Fort Valley State University, GA

On September 25, 2003, MMS/GOMR, New Orleans, LA, entered into a cooperative agreement with Fort Valley State University (FVSU), Fort Valley, Georgia's Cooperative Developmental Energy Program (CDEP). The CDEP program recruits, educates, and graduates academically talented minorities and women in the fields of geosciences, engineering, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology. Since minorities and women are under-represented in these disciplines, CDEP offers a pipeline to diversity by developing talented individuals who would be able to make significant contributions to the nation's energy industry. As a sponsor to this program, MMS will provide financial assistance for scholarships, summer internships, and technical assistance to support the pre-college program.

MMS recently participated in the CDEP Recruitment Conference held at Fort Valley State University, GA, March 7-9. During this conference, Chuck Schoennagel presented CDEP's founder, Dr. Isaiah J. Crumbly, a check for $75,000 as the first of several seeds MMS will be planting into this tremendous program. We also had the opportunity to interview many students who are at various stages of their educational pursuits. These students were intelligent, articulate, and poised. They are being educated by a cadre of intellectually stimulating professors who are committed to the success of the students and the program. MMS has selected three (3) CDEP students to participate in our 04 summer internship program here in New Orleans -- Ramona Sanders, Alex Tripp, and Stanley Stackhouse. These students will take part in assignments which will allow them to travel offshore to perform inspections on pipeline installations, modifications and repairs; conduct geologic studies to ensure proper development of hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs, utilizing well log analysis, geologic mapping, 3-D seismic data interpretation, and MMS' database system; determine the economic viability of petroleum reservoirs; and create geologic reports on the subsurface structure, stratigraphy, and depositional environment which estimates the volume of gas and oil.

FVSU, founded in 1895, is a historically black institution and the birthplace of the dual degree CDEP program. The dual degree program starts at FVSU and ends with one of the four partnering universities which include the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, University of Oklahoma, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Texas-Austin. These partnerships enable CDEP to develop a cadre of professionals to meet the nation's energy demands by creating a technology-oriented labor base of highly skilled employees. To date, CDEP has graduated 38 engineers, 18 geoscientists, and 4 health physicists.

Many of the CDEP graduates are now making their mark in various energy companies such as Shell, ExxonMobile, ConocoPhillips, Chevron-Texaco, Anadarko Petroleum, Georgia Power Company, Nevada Power Company, PSEG Nuclear, Southern Nuclear Operating Company, and government agencies such as the Bonneville Power Administration, U. S. Department of Energy, U. S. Geological Survey. Additionally, non-energy companies such as Ford Motor Company General Motors, Proctor & Gamble, Sprint and others have employed CDEP graduates.

MMS is pleased to support CDEP. This partnership offers MMS the opportunity to groom young scientists and engineers today to meet tomorrow's energy challenges.