EVENT DETAILS

“Turning Challenges into Opportunities: Industry-Academic Collaboration while Transitioning to a Low-Carbon Energy Future”
with Professor Sebastian Geiger (Director of the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering) at Heriot-Watt University

The recent Annual Conference and Exhibition of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE) concluded unequivocally that we are in the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources, and the only debate now is the speed at which this transition occurs.

University departments that have a proud heritage in providing training and research for the oil industry not only have to adapt to this transition, they also need to counter the increasingly negative perception from university stakeholders when collaborating with the oil industry.

Using the Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt University, which has recently rebranded itself as the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering, as an example, Sebastian will discuss how we can turn these challenges into new opportunities that allow us to maintain and even expand industry-academic collaborations, and put us on a new trajectory where we can make lasting contributions in teaching and research that help to decarbonise energy production by building on our historical strengths in geoscience and engineering.

A copy of Professor Geiger’s presentation has been requested from the speaker

Speaker Profile

Professor Sebastian Geiger is the Director of the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering (IGE, previously Institute of Petroleum Engineering) at Heriot-Watt University where he leads the implementation of a new research and teaching strategy that allows the institute to address the challenges of sustainable energy production in a low-carbon society whilst supporting the institute’s traditional strength in delivering world-class research and teaching for the oil and gas industry.

As the Energi Simulation Chair for Carbonate Reservoir Simulation, he also leads the Carbonate Reservoir Group at IGE. His research interests include modelling, simulating, and upscaling multi-phase flow processes in (fractured) carbonate reservoirs with applications to oil and gas production, CO2 storage, and geothermal energy. He has authored over 150 technical papers and edited 1 book on these topics.

Sebastian received a PhD degree from ETH Zurich in 2004 and an MSc degree from Oregon State University in 2000. He joined Heriot-Watt University in 2006 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 2009 and full professor in 2010.

A Fellow of the Energy Institute, Sebastian is a member of EAGE, SPE, AAPG, AGU, and Interpore, a co-editor for Petroleum Geoscience and Transport in Porous Media, and serves on numerous technical committees for the EAGE and SPE. In 2017, he received the Alfred Wegener Award from the EAGE for his pioneering research related to carbonate reservoir modelling and simulation.