Jon Olson and Steve Laubach coordinate the FRAC research and mentoring effort within the Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering. Courses on fractured reservoirs, reservoir geomechanics, brittle structure, and structural diagenesis are taught in the Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering and Department of Geological Sciences.

If you are a prospective engineering student seeking information on sponsored senior thesis, M.S. thesis and dissertation projects, contact Jon Olson. You should also consult the main PGE web site for application procedures.

We are currently seeking strong graduates students for research on a wide range of funded projects.

Contact Jon Olson about admission to the Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering program at UT

Recent Publications  of Note:

Olson, J. E, Laubach, S. E., and Lander, R. H., 2009, Natural fracture characterization in tight gas sandstones: Integrating mechanics and diagenesis. AAPG Bulletin, v. 93, no. 11, p. 1535-1549.

Olson, J. E., 2007, Fracture aperture, length and pattern geometry development under biaxial loading: a numerical study with applications to natural, cross-jointed systems. In Couples, G & Lewis, H., eds., Fracture-Like Damage and Localization, Geological Society of London, Special Publication. 289, 123-142.

Philip, Z. G., Jennings, J. W. Jr., Olson, J. E., Laubach, S. E., and Holder, J., 2005, Modeling coupled fracture-matrix fluid flow in geomechanically simulated fracture networks : SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, v. 8, no. 4 (August 2005), 300-309. [pdf full text]