Petroleum Engineering Department was established in 1995 under the Department of Chemical/Petrochemical Engineering to run courses leading to the award of Bachelor of Technology degree in petroleum engineering.
Consequently, the name of the department was modified to “Department of Chemical/Petrochemical and Petroleum Engineering.” Before this time, the Department of Chemical/Petrochemical Engineering was established in 1980 along with the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Marine Engineering (established in 1974) in the School of Engineering of the former College of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt.
On the 6th of August 1980, the law establishing the Rivers State University of Science and Technology was promulgated, which transferred to the University the assets and liabilities of the College. Thus, the School of Engineering in the former College of Science and Technology became the Faculty of Engineering of the University, comprising the aforementioned five departments.
In1995/1996 academic session, first batch of sixteen (16) students were admitted into the department out of which eight (8) graduated in the 1999/2000 academic sessions. In the 2008/2010 academic sessions, the department was presented for the National University Commission (NUC) accreditation and had full accreditation.
In November 2014, the Department of Petroleum Engineering was separated to be autonomous with a substantive head of department. In June 2015, the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN); the body set up by Decree No. 55 of 1970 to control and regulate the practice of engineering profession in Nigeria, visited the department and gave full accreditation to her Bachelor of Technology Degree (B. Tech) programme. Subsequently, from 6th through 9th December 2015, NUC team visited the department again and the department scored a total of 87.7%. Based on the total score, the panel recommended full accreditation status for the programme. Also, from 29th to 30th April 2021, NUC visited the department again and gave a full accreditation.
Presently, the department has a total of 13 academic staff.These includes; 0 Professor, 1 Reader, 2 Senior Lecturer; 3 Lecturer I; 4 Lecturer II; 1 Assistant Lecturer; and 2 Graduate Assistant.
PROFILE OF THE HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
Engr. Dr. Kingdom Kponanyie Dune is an Associate Professor (Reader) and currently the acting Head of Department of Petroleum Engineering. He holds B.Eng, M.Eng and PhD, all in Petroleum Engineering. He is a certified, professional, COREN-registered Petroleum Engineer and corporate member of both the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) who has a long track record of over 24 years in teaching, research, consultancy, reviewing and mentoring students at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels at the Rivers State University (RSU), formerly, Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Engr Dr K. K. Dune has really served the University on several Committees such as University’s Curriculum and Instructions (C&I) as Faculty of Engineering Representative, Faculty of Engineering SIWES, Faculty’s Research Development and Publication (RD&P), Conference and Workshop Committees, etc. He was appointed a member of the JNET Editorial Board representing the Department of Petroleum Engineering in 2023. As soon as he assumed duty in 2000, his first appointment was as Departmental Examination Officer, which he served from 2000 to 2013.
He has also had part-time, adjunct, appointments with Niger Delta University (NDU), UniUyo, and Uniport’s Institute of Petroleum Studies (IPS), and at various times, been involved in collaborative teaching of short courses organized for industry personnel on different subjects including: oil well production technology, custody transfer operations, production engineering for non-production engineers, and wellhead equipment operation and maintenance. He, before joining the University in May 2000, had worked in most phases (upstream and downstream sectors) of the oil and gas industry. His research interest is in petroleum production – enhancement/optimization and production economics, natural gas utilization, multiphase flow through restrictions, and oilfield produced water/waste management. He has published a book, several technical papers in reputable referred local and international journals and conference proceedings, and attended several conferences and workshops including: 2024 Faculty of Engineering International Conference on the theme “Engineering Practice for National Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability” held 20th -21st June, 2024 at Amphi Theatre, Rivers State U., Port Harcourt; COREN Engineering Assemblies; Nigeria Annual International Conferences and Exhibitions (NAICE) of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) – Nigeria Council–usually held every year at Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos; The 2021 Maiden Edition of International Conference of Newviews in Engineering and Technology (ICNET) (Virtual) on the theme “Leading Edge Technologies for Entrepreneurship and Local Content Development in the 21st Century” held October 27, 2021, Faculty of Engineering, RSU, Port Harcourt; DPR-NPD Gas Utilization Workshop – a 2-Day Workshop organized jointly by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) on “Natural Gas Utilization” held at Hotel Presidential, Port Harcourt, Nov. 23-26, 2004, amongst others.
Engr. Dr. K. K. Dune is a self-motivated, goal-oriented team-player with proven knowledge and great wealth of experience. Other of his SKILLS include: good oral and written communication, computer literacy with excellent analytical and problem-solving ability. He is physically fit and emotionally stable and can work for long hours under varying weather conditions.
