A Change in Leadership: Kam Named Interim Chair
Effective Monday, May 29, Professor Karsten Thompson moved from serving as department chairman of the Craft & Hawkins Department of Petroleum Engineering to become the interim dean of the College of Engineering. Professor Seung Kam has been appointed as the interim chair of the department over the upcoming 2023-2024 academic year. While change is sometimes viewed as a scary thing, the department looks forward to this transition as more opportunities arise for focusing on energy transition.
Thompson served as department chairman for 12 years, beginning in Fall 2011. Prior to this appointment, he worked as a full professor in chemical engineering. He began working at LSU after earning his PhD at the University of Michigan in chemical engineering in 1996 and was awarded tenure in 2002. While working as the department chair, Thompson maintained his research in porous media, becoming president of the International Society of Porous Media (InterPore) and taught our Reservoir Rock Properties course.
Kam began working for the department as an assistant professor in 2006. His PhD is in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, awarded in 1998. Before joining LSU, he worked in Australia as a visiting senior research scientist and lecturer (assistant professor) from 2002 until 2006. Kam earned his tenure at LSU in 2012. He teaches Reservoir Rock and Fluid Properties Lab and performs research focused on CO2 foams for EOR and CO2 underground sequestration and foam/surfactant-driven chemical IOR and EOR techniques. Recently the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) elected Dr. Kam to represent the Council C2 (chemical, petroleum, nuclear, and energy engineering) during three years from this summer (2023-2026), bringing him to a position where he will be able to work more closely on CCUS, H2, and energy transition topics that impact the international community.
The college will advertise the department chair position over this upcoming academic year.