Midstream Essay Contest Winners Named
Lamar University's Center for Midstream Management and Science (CMMS) and College of Engineering are pleased to announce the winners of the first annual CMMS Midstream Essay Contest. The essay assignment was Energy Transition in the Midstream Industry, and it was open to all undergraduate and graduate students at all 35 4-year, public universities in Texas. The essay competition generally sought the perspective of students engaged in degree programs in the colleges of Business, Engineering, and Arts & Sciences, but all students in all disciplines were encouraged to submit an essay. Topics were wide open, including but not limited to, corporate finance and structure, capital markets, engineering, operations regulation, ESG, and human capital.
Generally, the midstream industry gathers, processes, fractionates, transports via pipelines, and stores oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and NGL fractionated products such as propane, ethane, and butane. The midstream industry ultimately collects raw hydrocarbons from oil and gas fields (upstream) and delivers them to consumers, including refiners, petrochemical plants, heavy industry, and retail or residential consumers (downstream). The broad listing of degree programs and essay topics was designed to not only expose students of many degree programs and interests to the midstream industry but to also find and highlight unique perspectives from tomorrow's leaders.
The 2023 winners of the CMMS Midstream Essay Contest are:
- First Place - Aiden Manji, BBA Business Administration in Finance (Honors), Texas A&M University at College Station (May 2025)
- Second Place - Colin Waguespack, BSc Chemical Engineering (Honors), Texas A&M at College Station (December 2023)
- Third Place - Trevor Pierce, BSc Mechanical Engineering, Tarleton State University at Stephenville (August 2025)
The winners will receive a Certificate of Achievement and a cash prize of $3,000, $2,000, and $1,000 for first place, second place, and third place, respectively.
Thomas Kalb, Director of CMMS, said "We were pleased with the broad participation in our inaugural midstream essay contest and are already planning to issue an invitation for submissions to our Second Annual CMMS Midstream Contest on December 1st with a tentative final submission date of February 29, 2024. The essay assignment of our second competition will be AI in the Midstream Industry. Dr. Brian Craig, Dean of LU's College of Engineering, commented "Educating students, no matter their degree program, about the attractive opportunities available to them in the midstream industry is a worthy effort. The midstream sector, like others, requires people of all educational backgrounds and interest."