Proceedings of the
Second International Energy 2030 Conference,
November 4-5, 2008, Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
Educating the Energy Engineer of 2030
Prof. Michael M. Ohadi
The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abstract
Most recent research in engineering education explores the ways current engineering education
practices must change to meet the needs of a twenty-first-century workforce and marketplace. Because of
the complexities of current and future technologies, engineering professionals and engineering educators
must increasingly adopt a systems approach. Furthermore, due to the “customerization” of engineering—
the consumer-driven market for technological goods—engineers need to become accustomed to working
with customers in a more public role than engineers have traditionally played. Engineers will also need to
be more closely involved in public policy decisions, as technology and public policy are becoming
increasingly intertwined.
Within the energy industry, demand for skillful engineers is higher than ever. Regardless of which
scenario, the plenty-of-oil or the peak-oil scenario, becomes reality, it is clear that we have reached an era
where the “black gold” is simply too precious to be burned. In the years to come we will see it
increasingly used to produce value-added products, such as plastics and derivatives. Moreover, as “easy”
oil continues to be less available, more-advanced technologies are required to find the oil and to best use it
with minimal adverse impact on the environment. Twenty-first-century energy engineering education
must prepare students to face these new challenges. This talk, therefore, considers possible reforms for
engineering education, the unique needs of and challenges for energy engineering in general, and in the
Middle East in particular.
