Brownian Motion and Petroleum Engineering
Originally Published (in now defunct, IDEASmi Blog): April 15, 2014
There has always been something about Brownian motion, entropy, and the oil and gas industry that has always piqued my interest whenever I think about them and try to visualize their similarities. They sound incompatible, but a closer and more speculative thinking would clear one’s mind to the realization that the tie that binds all three is chaos. And with chaos comes panic; with such panic comes life-threatening problems; with said problems are life-changing solutions introduced, ultimately heralding an excellent symphony of beautiful minds coming together, camped at a particular, somewhat secluded, location, contributing their talents and initiatives to better the erstwhile chaotic environment they had found themselves in, going beyond the boundary of problem-solving, onto blazing the trail for spectacularly efficient ways to prevent such problems from ever occurring again and then making it a luxurious venture- that is my picture of an ideal profession to chase after, and the oil and gas industry, particularly petroleum engineering, offers me the aforementioned and much more on an enticing platter. When the problem is viewed as the very insatiable energy demand of the world’s growing population, the chaos viewed as the adverse effects of lack of production of good renewable, and non-renewable, sources of energy, the solution viewed as what we have in terms of technological advancements in the oil sector today, and the symphony as that nearly-fabled sweet experience of working on an oil rig, then one can easily see reason as to why I have chosen this field of study, and why I would remain in it.
The goal I have set out to achieve as I remain in this field is nothing short of trying my best to contribute my quota to its betterment. But this is a long-term goal, considered closely. My short-term goals obviously involve getting a bachelor’s degree in the course, then a master’s, and quite possibly, a PhD. Call it ambitious, but I would love to have made some modicum of impact in the field even before I attain a PhD. This means that, in essence, I plan to be as dynamic as the field itself is- making the best of my time while I am at it, and not waiting for some unachievable proper time.
But most of all, I plan to be me- before graduation, and after graduation from college. I would only be the best at what I long to excel at if I am just my original.
