Petroleum Engineer Interview

Name: Dr. Matthew Balhoff

1. Q. Please describe your engineering field.

A. All of my degrees (BS and PhD) are in chemical engineering, but I am a faculty member in
petroleum engineer. The job of petroleum engineers is to explore for oil and gas reservoirs,
study the target reservoirs using computer models, drill wells into these hydrocarbon bearing
wells, and then produce oil and gas efficiently. This must all be done safely while respecting the
environment.
2. Q. What is your current job title?
A. Associate Professor, Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
Frank W. Jessen Centennial Fellowship in Petroleum Engineering

3. Q. Please describe your particular job and duties.

A. I teach several petroleum engineering courses at UT-Austin, do research in reservoir
engineering, and supervise many graduate students on their research.
4. Q. What is your average work schedule?
A. I have very flexible hours but typically work 9:30-6:30 M-F and spend some evenings and
weekends catching up.
5. Q. Starting with high school, describe your education background chronologically.
A. Received my high school diploma in 1996, BS in chemical engineering from LSU in 2000,
and PhD in chemical engineering from LSU in 2005.
6. Q. If you had it to do over, related to your career or education, would you do anything
differently?
A. No, I love my job and the area I work in.
7. Q. Are there advancement opportunities?

A. Of course. There are several promotions as a professor. Later in my career there are
opportunities for department chair or Dean. I can always switch over to industry, etc.
8. Q. What are the advantages of this occupation?
A. As a professor, flexible job, opportunities to work on new creative research that will impact
the industry, I get to choose what areas I want to work on, and of course mentor and teach
future engineers
9. Q. What are the disadvantages?
A. Pay is not as good as working in industry (but still good). Finding funding for research
projects can be tough at times.

10. Q. Is this what you thought you were going to do in high school?
A. Not at all. I thought I might be an engineer, but I assumed I would work in industry, not as
a professor
11. Q. Are there many women in this field of engineering?
A. Yes, but not as many we would like to see. It is ~20-25% women and that number is
growing.
12. Q. What is your normal work attire?
A. Fairly casual. I try to dress up a bit for classes or days with an important meeting. But
jeans and a polo is acceptable.
13. Q. How much of your time is spent on the computer?
A. Most of the day when I am not teaching.
14. Q. What advice would you give me as someone interested in pursuing a career path similar
to yours?
A. Keep an open mind about industry vs. academia. For engineering in general, classes are
tough. It isnt just about being smart or good at math and science. Succeeding in engineering
takes a lot of discipline, time management, and maturity.