Curtin Malaysia Applied Geology student Sharveen Ravichandran awarded AAPG Foundation Undergraduate Grant

Miri – 8 July 2021 – Applied Geology Honours student Sharveen Ravichandran of Curtin University Malaysia (Curtin Malaysia) has done his university proud by being awarded a prestigious and highly-competitive American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Foundation L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant.

The AAPG Foundation’s L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant programme annually awards deserving undergraduate students studying a field of geoscience full-time at accredited universities across the world with USD500 grants. Student-led geoscience student associations including AAPG Student Chapters and other undergraduate student-led geoscience clubs or associations are also eligible to receive funds.

Since 1967, the Foundation has promoted the geosciences by funding grants, distributing technological information, recognising outstanding achievements, and other initiatives that support the preservation of data, training and career enhancement for current and future geoscientists.

Sharveen is currently pursuing the fourth year (Honours year) of his Bachelor of Science in Applied Geology by undertaking a full-year Honours project. He is also a member of the Curtin Malaysia AAPG Student Chapter and was a committee member of the Curtin Geology Club in 2020.

In congratulating Sharveen, Head of the Applied Geology Department at Curtin Malaysia, Associate Professor M.V. Prasanna said, “It was quite an achievement for Sharveen to be awarded the grant as there were more than 400 very deserving applicants this year. It is a testimony of the calibre of our students and the quality of the education we provide, as well as our research capabilities.”

Curtin Malaysia’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, President and Chief Executive Professor Simon Leunig also congratulated Sharveen, saying that Sharveen had done Curtin Malaysia proud with his outstanding achievement, especially as the AAPG Foundation L. Austin Weeks Undergraduate Grant programme is one of the most competitive in the world.

“We are always proud of our students, alumni and staff who achieve at international level. As Curtin University’s largest global campus and hub in Asia, we are a globally-focused, locally-engaged institution that takes pride in the broad range and high quality of our programmes in engineering and related sciences, technology, business, communications and the social sciences, which gain strength and currency from our strong industry, government and community links,” said Professor Leunig.

Meanwhile, Sharveen said the USD500 grant is a significant amount and will be used to fund his Honours research project, ‘Mineralogy and Geochemistry of the Baram River Sediments: Emphasis on Provenance, Weathering and Transportation History’. He added that getting the grant proves that hard work does pay off and that it has boosted his self-confidence.

“I am finally able to complete my research project, which will definitely help me develop my technical skills in geochemistry in the future,” he said.

Sharveen also thanked to his supervisor, Dean of Research and Development and Director of the Curtin Malaysia Research Institute Professor Ramasamy Nagarajan; Associate Professor M.V. Prasanna, who is also the Honours Coordinator in the Department of Applied Geology; and other lecturers in the Department, saying that his achievement would not have been possible without their support.

Curtin’s Bachelor of Science in Applied Geology (Honours), which has been offered at Curtin Malaysia since 2017, is a four-year course that gives students a thorough grounding in theoretical and practical geology with technical and commercial skills.

Following three years of study in basin analysis and petroleum systems, reservoir engineering fundamentals, and a petroleum geology project with aspects of geophysics, students undertake a full-year Honours project (Honours Dissertation) designed to develop their core research skills, including experimental, theoretical and field-based studies, data collection and analysis, critical scientific analysis and reporting.

Completion of the Honours-year project demonstrates to potential employers a graduate’s ability to work on his own and to plan and carry out a complex body of work within defined deadlines. Through their projects, Honours students have the opportunity to publish their research work in peer-reviewed journals or books, as well as engage in international research collaborations. Graduates of the course have found employment in the petroleum, mining, minerals, GIS, groundwater and environmental industries in Malaysia and overseas.

For more information on the Bachelor of Science in Applied Geology, visit https://courses.curtin.edu.my/courses-and-study/undergraduate/engsci/bsc/applied-geology/.

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) is one of the world’s largest professional geological societies with more than 40,000 members across 129 countries as of 2021. The AAPG works to advance the science of geology, especially as it relates to petroleum, natural gas, other subsurface fluids, and mineral resources; to promote the technology of exploring for, finding, and producing these materials in an economically and environmentally sound manner; and to advance the professional well-being of its members. The AAPG was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Currently almost one-third of its members live outside the United States.

Applied Geology (Honours) student Sharveen Ravichandran in the field.