Recently, I had the privilege of mentoring Omar, a young petroleum engineer who demonstrated remarkable initiative and talent.
This case study highlights our collaborative journey, showcasing the impact mentorship can have in fostering innovation and professional growth.
Our journey began when Omar reached out to me after watching my YouTube tutorials. A tutorial on creating applications with Excel and VBA particularly caught his attention.
Inspired, he replicated the approach and took it a step further—developing a Python application to calculate the gas compressibility factor (Z-factor).
This demonstrated his proactive approach to learning and problem-solving, a key trait in any aspiring engineer.
Omar built the application using Python, leveraging Tkinter for the graphical interface and PyInstaller to create a standalone Windows executable. Eager for feedback, he shared his initial version with me, sparking a collaborative development process that would refine the app significantly.
In Omar’s words:
“Alan provided suggestions for improvement, which I incorporated as several new functionalities, including:
- Unified Input and Output Display: Results and charts were displayed on the same screen as inputs, ensuring seamless usability.
- Data Export Capabilities: Users could export data to Excel files and save charts as PNGs for further analysis.
- Interactive Elements: The integration of sliders for pressure input added interactivity.
- Modern Visualizations: By adopting the Plotly library, we introduced dynamic and engaging charts.
- Enhanced UI Design: Transitioning to the CustomTkinter library gave the application a sleek, modern look.”
This iterative improvement process exemplifies the power of mentorship, where constructive feedback leads to both technical growth and creative innovation.
Beyond technical enhancements, our discussions often delved into the importance of user experience and market considerations. I encouraged Omar to adopt a user-centric approach, emphasizing continuous learning and refinement.
By shifting his mindset from mere functionality to usability and impact, he gained a broader perspective on software development for the energy industry.
Our mentorship collaboration resulted in several key outcomes for Omar:
This journey highlights how mentorship, when combined with curiosity and effort, can accelerate learning and open new doors for young engineers.
I’m excited to see what Omar accomplishes next and hope this inspires more engineers to engage in collaborative learning and innovation.
If you’re interested in building similar applications or seeking mentorship, feel free to reach out. Let’s continue fostering innovation in petroleum engineering!
See Omar's app in action, here.
Get the Python script, here.
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Alan Mourgues is a Petroleum Reservoir Engineering Consultant with 25 years of international experience. He is the founder of CrowdField — the go-to hub for Oil & Gas subsurface professionals to upskill, freelance, and monetize their expertise. CrowdField brings together a global community through: i) Freelance marketplace for niche talent and task-based solutions; ii) Digital Store & Vault of engineering tools, workflows, and resources; iii) AI Hub showcasing startups, workflows, and use cases; iv) Learning resources including webinars, blogs, and curated datasets. Alan’s mission is to empower professionals to turn knowledge into income and future-proof their careers as the energy transition unfolds.
