Research and Development (Houston Research Center) - 2027 Summer Student Program

Houston R&D Center
Disciplines: Engineering Majors, Data Science, Computer Science, Geology, Chemistry, Material Science
Work with experienced scientists to address upstream challenges including drilling, exploration, production and technology advancements.

Reservoir Engineering Technology Intern Opportunity
Disciplines: Engineering (any), Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Chemistry, Material Science, Biologist, Physics, Geology, Geochemistry
Houston RETT develops technologies to overcome challenges in exploration and production and optimize development of unconventional resources in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Typical activities Include:

• Assist staff in conducting R&D focused on challenges encountered by the unconventional assets in the Kingdom
• Support integration of laboratory, field, and modeling data to improve understanding and development of unconventional reservoirs.
• RETH has a broad research portfolio that provides a diverse range of learning opportunities
• Conduct laboratory measurements and experiments that help improve our understanding of these unconventional resources
• Organize, analyze and integrate data gathered within R&D or from external laboratories
• Students are assigned mentors and will be challenged to carry out their duties independently.
• Towards the end of the assignment, students will assemble their work for a team presentation. Their work will be incorporated with prior and on-going work into a presentation or manuscript for submission to a conference or a journal.

Drilling Technology Intern Opportunity
Disciplines: Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Polymer Chemistry, Petroleum Engineering
Develop future drilling and workover technologies that will place Saudi Aramco among the best in the industry in terms of safety, performance, efficiency, and cost effectiveness. Opportunity will include working on sustainability projects that include CO2 sequestration and hydrogen production.

Typical Activities include:

• Drilling and cementing fluid preparation and characterization
• Material synthesis, characterization and applications
• Operate intricate laboratory equipment

Sensors Development Intern Opportunity 
Disciplines: Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering or related fields
Develop new oilfield measurement instruments from concept to field-tested prototypes. With expertise in sensing science, robotics, and engineering design, researchers have created faster, more cost- effective ways of gathering data.

Typical Activities include:
Electrical Engineering Summer Student
For sensor systems in oil field instruments student will work on:

• Circuit Design
• Firmware programming
• Testing of systems

Mechanical Engineering Summer Student
For sensor systems in oil field instruments student will work on:

• Mechanical Design (Solid Works)
• Additive manufacturing
• Flow-loop Testing

Artificial Intelligence Technology Intern Opportunity
Disciplines: Computer Science, Data Science, Mathematics
Research and develop machine learning and artificial intelligence technology for upstream applications, to turn Aramco data into improved decision making, automation, operation efficiency and sustainability.

Typical Activities include:

• Developing and evaluating AI/ML models for upstream oil and gas applications.
• Preparing, organizing, and analyzing structured and unstructured datasets.
• Applying AI techniques such as computer vision, NLP, forecasting, anomaly detection, optimization, and physics-informed methods to upstream oil and gas challenges.
• Assessing model performance, uncertainty, feature importance, and comparisons with conventional workflows.
• Converting research code into reusable, production-ready workflows and applications.
• Supporting the development of AI-enabled decision-support tools, data pipelines, dashboards, and reporting solutions.
• Collaborating with scientists, engineers, and developers to deploy digital technologies.
• Preparing technical reports, presentations, and project demonstrations.

Geophysics Technology Intern Opportunity
Disciplines: Geophysics, Geoscience, Data Science
Conducts research on advances in surface and borehole seismic data processing and inversion and developing rock-physics enabled integrated geosolutions technologies for geophysical support of onshore and offshore E&D workflows, and Drilling Hazards Characterization.

Typical Activities include:

• Developing machine learning methods
• Analysis of borehole seismic and distributed acoustic sensing data
• Developing rock physics models for pore pressure prediction
   

Technical Upstream (Houston)
We provide support for Saudi Aramco’s Upstream operations and research. Our Upstream
Group collaborates with the EXPEC Advanced Research Center, Saudi Aramco's award-winning
upstream R&D center in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and is a key player in the scientific and
engineering organizations that drive the upstream O&G industry.

Upstream Engineering Opportunity
Disciplines: Sustainability, Chemical, Environmental, Petroleum Engineering or Chemistry
The summer student will assist senior engineers in technology identification, detailed review
and assessment. Upstream’s Sustainability Team is focused on Decarbonization, Carbon
Circularity and New Energies (Hydrogen) technologies to reduce the upstream operational
carbon intensity.

Typical activities Include:

• Assisting senior engineers in market intelligence reports.
• Support coordination with 3rd Party technology providers.
• Support in assembling the technical brief and technology reports.
• Assist in required engineering simulations and calculations as required.
• Support in preparation of presentation slides to management.

Houston Downstream

The Houston Downstream Research Center is advancing sustainable technologies to address global emissions and improve energy efficiency. Our research spans synthetic fuels, hydrogen production, and renewable energy integration—driving innovation in the downstream sector.

Downstream Engineering Opportunity
Disciplines: Chemistry, Chemical Engineer, Material Science

Typical Activities Include:

• Synthesizing and characterizing catalytic and adsorptive materials
• Operating advanced experimental systems and instrumentation
• Collecting and analyzing technical data
• Supporting process design and optimization efforts

Advanced Materials Intern Opportunity
Disciplines: Chemistry, Chemical Engineer, Material Science
Advanced Materials Team develops novel materials – polymers, organic-inorganic hybrids, functionalization of materials – to overcome challenges in upstream sectors. Team also covers the automation of materials discovery through robotics.

Typical Activities include:

• Polymer synthesis and characterization
• Evaluation of Loss circulation materials, drag reducing agents, water shutoff formulations
• Extraction of critical metals
• Automation of materials discovery
• Operation and handling of advanced characterization tools

Opportunity eligible for internship course credit (credits earned), please check with your Academic Advisor or University.