Education
GPA Midstream and GPSA have long partnered with the Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT), first through its Natural Gas Compression Program, and since 2013, the school’s Pipeline Integrity Program. The midstream industry relies upon the type of education students receive in OSUIT’s applied learning environments that simulate workplace expectations.
Natural gas compressor training has been part of the OSUIT curriculum since 1974, and the school launched a full-time Natural Gas Compression Program in 1999. This program seeks to develop a reliable and continuous source for technicians specifically trained in natural gas compression to enter the gas processing industry. The program recruits students from geographic areas in which GPA Midstream and GPSA members have a need for technicians. The program offers internships to allow students to experience in a real-world setting what they’ve learned in classrooms and labs.
Both GPA Midstream and GPSA have been instrumental in the program’s development, providing professional expertise, financial support and equipment since its beginning. Today the Natural Gas Compression Program is the largest at OSUIT and boasts a 100% employment rate for those who successfully complete the training.
OSUIT and boasts a 100% employment rate for those who successfully complete the training.The need for skilled engineering technologists that install, operate, maintain, repair and manage the integrity and security of pipelines is on the rise, and OSUIT has targeted this need by initiating the Pipeline Integrity Program to enable students to develop the skills necessary to be successful in the pipeline industry. Major topics of study include safety, assessing pipeline damage and risk, corrosion control, design and integrity management.
Scholarships
GPSA contributes up to $30,000 toward undergraduate engineering scholarships each year, with $5,000 going to each of GPA Midstream’s six chapter organizations’ scholarship programs.
