Subject matter experts from ExxonMobil have conducted a two-day ‘Carbon Management – Advancing Climate Solutions’ course for 25 senior and graduate engineering students from Texas A&M University at Qatar (Tamuq)
ExxonMobil employees, including Loan Tran, GHG and Climate Change Advocacy & External Interfaces manager; Dr Jayanth Balasubramanian, Carbon Management Programme lead in Qatar; and Hazem Abdel Moati, Joint Interest Asset advisor in Qatar, leveraged their combined 50 plus years of ExxonMobil experience when delivering the course.
They discussed in depth the energy industry’s role in meeting the needs of the modern world, as well as the risks of climate change, the range of sustainable solutions to mitigate the risks, and the importance of policy support. The ExxonMobil instructors elevated the students’ practical understanding of the challenging topics through an innovative case study.
“We thank Texas A&M at Qatar University for the opportunity to teach this course to its students. It benefits students, our future generation of inventors, scientists, and engineers, to fully understand climate science and the range of potential solutions. This requires universities to embed carbon literacy into their disciplines – it’s commendable that Texas A&M is taking this approach.
“With a long history of innovation, combined with scientific and operational expertise, ExxonMobil has the technical readiness to play a lead role in the development and scalable deployment of sustainable solutions like carbon capture and storage technologies, as well as recycling, other lower-emission solutions that improve quality of life and meet society’s evolving needs. It was a pleasure to share this knowledge with the enthusiastic students,” said Dominic Genetti, president and general manager for ExxonMobil Qatar.
Dr César O Malavé, dean of Tamuq, said: “We are grateful for the collaboration from our partners, such as ExxonMobil as it gives the students a real-world perspective. Mitigating the effects of climate change requires all of us to work together, and industry-academia partnerships such as ours will contribute to creating students who are ready to take on that challenge.”
Students who attended the course are cognizant of the role of science and engineering in meeting the net-zero challenge. This learning opportunity comes as an enriching experience for young people to understand the range of exciting engineering roles that they could have in the future, and through them contribute to achieving net-zero and a more sustainable world.
“Students today realise how important engineering is in making a difference in the world and bettering people's lives, and I was impressed with the level of skill and passion amongst those who attended the course. It has been great to discuss sustainability solutions with them and the technologies currently being explored - particularly in the energy industry - and to hear their own ideas for solutions,” said Tran.
Beena Debnath, one of the student participants in the course, said: “The learning experience given by ExxonMobil was unique and interesting. It was quite fascinating to know how ExxonMobil is trying to tackle the issue of climate change and CO2 emissions. The contents delivered during the session aided my senior project regarding CO2 emissions.”
Fatima Abuhaliqa, another student who attended the course, said, “It was great to be part of this opportunity. During the Advancing Climate Solutions course, I learned real-world applications of how to calculate and analyze climate data on a global scale.”
This collaboration comes as part of an agreement between ExxonMobil Qatar and Tamuq to progress initiatives and co-operate on opportunities in the carbon management and sustainability space. It also aligns with ExxonMobil Qatar’s commitment to support national strategies that advance education and promote an interest and passion for engineering and other STEM subjects among Qatar’s youth. These efforts are guided by the Qatar National Vision 2030 and its objectives of developing a skilled workforce for a sustainable future.