Carnegie Mellon University
August 14, 2013

Media Advisory: Carnegie Mellon's Mitchell Small To Kick Off Webinar About Oil and Gas Production from Shale

Contact: Chriss Swaney / 412-268-5776 / swaney@andrew.cmu.edu

Mitchell SmallEvent: Carnegie Mellon University's Mitchell Small will join a panel of industry experts in a webinar sponsored by McGraw Hill Construction to explore the opportunities and risks involved with extracting natural gas from shale. The discovery of vast reserves of natural gas embedded in shale has transformed the nation's energy landscape and created enormous challenges.

Small, the H. John Heinz Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering at CMU, will discuss the environmental impacts of fracking in producing gas from shale, and give updates on state and federal research and recommendations about these new production technologies. Small chairs a National Academy of Engineering (NAS) panel created to scrutinize shale gas drilling. 

"The NAS review will be successful if the current state of knowledge about shale gas drilling is clarified and the uncertainties identified so we have better understanding and insights to help manage risks," Small said. 

The webinar is designed to explore the biggest challenges in the fracking marketplace, and how industry can develop new technologies to ensure safety and environmental protection.

Other webinar panel members include: Ryan Lustig, senior marketing analyst with United Rentals; Sunil Kommineni, technical adviser at Arcadis; Andy Shea, industrial sector director at Water Business Group; and Pam Hunter, panel moderator and associate editor of Engineering News Record. 

CMU is home to the Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation (www.cmu.edu/energy), a major research and education initiative focused on improving energy efficiency and developing new, clean, affordable and sustainable energy sources.

For additional information, see http://construction.com/events/2013/oil-gas.

When: 2 - 3 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 21.

Where: Online, http://construction.com/events/2013/oil-gas/, McGraw Hill Construction, New York, N.Y., 10024

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Mitchell Small (pictured above), the H. John Heinz Professor in Civil and Environmental Engineering, will discuss the environmental impacts of fracking in producing gas from shale, and give updates on state and federal research and recommendations about these new production technologies.