DOHA: Students from Qatari universities have been able to demonstrate robust business and operating skills in an exercise organised to test their ability to deal with challenges, streamline complexities and achieve optimal performance in an operating unit.

Up to 21 technical students from Qatar University, Texas A&M University Qatar and the University of Dayton, Ohio, participated in the “Running a Refinery” competition organised by Qatar Shell’s research facility at the Science Park enabling students to manage a case study where they are required to salvage an under-performing refinery.

The students brainstormed in different teams to deal with an array of operational challenges in order to ultimately come up with optimal solutions and strategies to improve the performance of the refinery. The different teams were offered light-touch coaching and guidance by Shell engineers on the subtleties of managing different challenges and the correlations between business and operational decisions. They gained insight into cross-functional interfaces and the need for integration to arrive at the right solutions.

Teams then presented their recommended strategies to Shell functional experts, who evaluated the proposed solutions and provided feedback on their recommendations. The winning teams were selected based on the validity and business robustness of the strategies as well as the short and long term implications of the solutions.

In this event, the winning team, Nadya Al Awainati, Qatar University, Industrial Engineer, Ahad Al Enizi, Qatar University, Industrial Engineer, Feras Attar, TAMU, Petroleum Engineer, Hesham Rashed, TAMU, Petroleum Engineer, Hussain Al-Thaiban, Qatar University, Chemical Engineer won a fully paid trip to Kuala Lumpur next month from 6-10 July to attend the Shell Eco Marathon event. The Eco-marathon is a Shell-sponsored events where students from around the world compete to build and race with the most energy efficient cars.

Dr Mazen Hasna, Dean of the College of Engineering said “This achievement reflects the high standards of the college academic programs and the quality of our students. I would like here to extend my thanks for Shell that organized this competition, and my congratulations for the winning students who represented the college in the best way it should be.”

Youssif Saleh, General Manager of Qatar Shell Research and Technology Centre (QSRTC) says: “It is a good opportunity for the students to put their skills and knowledge to practical use in such an exercise. We encourage them to use their technical skills and, most importantly, communication skills in order to identify issues, close the gaps and allocate tasks to different team members to reach final decisions. This case study has been developed using real life examples of the work carried out by Shell engineers working in a Shell refinery and we would continue to provide this type of activities to support universities and school. ”