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UW Lands Another Corporate Sponsor For Energy Research

WPR/AARON SCHRANK

A company that manufactures scientific and technical instruments will become the second-largest corporate donor in University of Wyoming history.

Oregon-based FEI announced Friday that it will give $12 million to create a new center in UW’s High Bay Research Facility—which is expected to open next year.

FEI will provide imaging equipment and software to support UW’s research into maximizing recovery of oil and gas from conventional and hard-to-reach reservoirs.

The state will match FEI’s gift, for a total of $24 million. Governor Matt Mead says it’s the right time to invest.

“When you see the downturn in oil and gas, there’s sort of the gut reaction, ‘we’ve got to contract, we’ve got to stop research,’” says Mead. “But this is the time to do it. This has huge potential to help the margins of the oil and gas industry. This is the time to be doing it, when the margins are so tight and so tough.”

The new partnership between UW and FEI is a part of the University’s push to elevate its engineering programs to national prominence. That effort is expected to cost UW hundreds of millions of dollars in the years ahead.

The Vice President of FEI’s oil and gas division, Mark Bashforth, says his company will send experts to UW to conduct research alongside students and faculty.

“What we’re trying to do for the oil and gas industry is to improve reservoir performance, to enhance recovery capabilities, while lowering cost and uncertainty—and doing that with the most minimal impact on the environment.” Bashforth says.

Other corporate sponsors of UW’s engineering initiative include the Hess Corporation and Encana.

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