Fuels & Lubricants Magazine

INTERVIEW
GOMA has talked about today’s trends and importance
in education of engineers and control room operators with the
President of Simulation Solutions Inc. Mr. Donald C. Glaser. Mr.
Glaser, with more than 30 years of experience in process industry
education has shared with us his thoughts related to education in
oil & gas industry.
Mr. Glaser, how important is education in oil & gas industry
today?
Education is one of the biggest challenges facing the oil & gas
industry today. Experienced staff is retiring at ever increasing
numbers. Finding and training suitable replacements is not easy.
Increased automation makes interacting with the controls on oil &
gas units less common and more difficult to understand. Critical
thinking and troubleshooting skills are key skills and are in short
supply.
You have a lot of experience in operator’s training, what are the
biggest problems industry is facing today?
Developing an operator’s competence and confidence and providing
them tools to identify and solve problems that they have never
seen before. Too often console operators rely on memorization of
their specific units, so when a problem comes along that they have
never faced before they lack the problem solving skills necessary to
systematically troubleshoot the unit.
Education is one of
the biggest challenges
facing the oil & gas
industry today.
Experienced staff
is retiring at ever
increasing numbers.
Increased automation
makes interacting
with the controls on
oil & gas units less
common and more
difficult to understand.
Critical thinking and
troubleshooting skills
are key skills and are in
short supply.
On-site learning for operators,
source: Deposit Photos
“Hands-on-training” by Simulation Solutions Inc.,
source: Simulation Solutions Inc.
Fuels&Lubricants No. 3 OCTOBER 2018 15