NEWS RELEASE

Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2005

Contact: Angie Joe
713.743.8153 (office)
713.617.7138 (pager)
ajoe@uh.edu
RUNNING ON EMPTY: ENERGY WORKFORCE SHORTAGE
FOCUS OF UPCOMING UH-GEMI CONFERENCE

As the energy sector continues to struggle with a declining workforce, the University of Houston’s Global Energy Management Institute (UH-GEMI) is coordinating efforts to address this disturbing industry trend.

UH-GEMI, in the Bauer College of Business, is bringing together trade organizations, academics, students and industry leaders for its “Building the Energy Workforce of the Future” conference. The event will be held at the University Hilton Nov. 3.

“More and more students are choosing careers in less technical fields, and we want to encourage some of those students to rethink their career path,” said Zlatica Kraljevic, UH-GEMI’s events chair. “In April, we began identifying groups who had programs that encouraged K-12 students to consider energy studies. UH-GEMI invited these organizations to collaborate and to combine resources, talents and efforts. We started with five groups and have grown to 25.”

Red Cavaney, American Petroleum Institute (API) president and chief executive officer, will deliver the conference’s luncheon address. Presenters from the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Independent Petroleum Association of America, Project Learning Tree, Offshore Energy Center, Junior Achievement and the Greater Houston Energy Education Collaborative will speak during the “Attracting the New Generation” panel. Representatives from Houston Community College, UH’s Cullen College of Engineering, UH-GEMI and Texas A&M University will talk about the “Role of Higher Education Institutions.” The “Corporate Views and Solutions” panel will feature speakers from Ernst and Young, Watson Wyatt and the Quality Training Institute and PetroSkills.

General admission is $55. With identification, students and UH faculty and staff can attend for free. For more information or to register for the conference, go to https://www.bauer.uh.edu/uhgemi/Forms/workforce.htm.

WHO: UH’s Global Energy Management Institute in the Bauer College of Business
WHAT: “Building the Energy Workforce of the Future”
WHEN: November 3, 2005
9 a.m. – “Attracting the New Generation”
Noon – Red Cavaney, API President, luncheon address
1:15 p.m. – “Role of Higher Education Institutions”
3:15 p.m. – “Corporate Views and Solutions”
4:30 p.m. – “Wrap Up and Conclusions”
WHERE: University Hilton Hotel

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.