(San Antonio, Mar. 27, 2019) – The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) has received an in-kind software donation estimated at $2.2 million from Petroleum Experts, a European based company. The software will facilitate the study of the geometry of rock deposits in the subsurface while also helping UTSA students and researchers better identify underground fluids such as groundwater, oil and gas. Alexis Godet, an assistant professor in the UTSA Department of Geological Sciences, will lead the university’s efforts to test, use and teach the software to undergraduate and graduate students.
“UTSA will now join only a few American and European universities that have been granted exclusive usage of the software license. This will train the next generation of geologists,” said Godet. “Our students will have access to the latest in software tools used by industry and will be marketable.”
The software, known as MOVE, has a variety of applications in the oil and gas industry. UTSA’s Geological Sciences faculty also plan to leverage it to explore other structural geological characteristics. The state-of-the-art software will help students and researchers improve their visualization and modeling techniques to determine rock stress directions associated with the development of faults. The software includes a complete structural modeling and analysis tool kit with 3-D Kinematic features to work through geological time. It also helps geologists better reduce risk in their structural models.
“We can examine the kinetic of the faults and how they impact the organization in the subsurface of layers of rocks that can hold fluids, such as hydrocarbons and water. There is also the potential to improve our understanding of fractured reservoirs, with impacts on drilling efficiency and environmental preservation,” said Godet.
The UTSA Department of Geological Sciences has deep research experience in geoinformatics, geology, geophysics, polar and climate sciences, and water cycle science. Recently the department captured attention from the scientific community and the media for developing ArcCI (Arctic CyberInfrastructure), the first web-based and open source dashboard of North Pole. It will add Petroleum Experts’ gift, valued at $2,180,000, to its existing library of GIS resources and other professional software used for hydrocarbon exploration, to improve student success and preparation for the workforce, and develop innovative research projects for remote sensing and natural resources.
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