State-of-the-Art Opportunity

Student ProfilePAGE 4

State-of-the-Art Virtual TrainingPAGE 6

Upcoming Sporting Clay TourneyPAGE 8

Class of 2015CommencementPAGE 10

VOLUME FOURSUMMER 20 15

Check-6 Donates Virtual Training System

2 | School of PNG

The School of Petroleum & Natural Gas at Lackawanna College has a dynamic and highly successful

program. Our students are placed in

internships with top-tier companies right

on the front lines of the ever growing

natural gas and oil industry.

Find out how we can help you meet your career development goals.

Call Today!Betty Seelenbrandt

Administrative Manager, Internship Coordinator

2390 State Route 848New Milford, PA 18834

(570) 465-2344 www.lackawanna.edu

Be Workforce Ready.

Message from the Founding Dean

Commencement truly describes the giant

leap our Class of 2015 students took into the world

as they received their diplomas on May 23. This

year, 60% of our graduating class had job offers

in the industry prior to graduation. As our students

move forward into their careers, we congratulate

them for the hard work they have done here.

We are deep in preparation for fall 2015.

As part of our ongoing efforts to meet expanding

industry needs, we are working with a major

east coast energy utility company to develop

a new opportunity for our students. It will help

our students to obtain downstream pipeline safety operations certification. Our

curriculum committee is working with the International Society of Automation

(ISA) to focus field handling equipment and process educational materials

specific to the oil and gas industry. We will also be adding course specific

ISA Simulator benches to our labs. Additionally, the school is supporting the

efforts of the Lackawanna College Lake Region Center in their plans to offer a

210 hour welding certificate program with the Wallenpaupack School District,

Wayne County, PA beginning fall 2015.

The School of PNG welcomed over a dozen oil and gas industry guest lecturers

in the spring 2015 semester to discuss topics including drilling, logging, down-hole

tools and midstream technical operations. Students also made field trips to

observe various operations. We greatly appreciate the continued support of

industry professionals such as Howard Braumbaugh, WGS Equipment and Control

Inc. who this spring marked his fifth year of participation in the guest lecture

program.

We look forward to seeing many of you on September 25 at the 2015 Cabot

Fall Classic Sporting Clay Tourney to benefit the Lackawanna College School of

Petroleum & Natural Gas. Your support of this major fundraising effort provides

critical financial support to the school’s deserving students.

Many thanks,

About this Magazine

Welcome to the Lackawanna

College School of Petroleum &

Natural Gas magazine. In this

publication, you will learn more

about the school and our

accredited degree programs.

You will come to know the

people that make up one of

the finest faculties in the industry.

You will marvel at the generosity

of our supporters. Most

importantly, you will discover

for yourself some of the success

stories that our students and

graduates have realized

on their journey to achieving

their dreams of working in the

fast growing petroleum and

natural gas industry.

Enjoy learning more!

Rick Marquardt

www.lackawanna.edu | 3

Rick MarquardtFounding Dean

School of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Lackawanna College

Contact us for more information!2390 State Route 848New Milford, PA 18834

(570) 465-2344

State-of-the-Art Opportunity

Student ProfilePAGE 4

State-of-the-Art Virtual TrainingPAGE 6

Upcoming Sporting Clay TourneyPAGE 8

Class of 2015CommencementPAGE 10

VOL UME F OURSUMME R 2 0 15

Check-6 Donates Virtual Training System

I had heard that the curriculum offered was exactly what was needed to be able to hit the ground running in the industry.

“

ProfileStudent

MeetJustin Birtch

”4 | School of PNG www.lackawanna.edu | 5

Following a three year hitch in the Army, which included a year of service in Iraq working as part of a convoy security team, Justin Birtch came back to the Montrose area with his family. Justin explains that living in close proximity to natural gas exploration and development projects prompted him to learn more about the program at the Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas.

“I had heard that the curriculum offered was exactly what was needed to be able to hit the ground running in the industry,” Justin says, adding that in the end, if it were not for the school accepting the GI Bill, it wouldn’t have been possible for him to attend. “Now, I am halfway through my associate degree and I feel I’m finally on my way to starting a long, enjoyable, good paying career with a respectable company.”

Justin brings to his studies the work ethic and values instilled during his Army service. He confesses that while he never felt very strongly about school, the petroleum & natural gas technology degree program is a good fit. “I intend to finish out my remaining two semesters, learning as much as I possibly can to be able to perform my job to the best of my ability.”

