Baker Hughes Chief Scientist Joins UT PGE Faculty
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November 29, 2021
Dr. Silviu Livescu, who was most recently chief scientist of the pressure pumping product line at Baker Hughes, joined the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum Engineering and Geosystems Engineering faculty this fall as associate professor. Livescu brings to UT PGE expertise in research and development, innovation, commercialization, and intellectual property in the petroleum industry. He has more than 30 US patents granted and pending, and has published more than 60 papers and articles.
Livescu is the 2020–2023 data science and engineering analytics technical director on the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) International Board of Directors. He is also an SPE distinguished member and a former SPE distinguished lecturer, an executive editor for the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, an associate editor for SPE Journal, and a technical reviewer for 19 journals and national science organizations. He earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Delaware and was a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University.
Below, Livescu shares his thoughts on the transition from industry to academia, his new research lab, the path to net-zero emissions and more.
How did your work at Baker Hughes help prepare you to join UT PGE?
As the former Baker Hughes chief scientist of the global pressure pumping product line, I understand how technologies are introduced to the field, from ideation to field deployment. I was based in Calgary, Canada, in a world-renewed full-stream research and engineering facility with great technical tradition, hundreds of patents and many industry awards. My team and I invented, developed, manufactured and deployed many global technologies that are highly regarded by our competitors and customers. For instance, TeleCoil, our coiled tubing telemetry system developed and continuously improved in the last 10 years, has become the generic name for well intervention telemetry technologies. I am particularly proud of developing a lubricant for coiled tubing operations that can predictably and consistently reduce coiled tubing mechanical friction by about 50% at downhole conditions, almost doubling the industry practice at the time. Last year, it reached a record after being used with a 2-inch coiled tubing string intervening in a 25,000-foot-long well. The opportunities I had to work daily with field and research engineers led me to an innovation track record that was recognized with many technical awards. This multidisciplinary industry experience, where science meets engineering and project management, has prepared me to be an effective teacher and researcher.
What is your teaching philosophy, and what can students expect from your classes?
My primary responsibility as a faculty member is to provide students with the skills, knowledge and experience for them to be able to expand their personal horizons and have the ability to be successful in their chosen professional careers and lives. At the heart of my teaching philosophy is my belief that students need to be not only educated but also mentored to appreciate the opportunities that exist during their undergraduate and graduate studies and the profound effect their response to these opportunities can have on their future success in life.
I believe that the knowledge accumulated as researchers and practitioners is only valuable if shared with others. I will try to provide students with the opportunity to learn not only petroleum and geosystems engineering theory and problem-solving skills, but also to develop a permanent love of learning, to have meaningful and rewarding professional careers, and to be proud to provide affordable, sustainable and reliable energy into the future.
What will be your research focus?
Through my new Sustainable Geoenergy Research and Engineering laboratory, I am going to perform research related to geothermal energy, carbon sequestration, sustainable hydrocarbon production and underground storage. I see great research and engineering opportunities through the net-zero narrative, and I have in mind several impactful projects that my research group and collaborators are going to start in the upcoming years. My vision is to help academia, national laboratories, industry and professional societies collaborate and engage to solve some of the most important geoenergy problems for the greater good of our world.
How do you see the oil and gas industry adapting to net-zero emissions and the challenge of climate change?
Achieving net-zero is the defining topic of our time. Adapting to net-zero emissions has been extensively discussed since I joined the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Board last year. For instance, in May this year we organized a very successful SPE Carbon Capture, Utilization and Sequestration (CCUS) workshop in Canada to bring oil and gas professionals, entrepreneurs, finance providers and policy makers together to answer questions like these: How can CCUS help with the net-zero goals set up by many countries and companies? What CCUS projects are being developed? How can we bring them to commercialization or make them cost effective? How do I know whether CCUS is right for my company? How does CCUS stack up against other clean energy opportunities?
I am also greatly involved with the SPE Gaia Sustainability Program and our Measuring What Matters initiative through which we are trying to engage and collaborate with everyone interested in developing constructive solutions related to sustainability. I encourage everyone to join us and be an active part of the solution.
What are your hobbies and passions outside of the lab?
I like everything related to nature and outdoors. My wife and I met hiking in California, and while in Calgary, the beautiful Canadian Rockies were our second home. Our daughter completed some of the most famous hikes in Kananaskis Country, such as Pocaterra Ridge and Galatea Lakes, when she was 6 years old. We skated on Banff’s Lake Minnewanka when she was 7 years old. There are many more such small moments that are now great memories. We also enjoy photography, traveling and experiencing new cultures.
