MIRI: Curtin University Malaysia recently hosted a series of lectures by Prof Reza Rezaee, a leading academic from the Department of Petroleum Engineering at the Faculty of Science and Engineering of Curtin University in Perth.
The lecture on Curtin’s petroleum geology and geophysics course units was for engineering undergraduates and post-graduates of Curtin Malaysia, which has courses in both applied geology and petroleum engineering available.
Reza elaborated on field examples and shared statistics and solutions related to the fields of petroleum geology and geophysics.
His visit to Curtin Malaysia, Curtin University’s largest international campus, included a tour of the campus’ new RM20-million building for the Faculty of Engineering and Science, which houses modern teaching facilities and laboratories.
Reza has over 26 years of experience in teaching and research and received the Australian Gas Innovation Award for his innovation in tight gas sand treatment for gas production enhancement.
His research work on integrated solutions for reservoir characterisation, formation evaluation and petrophysics led him to be involved in major projects funded by oil and gas companies such as Wapet, WMC, Mesa, Santos, Devon Energy and Woodside.
To date, Reza has supervised over 70 masters and PhD students and published more than 130 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers.
In addition to being a founder of the Unconventional Gas Research Group of Australia, he has established a unique and sophisticated research laboratory at Curtin Perth’s Department of Petroleum Engineering to conduct research on petrophysical evaluation of tight gas sands and shale gas formations.
Head of Curtin Malaysia’s Department of Petroleum Engineering, Assoc Prof Sharul Sham Dol applauded Reza’s commitment and contributions to the global oil and gas industry, adding that his visit to Curtin Malaysia demonstrated the synergy between Curtin’s Australian and Malaysian campuses in sharing resources and expertise.
Since its establishment in 1999, Curtin Malaysia has experienced exponential growth in enrolment for its engineering, science and technology courses which are identical to those available at its Australian parent university.
The courses are accredited by professional bodies in Australia and Malaysia and internationally; engineering and science students, in particular, have the benefit of extensive industry exposure due to Curtin Malaysia being located in the hub of Sarawak’s oil and gas industry.