Successful Summer STEM Externship at Weatherford

We are incredibly committed to STEM education at Weatherford, especially when it comes to supporting women and underprivileged youth. In 2016, we provided approximately 2,220 students with STEM mentorship through our Weatherford Worldwide Initiative Supporting Education (WISE) program. In June, the Weatherford WISE program hosted seven high school girls from the Houston area for their IPAA/PESA summer externship. This is our first year participating in this program, though Weatherford has been engaged in a variety of other educational activities with IPAA/PESA.

The students shadowed Weatherford for two weeks, and throughout each day met with representatives from the functional groups and each of the business units in order to provide them with a well-rounded experience. They also toured two of our facilities – a test rig and laboratory – where they got to see some of our technology up close. Additionally, they had a dedicated Weatherford WISE mentor, Sarah Richard - Well Engineer in Reservoir Solutions, who taught them how to read well schematics, provided them with educational material to review, and exposed them to what it’s like to be an engineer.

Upon graduating from the program, each student gave a presentation on what they learned. The technology fascinated them, and their interactions with our people led a few to consider alternate career paths. Ultimately, they gained an immense amount of confidence in their own abilities and truly embraced our One Weatherford spirit. One even commented “feeling at home” at Weatherford and another that she “believes in [herself] like [she] never had before”.  Each student received a $1,000 scholarship to go towards their education.