Marathon Petroleum engineers help students see future possibilities

Refining Technical Services Director Joe Gabriel speaks to students who were among approximately 500 eighth graders at eight local middle schools that Kenai refinery employees addressed during Engineers Week.

Key Points

• Marathon Petroleum engineers spoke to students at multiple schools about future career possibilities as part of this year's Engineers Week.
• They addressed topics such as the types of engineering roles, educational requirements and examples of project work.
• Several presentations also included hands-on group exercises that allowed students to apply scientific principles.

Alex Spilman knows the influence that adults can have on young people when they share their professional knowledge and experience.

"Engineers that came into my high school chemistry class were instrumental in helping me choose chemical engineering as a major," said Spilman, now on the process engineering team at Marathon Petroleum Corporation's (MPC) Mandan, North Dakota, refinery.

Spilman was among engineers from MPC's refining organization who visited schools during this year's Engineers Week™, a national initiative to promote understanding of the engineering field and its career opportunities.

Planning and Optimization Engineer Evan Withrow was one of 19 employees who participated in activities from the Kenai refinery, which has been involved in Engineers Week outreach efforts for the past 11 years.

In Alaska, 19 employees from MPC's Kenai refinery spoke to approximately 500 eighth graders at eight local middle schools. They addressed the ongoing demand for engineers, academic subjects to explore to see if engineering is a good fit, and the educational requirements to become an engineer. The refinery has been involved in similar outreach efforts for the past 11 years.

"We are motivated to engage with the next generation of engineers because we believe in continuing to invest in our communities and showing young people the kinds of doors that can be opened by a career in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math)," Kenai Refining Engineer Brady Decker said.

The Kenai employees, who teamed up with engineers from Homer Electric Association, a local electric cooperative, also involved students in group exercises that applied the principles of friction and pressure. The students competed to see which group could move water from one bucket to another the fastest by using pumps and tubes.

"We believe in continuing to invest in our communities and showing young people the kinds of doors that can be opened by a career in STEM."

Refining Engineer Ted Wald was part of a group of 10 engineers from the Mandan refinery who spoke to roughly 800 students across seven schools.

"There were quite a few a-ha moments," Decker said. "It was fun to hear students going through idea generation and applying these principles to their final project line-ups."

At Mandan, 10 engineers provided presentations to roughly 800 students at six area high schools and the Bismarck Career Academy. Among the topics were advice on choosing a college when majoring in

engineering, guidance for succeeding in the workforce and examples of project work.

"We highlighted activities of the various engineering jobs at the refinery to give students an idea of a typical day in the life of an engineer working at the facility," Mandan Refining Engineer Ted Wald said.

The Mandan employees also discussed the refinery's production of essential energy products to help students understand the site's direct connection to the everyday lives of area residents. As with Spilman, Engineers Week was an opportunity for Wald and Operations Area Team Manager Jamie Kautzman to come full circle.

"Jamie and I have presented to chemistry classes at Mandan High School for the last three years," said Wald. "We both attended Mandan High, graduated the same year, and both took chemistry from the same teacher who is still teaching the class more than 20 years later."

In Mandan, Operations Area Team Manager Jamie Kautzman and other speakers addressed topics that included daily tasks for refining engineers and advice on choosing a college when majoring in engineering.