As any recent university graduate, will tell you, there’s a world of difference between what you learn in the classroom – no matter how good the curriculum – and what you experience in a real work environment. That’s normal. But to help bridge the divide and support Egypt’s capacity building, GE recently hosted 20 engineering students on a training and field trip.

In the increasingly complex and technological upstream oil and gas sector, this type of experience for students is particularly beneficial. That’s why GE Oil & Gas in Egypt led a “Theoretical & Practical Sucker Rods/Pumping Units Training” for 20 students from the American University of Cairo and their professors.

Delivered over an intensive training session at GE’s office & Qarun field, the students learned about different models and applications of GE’s beam pumping unit’s, advantages, unit geometry and component parts, critical operating parameters, key maintenance issues. The students and AUC professors; Dr. Ahmed Dahroug, Prof. of Production Engineering, Dr. Ahmed El-Banbi, Prof. of Petroleum Engineering, went with Ahmed Marzouk, Geo Market Director – GE O&G Surface Business, and a team from GE O&G Surface business for an onsite technical training on a real operational GE’s beam pumping unit locate at Qarun Petroleum Company – western desert field.

“GE is committed to capacity building in Egypt and across the region, particularly among the youth, this training offered another opportunity to bring our experienced engineers and other professionals together with Egyptian students, who are the future of our country and our economy – particularly in the critical energy sector. We hope that this hands-on experience has deepened their understanding of this aspect of artificial lifting field operations,” Mohamed Helal (Senior Business Development Manager, NE Africa & Turkey – GE O&G Surface Business) said.

The sucker rods/pumping units training is just the latest in a series of real-world trainings, internships, job shadowing, and on-the-job experiences GE has offered young people across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey region. Other examples are not only in Egypt, but also Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Algeria.