UW’s Elshehabi Receives Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award

Tawfik Elshehabi’s commitment to refining his teaching practice runs as deep as the wells that are the subject of his professional expertise.

 

Elshehabi, a University of Wyoming assistant professor of energy and petroleum engineering, is among 10 recipients of this year’s John P. Ellbogen Meritorious Classroom Teaching Award, established in 1977 by businessman John P. “Jack” Ellbogen to “foster, encourage and reward excellence in classroom teaching at UW.”

 

Over his nine years with UW, Elshehabi has taken every opportunity to develop and refine his teaching practices to enhance student learning through workshops such as the National Effective Teaching Institute, the UW Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning, and the UW Learning Actively Mentoring Program (LAMP), in which he distinguished himself as a fellow of the month, in addition to joining the highly selective LAMP educator learning community.

 

This dedication to teaching excellence has been recognized through numerous awards, including the Don Stinson Outstanding Teacher Award, the Promoting Intellectual Engagement in the First Year Award, and recognition as an Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning Faculty Spotlight.

 

During his time at UW, Elshehabi has taught a broad range of undergraduate and graduate courses in drilling engineering, well control, drilling fluids and petroleum engineering fundamentals. Elshehabi’s commitment to teaching also extends beyond the classroom to include interdisciplinary seminars, undergraduate research mentoring and outreach programs that introduce high school students to engineering and energy careers.

 

In his recommendation letter for the award, department Head Soheil Saraji praised Elshehabi for the ways his systematic pedagogy engages students through “inclusive classrooms, structured opportunities for active problem solving and carefully designed assessments that encourage students to develop both technical knowledge and professional judgment.”

 

Saraji also points out Elshehabi’s strengths in connecting classroom learning to real-world practice.

 

“Drawing on both academic expertise and professional industry experience as a drilling engineer and supervisor, he consistently bridges theory and practice in ways that resonate with students and prepares them for professional careers,” Saraji wrote.

 

“One of the most impactful aspects of Elshehabi’s teaching is how he challenges students to defend their reasoning. He frequently asked follow-up questions such as, ‘What assumptions are you making?’ or ‘How would this change in a deviated well?,’” wrote one of Elshehabi’s Ph.D. students. “These moments pushed us beyond procedural calculations and toward true conceptual understanding. This approach significantly improved my confidence in technical discussions and my ability to approach engineering problems systematically.”

 

Elshehabi’s research expertise lies in the development of environmentally friendly drilling fluids for oil and gas, geothermal and carbon storage drilling applications. His work integrates advanced laboratory characterization with machine learning and digital twins to enhance automation and support energy transition goals.

 

As a UW alumnus and former research assistant of Elshehabi explained in his letter of recommendation, mistakes in these areas can cost lives. So, Elshehabi’s teaching practice, which emphasizes accountability and ethics, in addition to technical accuracy, is essential in the field of energy and petroleum development.

 

“Beyond academic preparation, he also emphasized the importance of strong ethical and professional standards, helping to shape not only skilled engineers but responsible professionals,” the alumnus wrote.

 

Elshehabi is a licensed professional engineer in Wyoming and the principal investigator of the Drilling Innovation Group at UW. He directs the state-of-the-art Drilling and Completions Simulation Facility and serves as the director of the undergraduate program, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accreditation coordinator and external ABET evaluator. Elshehabi also is the faculty adviser for the UW American Association of Drilling Engineers student club, which he helped student leadership revive after it had been inactive for some time.

 

Elshehabi received his Ph.D. in petroleum and natural gas engineering from the College of Engineering and Mineral Resources at West Virginia University, and his M.S. and B.S. in petroleum engineering, both from the College of Petroleum and Mining Engineering at Suez Canal University in Egypt.