Justin secured a summer 2015 internship at DTE Energy, a company that has long supported returning military service people. “Supporting the Lackawanna College student intern program is an opportunity to provide more than 160 hours of on-the-job training. Students return as viable applicants for

operations and controls jobs, and have industry and company specific knowledge, a clear advantage in a competitive hiring environment,” says Beth Baumgartner, Human Resources.

“DTE Energy and the Bluestone Gathering & Operations group in New Milford, PA are proud to support our military as they return to civilian life, school and work. DTE’s outreach efforts have included participating in job fairs focused on veterans, such as the recent Hiring our Heroes program,” Beth states, adding that the corporation has identified and targeted areas where veterans have been displaced through industry cycles and reached out to notify the veteran community of available jobs. DTE Energy jobs are posted in industry, academic and community partner locations where known veteran employment needs exist, such as when there were layoffs at the Kennedy Space Center. “Internally, DTE Energy celebrates our veterans through Veterans Day celebrations with displays, speakers and a ROTC presence at our corporate offices. Hiring of veterans in the Midstream Gathering operations has proven effective as we have a 100 percent retention rate.”

Since 2010, Lackawanna College has been included on the list of Military Friendly Schools. The list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools which are doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students. Lackawanna also participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

The School of Petroleum & Natural Gas at Lackawanna College recently took a giant leap forward in the use of cutting edge technology to provide a world-class education to the next generation of the petroleum and natural gas workforce. And they achieved it through the kind of unique public-private partnership that benefits all involved.

Check-6, the leader in accelerating human performance, will deploy two Well Control VI [virtual training systems] workstations, as well as a 60-inch, high-definition touch screen monitor at the school.

Each Well Control VI system features academic lessons and simulation designed to keep students and actual rig crews sharp on the critical fundamentals of primary and secondary well control for both surface and sub-sea scenarios. Guided by the virtual instructor technology, Well Control VI enhances classroom instruction and adds hands-on simulation exercises to well control training and certification courses. The system also includes the Check-6 Learning Management System, which tracks and documents student performance for all academic and simulation training scenarios.

Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas was able to make this innovative acquisition through a $150,000 technology grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry Bureau of Workforce Investment Administration. Check-6 will donate the training system’s Learning Management System, a value of $250,000.

“This innovative, hands-on training system is playing a critical role in sustaining competency in today’s oilfield, and will prepare the petroleum and natural gas students for their future careers and real-world well control situations in the

Marcellus, and around the world,” stated Jason McAlister, Vice President of Operations for Check-6 Training Systems.

“Adding the state-of-the-art Check-6 Well Control VI to our curriculum will enhance our students’ learning experience and provide hands-on well control practice, reinforcing our vision of preparing our graduates to be effective employees in the oil and gas industry from day one,” said Rick Marquardt, Dean of the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas. “Our graduates are hired by major exploration and petroleum, midstream and pipeline companies and the Well Control VI training system will allow them to be even more effective in their future careers.”

While the school’s investment in the Check-6 Well Control VI Training System is primarily for the advancement of its students, there are significant benefits for the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas well beyond the classroom. Having such a state-of-the-art system on campus will attract drilling professionals from all around the greater Appalachian basin region as well.

“When the system is in place, companies in northeastern Pennsylvania, western Pennsylvania, Ohio and even West Virginia won’t have to send employees to Texas to get certification,” George Stark, External Affairs Director for Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation, said about the simulator. “We want to see this school be the place that those companies send their workers to get re-certified, again, rather than having to send them down to the Gulf.” That opens up all kinds of opportunities for the students to interact with professionals from the ever growing industry.

State-of-the-Art Opportunity

6 | School of PNG www.lackawanna.edu | 7

This innovative, hands-on training system is playing a critical role in sustaining competency in today’s oilfield , and will prepare the petroleum and natural gas students for their future careers and real-world well control situations.

JASON MCALISTERVice President of Operations for Check-6 Training Systems

“”

2015 Cabot Fall Classic Sporting Clay Tourney to benefit Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas

Friday, September 25Hausmann’s Hidden HollowFlynn Road • Friendsville, PA

Register by Friday, September 4 online at 2015cabotfallclassic.eventbrite.com

Entry Options$150 Cost per person$750 Teams of five

Become A SponsorPlease contact Bill desRosiers at william.desrosiers@cabotog.com or 570-278-8616 to find out about sponsorship opportunities.

