Developing interdisciplinary engineering competencies for oil, gas and new energy integration: A progressive practical teaching framework
Abstract
The low-carbon transition is driving closer integration between oil and gas development and new energy technologies, extending from renewable electricity supply to the coupling of energy inputs with production processes, subsurface energy utilization, and carbon management. These developments create interdisciplinary engineering problems that require students to connect knowledge across disciplinary boundaries and make decisions under integrated engineering constraints. However, conventional practical teaching is often organized around separate technical subjects, providing limited opportunities to develop such cross-domain connections. To address this gap, this study proposes a four-level progressive practical teaching framework for oil, gas and new energy integration: Fundamental understanding and data interpretation, Crossdomain scenario analysis, Integrated system design and decision-making, and open-ended innovation and inquiry. Learning tasks progress from interpreting multidisciplinary data to analyzing coupling relationships, evaluating technology applicability, designing and comparing integrated solutions, and investigating open-ended questions. Representative contexts include renewable electricity supply, electricity-assisted oil recovery, geothermal utilization, and carbon capture, utilization, and storage, with emerging electric-field and electrochemical processes incorporated as research-oriented extensions. Case- and project-based learning, physical experiments and simulation-based learning, university–industry collaboration and research integration, and competency-oriented assessment are incorporated as complementary implementation approaches. The framework provides a structured pathway for connecting new energy technologies with oil and gas engineering across energy supply, engineering processes, and subsurface systems.
Document Type: Original article
Cited as: Zhang, W., Jia, Q., Wang, Y., Wei, S. Developing interdisciplinary engineering competencies for oil, gas and new energy integration: A progressive practical teaching framework. Higher Engineering Education Transformation, 2026, 2(1): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.46690/heet.2026.04.01
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46690/heet.2026.04.01Keywords:
Energy integration , engineering education , engineering competency, practical teaching , project-based learningReferences
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