Texas is growing accustomed to experiencing system-wide power grid disruptions. The first recent major event was winter storm Uri in February 2021, which left 4.5 million homes in the dark, cost $195 billion in property damage, and caused the deaths of over 50 people due to a combination of factors…
Maureen S. Golan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, researching power grid resilience and effective quantification methods. She has a Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and is a returned Peace Corps volunteer (Vanuatu). She can be reached at mgolan@utexas.edu.
Oil and gas operations are commonly found in remote locations far from company headquarters. Now, it's possible to monitor pump operations, collate and analyze seismic data, and track employees around the world from almost anywhere. Whether employees are in the office or in the field, the internet and related applications enable a greater multidirectional flow of information – and control – than ever before.