Everyone looks forward to the annual Cabot Sporting Clay Fall Classic Tourney! Whether you are one of the hundreds of shooting enthusiasts enjoying the challenging courses or one of the many dozens of generous volunteers cooking the terrific BBQ or helping to make the day run so smoothly or one of the many vendors who are there to show off their talents and superior products, every last person has a great time!

Last year, the Cabot Sporting Clay Fall Classic Tourney raised the bar in producing an event that was both very fun and very profitable to a great cause. With over 400 participants, it was a day-long shooting tournament involving over 31,000 individual shots fired! There were exciting games and raffles with over $10,000 in prizes, including the lucky winner of a trip to the Bahamas. Well over $170,000 was raised for the Lackawanna College School of Petroleum & Natural Gas, shattering the original goal of $100,000.

The 2015 Fall Classic promises to be even more fun and even more beneficial to Cabot’s focus on “empowering education

and enriching lives” through its strong support of the school. The festivities will kick-off at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, September

25th at Hausmann’s Hidden Hollow Sporting Clays on Flynn Road in Friendsville, PA. Registrations will be in teams of five but individuals are welcome as well. The cost for a team is $750 and individual registrations are $150 per person.

Participants will enjoy a day full of fun including breakfast, lunch, snacks, ammo [12 & 20 gauge only], fifteen stations, a flurry, team photos, exciting raffles, many on-site vendors and the always popular, Swag Bag!

“The Fall Classic is a great fundraiser for the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas,” stated Mark Volk, President of Lackawanna College, “but it also allows our students the great opportunity to interact with local companies involved in the natural gas industry. We are so grateful to Cabot and to all the sponsors for supporting our students.”

Please check out all of the information about the Fall Classic at 2015cabotfallclassic.eventbrite.com

Right On Target... in Support of Education & Jobs

8 | School of PNG www.lackawanna.edu | 9

Event Details:

Sponsorship

Opportunities

Going Fast!

Act TODAY!

10 | School of PNG

As the Class of 2015 walks into their professional lives, each carrying the associate science degree diploma they worked so hard to earn, we also must recognize and thank the staff and instructors of the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas for their continued commitment to excellence in education for our students. A large proportion of our students were designated cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude and proudly wore the honors gold tassel and the Phi Theta Kappa sash. The rising class of 2016 promises to uphold the school’s tradition of high academic performance.

Ben Lawrence, KCF Technologies, recently commented that his company invited two of the School of PNG recent graduates to interview for full time positions. “Both were VERY impressive guys who could not say enough about their positive experience with Lackawanna College and the School of Petroleum & Natural Gas,” Ben said, adding “You are producing champions who can successfully compete against four year engineering students because of their industry specific knowledge. Our dream is to hire as many of them as our growth can accommodate.”

Recognizing that as opportunities in the the oil and natural gas industry continue to expand, in addition to graduating students in technology and compression programs, this year the school proudly presented associate in science degrees in Petroleum & Natural Gas Business to eight students. The school’s newest associate degree program, Petroleum & Natural Gas Measurement, will graduate students in spring 2016.

“We are happy to continue to support our graduating students in their career goals,” said Dean Marquardt. Toward that end, the school has developed a resume book to assist industry professionals and recruiters in selecting prospective employees from students in the school’s four degree programs.

www.lackawanna.edu | 11

Commencement Class of 2015

You are producing champions who can successfully compete against four year engineering students because of their industry specific knowledge. Our dream is to hire as many of them as our growth can accommodate.

BEN LAWRENCEKCF Technologies

“”

2390 State Route 848 • New Milford, PA 18834

Thank YouInternship The student learning experience at the School

of Petroleum & Natural Gas is enriched by field experience. Following the completion of their first year, students spread throughout the region to intern with oil and gas companies. Major supporters of this internship program for the past several years include the following companies:

Anadarko BX3 Oilfield Supply Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. Chesapeake Energy Corporation Chief Oil & Gas DTE Energy and Bluestone Gathering EQT Corporation EXCO Resources Leatherstocking Gas Company Linde Enterprises, Inc. Petro Conservation Proconex Rain for Rent Southwestern Energy S2W Contracting Talisman Energy USA Inc. UGI Energy Services Universal Well Services, Inc. USA Compression Partners Southwest Gas Williams