Education
Education
Dr. Todd Hoffman Named SPE Distinguished Lecturer
Montana Tech Petroleum Engineering Associate Professor Dr. Todd Hoffman has been named a Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) 2019-20 Distinguished Lecturer.
The Distinguished Lecturer Program is one of SPE’s most popular programs. Each season 30 to 35 world experts from the oil and gas industry are selected to share their knowledge on the latest technologies and trends with SPE members. Established in 1961 with just three lecturers, the esteemed program now sends Distinguished Lecturers to SPE sections to give more than 550 lectures. This combination of professionalism and topical expertise has made the program well respected throughout the world.
While the different experts will present a wide variety of topics from petroleum engineering, Hoffman’s talk will focus on increasing recovery from unconventional reservoirs like the Bakken in Eastern Montana. “While these types of reservoirs have huge volumes of oil, the recovery factors are really low, often less than 10%. There are new techniques that we are working on here at Montana Tech to potentially double that recovery,” noted Hoffman. “This will be the focus of my presentation during the tour.”
Hoffman teaches classes on Reservoir Simulation, Improved Oil Recovery and Reservoir Engineering. Prior to that, he was a reservoir engineering consultant to the oil and gas industry specializing in flow modeling and fractured reservoirs. He has 20 years of combined experience in academia and industry. Todd has worked on reservoir models for more than 30 fields on six continents, and has published over 50 technical papers. His research involves improved recovery for conventional and unconventional oil reservoirs, fracture reservoir modeling and ensuring data consistency while history matching.
The purpose of the program is to provide SPE sections with outstanding speakers for section meetings, and to recognize the professional contributions of the selected Distinguished Lecturers. The program promotes SPE’s mission to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge.
“Dr. Hoffman’s selection as a SPE Distinguished Lecturer is indicative of his world-renowned expertise in Petroleum Engineering,” noted Dr. Dan Trudnowski, Dean of the Montana Tech School of Mines & Engineering. “We are extremely fortunate and proud to have faculty like Dr. Hoffman on our staff.”
The program will have Hoffman giving lectures in 30 locations from Eastern Europe, Russia and South America as well as the U.S. and Canada. The travel schedule can be brutal. “In one stretch I will be in 8 cities in 11 days, but it is worth it to see places that I have never been and to help spread knowledge to SPE sections around the world,” he said.
As a Distinguished Lecturer, not only is Hoffman an expert in his field, he is also volunteering his personal time to instruct and share his expertise with others. He received his B.S. in petroleum engineering from Montana Tech and his M.S. and his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Stanford University.
The Distinguished Lecturer Program is one of SPE’s most popular programs. Each season 30 to 35 world experts from the oil and gas industry are selected to share their knowledge on the latest technologies and trends with SPE members. Established in 1961 with just three lecturers, the esteemed program now sends Distinguished Lecturers to SPE sections to give more than 550 lectures. This combination of professionalism and topical expertise has made the program well respected throughout the world.
While the different experts will present a wide variety of topics from petroleum engineering, Hoffman’s talk will focus on increasing recovery from unconventional reservoirs like the Bakken in Eastern Montana. “While these types of reservoirs have huge volumes of oil, the recovery factors are really low, often less than 10%. There are new techniques that we are working on here at Montana Tech to potentially double that recovery,” noted Hoffman. “This will be the focus of my presentation during the tour.”
Hoffman teaches classes on Reservoir Simulation, Improved Oil Recovery and Reservoir Engineering. Prior to that, he was a reservoir engineering consultant to the oil and gas industry specializing in flow modeling and fractured reservoirs. He has 20 years of combined experience in academia and industry. Todd has worked on reservoir models for more than 30 fields on six continents, and has published over 50 technical papers. His research involves improved recovery for conventional and unconventional oil reservoirs, fracture reservoir modeling and ensuring data consistency while history matching.
The purpose of the program is to provide SPE sections with outstanding speakers for section meetings, and to recognize the professional contributions of the selected Distinguished Lecturers. The program promotes SPE’s mission to collect, disseminate, and exchange technical knowledge.
“Dr. Hoffman’s selection as a SPE Distinguished Lecturer is indicative of his world-renowned expertise in Petroleum Engineering,” noted Dr. Dan Trudnowski, Dean of the Montana Tech School of Mines & Engineering. “We are extremely fortunate and proud to have faculty like Dr. Hoffman on our staff.”
The program will have Hoffman giving lectures in 30 locations from Eastern Europe, Russia and South America as well as the U.S. and Canada. The travel schedule can be brutal. “In one stretch I will be in 8 cities in 11 days, but it is worth it to see places that I have never been and to help spread knowledge to SPE sections around the world,” he said.
As a Distinguished Lecturer, not only is Hoffman an expert in his field, he is also volunteering his personal time to instruct and share his expertise with others. He received his B.S. in petroleum engineering from Montana Tech and his M.S. and his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from Stanford University.
