Program Objectives
The purpose of the Petroleum and Mineral Engineering (PME) graduate program is to provide an in-depth understanding of science and engineering fundamentals in the area of petroleum and mineral engineering analysis, with special emphasis in the efficient, economic, and safe recovery of energy resources. The Petroleum and Mineral Engineering graduate program administers the options in Industrial Health and Safety (MS and Ph.D. in PME-IHS), Mining and Mineral Process Engineering (MS and PhD in PME-MMPE), and Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering (MS and Ph.D. in PME-PNGE), and an online, non-thesis Master of Engineering in Oil and Gas Engineering Management (M.Eng in OGEM). The PME graduate program options prepare well-qualified scientists and professional scholars needed by industry, academia, and government in the areas of petroleum and natural gas engineering, mining and mineral processing, and industrial health and safety.
The Petroleum and Mineral Engineering graduate program draws from and builds upon the strong tradition of education and research in petroleum and natural gas engineering, mining and mineral process engineering, and industrial health and safety that has been nurtured at Penn State throughout the years. The graduate program faculty in Petroleum and Mineral Engineering is composed of faculty members associated with the four specialty areas who share common research and teaching interests and who bring in new synergies. The proposed core courses for the Petroleum and Mineral Engineering graduate program options provide a fundamental underpinning to the subject area, allowing a broadened expertise of the faculty. The focus of this program, on the economic, safe, production of petroleum and minerals and the control of safety and health hazards in the workplace, is unique to Penn State.
In research, the goal of the PME graduate program is to provide a scholarly and professional environment that enables students and faculty to make lasting contributions to the advancement of knowledge and creative practice of science and engineering in extractive industries. The PME graduate program options strive to promote and maintain strong and visible integrated research programs with faculty expertise in environmental systems engineering, industrial health and safety, mining engineering, mineral processing and petroleum and natural gas engineering. The expanded research agenda of the PME graduate program beyond traditional research areas includes thematic areas such as exploitation of unconventional energy resources, CO2 sequestration, risk assessment and risk management, and artificial intelligence.