ABSTRACT
The Oil Technology course and its offshoots are unique in Great Britain; they have provided instruction at university level directed specifically at upstream oil company operations for 75 years. Implementation of this recommendation led Professor Watts to recruit a new geology graduate from Cambridge, V. C. Illing, in 1913. He was designated Demonstrator in Petroleum in 1914, and Lecturer in Petroleum in 1915. In 1921 he was appointed Assistant Professor in Petroleum, and in 1923 the title was changed to Assistant Professor of Oil Technology. It is notable that round about the time that the Oil Technology course was introduced a number of organisations relating to the oil industry were born. The onset of World War I in 1914 meant that few students were able to continue to attend the Oil Technology course, so there was a gap in their training. During part of World War II a special arrangement affected the duration of the Oil Technology course.
