WHAT I'M WORKING ON
INTERNSHIP: HILCORP
Spending the summer as a Field Engineering Intern with Hilcorp Energy at Pecan Island, Louisiana gave me my first opportunity to experience petroleum engineering outside of the classroom. Working alongside production and operations teams on a 7-on/7-off schedule, I was able to see firsthand how wells, equipment, and people come together to keep an offshore asset running.
Throughout the internship, I learned about well performance, separation, compression, water handling, and oil and gas processing. I especially enjoyed following production between platforms and seeing how changes in pressure, flow, and equipment can affect an entire asset. One of my favorite parts was connecting concepts from my petroleum engineering classes to real wells and facilities, where things like production decline and compression became much more tangible.
Beyond the technical experience, I learned how important communication, adaptability, and safety are to field engineering. The opportunity to learn directly from experienced engineers and operators gave me a much deeper appreciation for the people behind offshore operations and reinforced my interest in pursuing a career in the energy industry.
Spending a month studying abroad in Bergen, Norway was one of the most memorable experiences of my time at UT. While taking a course in Numerical Methods and Programming, I also had the opportunity to visit the Northern Lights carbon capture and storage project and learn how engineering, policy, and economics come together to support large-scale carbon management. One highlight was seeing the FluidFlower demonstration at the University of Bergen, which provided a fascinating visualization of how CO₂ moves through porous rock formations and how subsurface properties influence storage behavior. Beyond the technical knowledge I gained, living and studying in another country broadened my perspective on engineering and reminded me how collaborative and global the energy industry truly is.
TEXAS ENERGY CONSULTING CASE COMPETITION
I had the opportunity to compete in the Texas Energy Consulting Case Competition, where my team analyzed the feasibility of transforming existing oil and gas infrastructure in the Permian Basin into a carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) hub. Working alongside business students gave me a new perspective on how engineering decisions are closely connected to economics and policy. One of the most interesting parts of the project was learning about the unique challenges of transporting and storing CO₂, from maintaining dense-phase flow in pipelines to evaluating depleted reservoirs for long-term storage. Our team placed 4th overall, and the experience strengthened my interest in how traditional energy systems can evolve alongside emerging carbon management technologies.
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT
I recently joined the UT RAPID Consortium as an Undergraduate Research Assistant, where I support research focused on improving drilling monitoring and wellbore stability through automation. My work involves reviewing field-tested research and helping document the workflow for a laser-based sensor system designed to automatically identify drill cuttings and cavings. This role has given me the opportunity to explore how data, instrumentation, and drilling engineering come together to improve decision-making in the field. I’m excited to continue learning how emerging technologies can support safer and more efficient drilling operations.
6TH ANNUAL ENERGY AI HACKATHON
I participated in the 2026 Energy A.I. Hackathon at The University of Texas at Austin with my team, JAWLR, where we developed a machine learning workflow to predict three-year oil production for preproduction wells using real subsurface data. Our approach focused on handling missing well-log data, engineering reservoir-quality features such as RQI and FZI, and training a Boosted Ridge Regression model for forecasting. Out of roughly 40 teams, we placed 13th overall, while also ranking 1st in code quality and 4th in presentation. As a freshman team from different majors, it was a great opportunity to explore how machine learning can be applied to real challenges in geophysics and energy systems.
NOBLE BLACKRHINO + NOBLE HEADQUATER TOUR
As part of the Noble–UT Drilling Innovation Challenge, my team and I developed a downhole instability sensor to detect wellbore instability in real time, aiming to improve drilling efficiency and reduce nonproductive time. Despite an early team setback, I regrouped with new teammates and we earned 4th place overall. The experience included touring the Noble BlackRhino drillship and visiting Noble Corporation’s headquarters in Houston, offering invaluable insight into offshore drilling operations. This opportunity strengthened my leadership, adaptability, and technical problem-solving skills while bridging classroom learning with real-world application.
