Huda Al-Amri

Um, okay. Last year our school went on a trip to an oil field, in the desert, outside Muscat. I saw the pumps, the big ones that go up and down, and I didn't know how they work. The engineer there explained it, and I was... I was really interested.

He said the oil is not just sitting in one big pool. It's in rock, and the pressure goes down over time, so they have to push things in, like water or gas, to get more out. That was new for me. I thought oil was simple.

Hmm. I think they look at data from the wells, and they make computer models of the reservoir. They try to decide where to drill and how much to produce, and they also think about the water and the environment, which I think is important.

Yes. The engineer showed us a graph of pressure in one well. When the pressure dropped too fast, they had to decide whether to inject gas or water. If they choose wrong, they waste money, or they damage the rock. So it's a big decision, with numbers and also judgment.

I did an online course about geology, on Coursera, and I finished it, which took a lot of evenings. Also, with two friends in science club, we made a small model with sand and water to show how oil moves through rock. It was messy, but it worked.

Getting the sand to act like real rock. If it's too fine, the water goes through too fast, and it doesn't look like anything. We tried three different sand types before we got a result that made sense. I learned that you have to test things many times.

Okay. I'm interested in carbon capture, and I read that Khalifa University has research on that, and it's in Abu Dhabi, which is close to the energy industry. Also the classes are in English, which I think will help me, because a lot of the engineering papers are in English. I want to be somewhere where I can work in a lab, not only read about it.

Hmm, yes. In our science club project, at the start nobody wanted to be the leader. Everyone was quiet. So I made a simple schedule on paper, and I said, let's each take one part, and we meet on Thursday. It's not a big thing, but I was nervous to speak first.

Two people were late with their parts, so I had to ask them again, and that was uncomfortable for me. But in the end we finished before the deadline, and our teacher said the presentation was the clearest in the class. That made me feel good, and also less shy, a little.

Maybe that I'm quiet in the first meeting, but when I know a topic, I want to go deep. I'm not the fastest talker, but I check my work many times. And I really want to learn how to reduce the environmental impact of oil, not just produce more of it.

Thank you, Nura. Thank you for the time.