The First Five Years of the Bachelor of Applied Petroleum Engineering Technology Degree Program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology
Authors: Exall D. , Kerfoot Alec 
Published: March 2010

The Bachelor of Applied Petroleum Engineering Technology (BAPET) Program started at SAIT with evening classes in the Fall of 1995, and with day classes in the Fall of 1996. After five years of operation, some changes have been made in the program, and data have been assembled on the types of students entering and the success of the graduates from the program. Where students in a university engineering program tend to be more homogeneous in background and experience, the BAPET students vary widely in age, previous qualifications and experience, and often bring years of field operating experience to the classroom. The majority of the students already have a university degree, many in petroleum engineering, but also in other engineering disciplines. The program, which is heavily weighted to imparting practical and useful workplace skills, thus fulfills a clear industry need for continuing education in the petroleum industry.

Introduction

The BAPET program was introduced at SAIT with the first evening classes in the Fall of 1995, followed by the first day classes n the Fall of 1996. Alberta Learning approved the introduction of the program following requests from industry and technologists who held a two-year post-secondary engineering Diploma, and who had identified the need for additional technical training to both deepen and broaden technologist capabilities in the petroleum engineering area. Since the introduction of the BAPET program as the first applied degree in Alberta, there have been an additional 24 applied degree programs introduced in Alberta covering many areas of engineering, science, management and financial specialization.

Although the BAPET program was initially aimed at the engineering technologists who already had a two-year Diploma, it has been found that many of the students are new immigrants, many of whom hold degrees from their countries of origin. Of the 433 students

TABLE 1: BAPET program courses. Available In Full Paper.

who have been enrolled in the program over the last five years, 41﹪ have had a two year Diploma or equivalent, 49﹪ have had a four year Bachelor degree or a five year degree, 9﹪ a Masters or six year degree, and 1﹪ a Ph.D. This diversity of qualifications and international backgrounds has made for a very varied student body mosaic in the courses, leading to an enrichment of the learning process. The average age of the students tends to be higher than university engineering programs, and student motivation is exemplary.

The BAPET Program

Entry to the BAPET program requires at least a two-year engineering Diploma in a related discipline. The program is based on two semesters of additional coursework, followed by a practicum or credit work experience of at least 800 hrs. The coursework consists of two main streams, the upstream component covering reservoir

FIGURE 1: Distribution of student ages. Available In Full Paper.

exploration and drilling technical areas, and a downstream option for the processing, facilities design and instrumentation specialization. Both streams have courses that cover management components and provide the broadening training required for a technologist to progress above a simply technical role in the industry.