Pyrcz and Lu Sweep Cockrell School Teaching Awards
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June 03, 2024
Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering (UT PGE) professors have won both of the prestigious teaching awards given annually by the Cockrell School of Engineering. Dr. Michael Pyrcz is the recipient of the 2023–2024 Lockheed Martin Award for Excellence in Engineering Teaching, and Dr. Yingda Lu is the recipient of the 2023–2024 Dean’s Award for Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor.
Professor Pyrcz joined UT PGE in the summer of 2017 after 13 years in industry as a reservoir modeler, spatial data analytics research scientist, team leader and research program manager. He teaches and leads research in subsurface data analytics, geostatistics and machine learning as director of UT Austin’s Texas Center for Data Analytics and Geostatistics, and is the co-host of UT PGE’s annual Energy AI Hackathon with Associate Professor John Foster. In addition, Pyrcz shares all his university educational content online as the GeostatsGuy on YouTube, GitHub and Twitter.
Pyrcz’s current research is focused on improving subsurface resource characterization and modeling for enhanced development planning, minimized environmental impact, stronger profitability and better utilization of valuable natural resources. He and his students work on subsurface data-science-related problems, including new methods to learn from and reduce bias in subsurface data, improved data integration in subsurface models, and improved subsurface uncertainty models to support decision making.
Pyrcz becomes the fifth UT PGE faculty member to win the Lockheed Martin Award since its inception in 1956. Other recipients are Professor Matthew T. Balhoff (2021–2022), Professor Carlos Torres-Verdín (2016–2017), Professor Ben Caudle (1976–1977) and Professor Kermit Brown (1959–1960).
Dr. Lu joined UT PGE in 2020 after serving as a research associate at the University of Tulsa. He teaches thermodynamics, production engineering, multiphase pipe flow and flow assurance courses. His research aims to enhance the safety and efficiency of hydrocarbon (oil, gas, CO2, and H2) pipeline transportation to facilitate the worldwide transition toward cleaner energy. He tackles these complex challenges via a multiscale approach, which combines various experimental and advanced computational techniques at microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic scales. Examples of his current research topics include paraffin deposition in high-pressure gas-dominated lines; flow behaviors of anthropogenic CO2 in pipelines; rheology and flow behaviors of CO2 hydrate slurry; CO2 injectivity in carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS); and hydrogen leakage in pipeline networks.
Lu received the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Southwestern North America Regional Production and Operations Award in 2021 and the Outstanding Young Faculty Award from China University of Petroleum in 2017. He is the third UT PGE faculty member to win the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor. Associate Professor Hugh Daigle won the award in 2017–2018, and former faculty member Mark Miller won it in 1986–1987.
Dig Deeper
- Learn more about UT PGE’s Energy AI Hackathon.
- Check out Dr. Michael Pyrcz on Twitter.
- Read a Q&A with Dr. Yingda Lu.
