BP selects Rice University to lead consortium of renowned universities to support its global technical learning program

BP and Rice University today announced a long-term agreement to create a consortium which will advance technical learning and development in BP’s global Exploration and Production (E&P) business. The consortium, led by Rice, has developed a five-year plan that will invest in research and develop training techniques, enhancing the transfer of knowledge and technical skills among BP employees worldwide. 

In addition to Rice, the consortium will include Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Collaborative and Interactive Technologies in Houston and Heriot-Watt University, Imperial College and the University of Manchester in the U.K.
 
”Our partnership with these leading academic institutions is further evidence of BP’s use of learning and technological innovation to underpin its E&P growth strategy,” explained Andy Inglis, chief executive officer of BP E&P.

BP selected Rice to lead the consortium because of the university’s extensive track record in collaboration with other higher education institutions. Based in Houston, Rice has seven highly ranked academic schools, including natural sciences and engineering, and is also home to more than 40 specialized institutes, centers and consortia.

The consortium will support a worldwide program to promote knowledge transfer in the petrotechnical areas of subsurface geology, engineering, project management and operations.

“This venture provides Rice and the consortium with opportunities to advance our development of progressive teaching methods,” Rice Provost Eugene Levy said. “We’re excited about helping to expand learning and development for emerging and established energy industry professionals and to influence teaching in science, engineering and other technical subjects.”

BP’s Exploration and Production segment employs 10,000 petrotechnical professionals worldwide.

BP is an international company involved in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas; refining, marketing, supply and transportation of hydrocarbons; and manufacturing and marketing of petrochemicals, and solar and gas-fired power generation.
www.bp.com

Rice University in Houston, Texas, is consistently ranked one of America’s best teaching and research universities. Known for its “unconventional wisdom,” Rice is distinguished by its: size — 3,001 undergraduates and 2,144 graduate students; selectivity –12 applicants for each place in the freshman class; resources — an undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio of 5-to-1; sixth largest endowment per student among American private research universities; residential college system, which builds communities that are both close-knit and diverse; and collaborative culture, which crosses disciplines, integrates teaching and research, and intermingles undergraduate and graduate work.
www.rice.edu

Baylor College of Medicine is the only private medical school in the Greater Southwest, is recognized as a premiere academic health science center and is known for excellence in education, research and patient care. Located in Houston, the college has total research support of more than $300 million and more than 90 research and patient-care centers and units. BCM trains more than 3,000 medical, graduate, nurse anesthesia, and physician assistant students, as well as residents and postdoctoral fellows.
www.bcm.edu

Imperial College London, rated the world’s fifth best university in the 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings, is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 12,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the college explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment — underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
www.imperial.ac.uk

Heriot-Watt is one of the U.K.’s leading universities for business and industry and has a reputation for innovative education, enterprise and leading-edge research in science, business, engineering and design. The eighth oldest higher education institution in the U.K., it is often referred to as Scotland’s international university, with campuses in Scotland and Dubai and over 50 international academic learning partners.  Heriot-Watt has approximately 7,000 on-campus students in Scotland and approximately 10,000 students from 150 countries worldwide currently studying on international programs. More than a quarter of the student population studying on-campus in Scotland is from outside of the U.K.
www.hw.ac.uk

The University of Manchester was formed Oct. 1, 2004 from the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST.  It is now the largest single campus university in the U.K., with 38,000 students, 12,000 staff and a total business income of