№ 4 (April 2007)
In 1998 the Russian State University named after Gubkin opened the chair of information technology, recognizing the importance of the IT sphere. This chair provides basic IT training for students.
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"Usually it is a two-semester schedule," says Valery Sidorov, head of IT chair, "the first semester is dedicated to Microsoft Office applications and 
the second semester starts with programming algorithms." All the departments get the basic training in Pascal programming language, and the Department of Automation and Computer Science has the courses on Delphi and Visual C. For the first-year students of the magistrates there are courses on IT in science and education, application of mathematic packages for solving economic and engineering tasks. "These courses focus on the burning issues of the industry and its prospects, in accordance with the sphere of each department," explains Valery Sidorov. One of the most telling examples is presented by the Department of Oil and Gas Field Development, and specifically by its drilling sub-division. It has recently started to use WellView software developed by the Peloton company, which proved to be extremely efficient. "We have been cooperating with this company for more than two years," says Valery Sidorov. "The negotiations started in 2005. Finally, the software was launched at the university in spring of 2006." "First of all, I would mention advantageous architecture of WellView and its beneficial package of functions, such as linking the model entered into the package with the projects our undergraduate students work on," Sidorov continues, "You can put in the actual data on the real objects and get both interim calculations and reporting forms. This way, students get the integral understanding of the multiple real wells."
The applications produced by Peloton including WellView are continually upgraded, particularly following the customers' requests. "We are maintaining efficient relations with our clients, getting their feedback," says Sergei Rodionov, engineer at Peloton's Moscow office, "we constantly accept the 'wants' of the companies that use our software, and we always take them into account while preparing the next upgrade."
"We often meet with the representatives of Peloton to discuss the future improvements, the new types of tasks to be performed with the use of this software, the features to be included into the training process, into lectures and practical assignments," says Valery Sidorov.
In February Gubkin Russian State University got the upgraded version of the Peloton software providing the new functions. "Now this environment allows representing not just vertical wells, but also slanted and in some cases even horizontal wells. There are new features of data analysis, the additional analytical modules," explains Valeriy Sidorov, "there are still some limitations as horizontal wells are very complex and it's hard to visualize them, however, Peloton is working on making that possible."
In March Peloton plans the market launch of another application, which will support planning, informational supply and monitoring of drilling crews, thus assisting the management of crews and the process of well construction in the course of new fields development.
Presently both the University and the software developer are satisfied with their cooperation, finding strategic advantages for themselves, for the university graduates and the oil and gas companies they will work for.
"Our university works for the industry, so when we choose the software we look for solutions most commonly used in the industry and the most promising ones," says Valery Sidorov, "our graduates acquire skills with equipment used at the companies, which is highly beneficial for them."
According to Sergei Rodionov, the University itself defines the potential of each software solution. "This is the leading higher education institution for the industry, and the oil and gas companies rely on the software mastered by the young specialists graduating from Gubkin University," says Rodionov, "that's why we perceive this project as strategically important for our company. It is the Gubkin University that defines the future of the industry."
