The Land of Opportunity

Life in the energy industry started at a young age for Ryan Miller. Growing up in Adler Flats, with a father who was a field foreman for a small oil and gas company, riding along to service rigs was not out of the ordinary. "Every chance that I got, I would ride along with him to work," Miller remembers.

After high school, Miller opted out of continuing education in favour of a job in the industry he knew best. "I operated heavy machinery for several years before I found a steadier job with an oil and gas company in Drayton Valley. I worked for them in the field all over west-central Alberta."

After several years of field work, Miller moved to an office environment where he got his first taste of the technical aspects of the oil and gas industry. "I realized that I had so much to learn. I worked for another three years in the office environment before I decided to make a life change. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my career hitting my head on a glass ceiling."

In 2009, Miller enrolled at SAIT Polytechnic in the petroleum engineering program. "It came highly recommended," says Miller. "I did research and talked with co-workers. They said great things about the programs at the MacPhail School of Energy and SAIT in general. It has been one of the best decisions of my life."

Miller’s petroleum engineering program is part of the MacPhail School of Energy at SAIT, the first school of energy in Canada and one of only a handful of energy schools in North America. Students graduating from the program have a 94 percent employment rate, which can be largely attributed to comprehensive training specific to the energy sector and collaboration with industry to provide superior employee training across all facets.

"World-class facilities like the Wellsite Production Education Centre gave me hands-on experience, while the Petroleum Industry project exposed me to current industry developments," says Miller. "I have been able to see first-hand what life as a petroleum engineer will be like, and the contacts I have made in school will be very valuable going forward,"

Currently finishing his second year of petroleum engineering, Miller knows he has an advantage being a post-secondary student in Alberta. "Just look at the training facilities we have at SAIT. Post secondary institutions in Alberta receive a lot of donations and support for both programs and students. Albertan students forget what great opportunities we have in this province."

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