By Wilson Macaulay (Warri)
The Federal University of Petroleum Resources, (FUPRE) Effurun;Delta State has emerged overall best in Nigeria out of 25 universitie that participated in the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) – Quiz, organized by Inter-University PetroQuiz Competition held at the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) Delta State, on February 23-26, 2022.
The SPE FUPRE Student chapter which is under SPE Section 104, Warri – Delta State, won the trophy at the 20th Students Technical Symposium and Exhibition (STSE) 2022 by defeating some of the country’s universities that offer degrees in Petroleum Engineering.
The winning team decimated the University of Calabar (44 – -1) at the third stage, trounced the University of Port-Harcourt (79 – 16) in the Quarter-final, Obafemi Awolowo University (53 – 14) in the Semi-final, before defeating University of Uyo (42-10) in the final of the competition. This achievement qualifies the SPE FUPRE chapter to represent Sub-Saharan Africa in Houston-Texas at the PetroBowl international competition scheduled to hold between 3rd and 5th of October, 2022.
Receiving the team, the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. (Engr.) Akpofure Rim-Rukeh commended members of the team for the outstanding performance at the competition which he personally monitored, noting that “The award is a reflection of the fact that as a specialized university with emphasis on petroleum education, we are teaching what we are supposed to teach, and our lecturers are committed to effective teaching,” adding that “with appropriate motivation, our youths and graduates can achieve very great feats in different spheres of life.”
Prof. Rim-Rukeh also thanked the Dean, College of Engineering and Technology, Prof. Godswill Ofualagba, Head, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Engr. Wilfred Okologume and Coordinator of the team, Engr. Ovuema Augustina while urging the team to remain focused for greater exploit.
It would be recalled that in 2014, SPE FUPRE Student chapter represented Africa at the World PetroBowl Contest in Amsterdam, Netherland, and also in Houston-Texas, USA (2015), while in 2016 (Dubai), the chapter set a new record as the “5th Best Petroleum University in the World” defeating University of Manchester and University of Houston respectively.
The SPE FUPRE team that participated in the contest include Olowe Emmanuel (Captain) Omeke Rita Ogechi, Etchie Glory Edonyabo, Shuaib Samuel Oluwasegun, and Okpu Emmanuel Chijindu.
Highpoint of the event was presentation of the SPE PetroQuiz trophy to the Vice-Chancellor and a group photograph with the team members. Others who witnessed the occasion were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, (Admin.) Prof. Chris Ajuwa; Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Acad), Prof. Chris Izelu; Registrar Mrs. J. E. Omoyine and Engr. Henry E. Idudje.