point Field for 11 years, during which he led the viscosity reduction EOR and the LoSal EOR projects.

He Holds a BS degree from China University of Petroleum, and MS and PhD degrees from Texas A&M University, all in Petroleum Engineering. He is a Registered Professional Petroleum Engineer in the State of Alaska.

He has published over 20 technical papers and received numerous technical awards. He has been a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers since 1988 and was elected as the SPE Engineer of the Year in 2004.

Brent Sheets

Acting PDL Director

Petroleum Development Laboratory

brent.sheets@alaska.edu | (907) 750-0650

Research Interests:

unconventional reservoirs development
reservoir simulation and optimization
enhanced oil recovery
application of nanotechnology in petroleum engineering

Yin Zhang

Associate Professor

Petroleum Engineering

yzhang35@alaska.edu | (907) 474-7877

Duck 413

Learn more about Yin Zhang

Shirish Patil

Professor Emeritus, Petroleum Engineering

slpatil@alaska.edu

Learn more about Shirish Patil

Shirish Patil is Professor Emeritus in petroleum engineering at the College of Engineering and Mines. Shirish joined the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1987. Shirish has served the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Society of Drilling Engineers, the State of Alaska, and the Fairbanks community in numerous capacities:

Petroleum engineering chair (2006-08)
Director of PDL (2006-Present)
UAF Faculty Senate President (2006-07)
UA Faculty Alliance Chair (2006-07)
SPE Faculty Advisor (1996-2004)
AADE Faculty Advisor (2012- Present)
SPE International Distinguished Lecturer Selection Committee, 2005-09.
SPE Education, Training and Professionalism Program Subcommittee, 2007
State of Alaska Representative- Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission- Research and Technology Committee (2006-Present)
SPE Education and Accreditation (EAC) Committee (2004-2007)
SPE International Membership Committee (2011-Present)
Fairbanks North Star Borough- Public Transportation Advisory Commission Chair (2005-Present)

Shirish has over 25 year's research experience in the areas of Gas Hydrates, PVT/phase behavior, miscible/immiscible displacement, and GTL transportation studies. He has managed/co-managed several U.S. Department of Energy and other projects with international oil companies. He has been PI or Co-PI of over 20 successfully completed projects and has authored or co-authored over 75 technical papers.

Department of Petroleum Engineering

Emeriti

Department of Petroleum Engineering (Pete)