Pi Tau Sigma hosts lecture by Shell expert
Published Nov 24, 2020The Texas A&M University at Qatar chapter of Pi Tau Sigma (PTS), the international honor society of mechanical engineers, recently hosted an online lecture by Joy Phophichitra, a corrosion expert with Qatar Shell Research and Technology Center.
In her talk, “Digitalization and Computational Science at Shell,” Phophichitra discussed the energy challenge facing the world today: With the global population projected to increase to 9 billion by 2050, energy demand worldwide will double, and more people will live in cities and expect a higher quality of life. Phophichitra discussed the megatrend of digitalization that is reshaping the energy system. Shell has been at the forefront of this trend for decades, from the advent of underwater robots in the 1970s, so that the company’s assets will be considered "assets of the future."
She then focused on corrosion management and gave students in the audience examples of how data science, machine learning and AI are becoming an important part of Shell’s production sites.
Raghad Al-Sulaiti, vice president of PTS, said, “As part of our mission, Pi Tau Sigma as an organization aims to promote the engineers’ professional welfare by providing access to such learning opportunities from the workforce. We believe that it is important to establish a connection between us future engineers and the engineers working in the field as they can share their experiential knowledge, broaden our horizon, and direct us towards the future of engineering.”
PTS faculty advisor Dr. BIlal Mansoor from Texas A&M at Qatar’s Corrosion and Oxygen Lab said, “We want our students to learn what the oil and gas industry is doing to meet the challenges posed by corrosion damage to critical infrastructure. It is an important topic for the state of Qatar and worldwide.”