LSU Students Win SPE Student Paper Contest Awards
Two LSU petroleum engineering students each won $1,000 at the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in Houston.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Oil and Gas
Nicolas Manica won the undergraduate division and Ayman Said won the doctoral division of the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition Student Paper Contest, each receiving $1,000. The contest was held in Houston, Texas, from October 21-23.
Why it matters
Said is the first LSU doctoral student to win first place in the international competition, and LSU had not placed in the top three since 2019. The wins highlight the research strength of LSU's petroleum engineering program for the Baton Rouge area.
The Permian Basin produces over 60% of the United States' tight oil, and the Wolfcamp formation accounts for 60% of that basin's production. The extraction does not indicate the total number of competing papers.
The players
Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE)
The SPE is a professional organization for petroleum engineers that hosts the annual technical conference and student paper contest.
Louisiana State University (LSU)
LSU is the public university in Baton Rouge whose petroleum engineering students won the contest awards.
The details
Manica's research studied how salinity levels and non-ionic surfactants affect oil extraction from unconventional rocks in the Permian Basin in West Texas. Said's research uses generative artificial intelligence and physics models to simulate underground carbon dioxide movement, and his paper is under review for the Computational Geosciences journal.
Timeline
March: LSU held an internal competition to select its representatives.
May: Said advanced to the regional level of the contest.
October 21-23: The SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition and Student Paper Contest took place in Houston, Texas.
Industry Context
Winning students publish their papers in an academic database, extending the research beyond the conference. The Permian Basin's dominance in U.S. tight oil production makes West Texas formations a central testing ground for extraction research like Manica's.
For students and researchers in the Baton Rouge area, the results signal a pathway into international petroleum engineering competition. The contest's publication of winning papers in an academic database makes this research accessible to professionals in the field.
The takeaway
Strong student research programs can translate into international recognition, and LSU's return to the top three signals growing competitiveness in petroleum engineering. Following publications in academic databases can reveal emerging extraction and simulation techniques.
What happens next
Said's paper is currently under review and is expected to be published in the Computational Geosciences journal.
Further reading
Explore more Oil and Gas coverage from the Baton Rouge area.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Reveille.
