ALUMNI
NEWS
MPGE Alum, Ted Collins, Jr. receives Top Hand Award |
| On January 28, 2009, Ted Collins, Jr. was honored by the Permian Basin Petroleum Association with its 2008 Top Hand Award. The award, given for outstanding achievement and for contributions to the industry and the community, was presented to Collins at the Petroleum Club of Midland. The event was attended by Dean Larry Grillot and MCEE Director of Development Ameil Shadid. When asked about receiving his award, Collins says he was surprised and humbled by his recent awards. "If you live long enough they run out of candidates."
Collins graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1960 with a BS in Geological Engineering. He then went to work for Pan American Petroleum Corporation in Andrews, Texas. as a petroleum engineer. Raised in Ft. Worth, Collins moved to Midland, Texas in 1964 where he has been ever since. Since a junior in high school, he has always wanted to be in the oil and gas business. He referred to his former long-time partner, Herb Ware (OU Geology alumnus, dec. 2003,), as a blessing and smart and talented geologist and business man, drilling wells all over the U.S. and Western Canada. With his former partner, they started Collins & Ware in 1988, but later sold to Apache.
Currently he is president of Collins & Ware Investments Co of Midland. "Just surviving and being active in the oil business has been very rewarding and enjoyable," says Collins. "The new technology has kept our business exciting and interesting."
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Collins has two sons, Patrick and Michael, who live in Dallas and New Orleans respectively. He says seeing his sons start their own businesses is thrilling.
Collins was inducted into the Petroleum Hall of Fame on April 23, 2009.
OU ALUMS INDUCTED INTO PETROLEUM MUSEUM HALL OF FAME
James "Jim" Henry (MPGE BS '57; MS '58) and Ted Collins, Jr. (MPGE BS '60), were inducted into the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum Hall of Fame in Midland, Texas on April 23, 2009. Both inductees are MPGE alumni. (Read more about them in the summer 2009 issue of Earth & Energy Magazine).
COUAA HOSTS FIRST REUNION IN HOUSTON
| After two years in existence, the Colombian OU Alumni living in Houston gathered for the first time on February 12, 2009. With the support of the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, and particularly Dean Larry Grillot, The Colombian OU Alumni Association hosted a reunion and fundraising reception at the Houston Petroleum Club. Over 35 alumni gathered that evening and enjoyed meeting ith the college representatives in attendance, Ameil Shadid, Director of Development, Allison Richardson, Alumni Relations, and Yoana Walschap, Energy Institute of the Americas Director. Also in attendance at the reunion were alumni from Guatemala, Bolivia and Venezuela.
Dean Grillot spoke about the new college and plans for the future, while Abel Chacon, 2008 COUAA President talked about the importance of giving back to the Alma mater and the fundraising efforts for the scholarship fund, which is the main goal of the association. Yoana Walschap, COUAA Treasurer and COLSA Advisor, thanked COUAA officers for their hard work in setting up the association and encouraged the group to donate to this noble cause. The objective of the group is to provide scholarships to the OU Colombian Student Association (COLSA) members. Since 1995, when the Energy Institute of the Americas was established, many Colombians have come to OU mainly in the areas of petroleum engineering, geology and geophysics. Currently, there are approximately 50 graduates in the Houston area and close to 20 students in the college. The group raised over $6000 for scholarships which will be matched by the OU Alumni Association. On February 28, 2009, during the eighth annual Colombian Night event, $12,000 in scholarships was awarded to 16 students. Of the 16 students, four are from the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy. To find out more about COUAA or to become a member, e-mail Yoana Walschap at ywalschap@ou.edu or visit the COUAA website at http://www.couaa.com.
Alumni ClassNotes . . .
Christopher Bellman, MEE, MA '07, Project and Trade Finance Analyst for Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), was married in Austin, December 2008. His wife, Serena, is now living with Chris in Bahrain. As APICORP maintains offices in both Saudia Arabia and Bahrain, Chris splits his time between both places, spending a couple of days each week in Saudi. Chris is an alumnus of the Managerial Energy Economics (MEE) Program, formerly of the MCEE.
Norelis Rodriguéz, CPSGG, MS '07, and Gustavo Diáz (CPSGG, MS '08)
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Yoana Walschap, Allison Richardson,
Luz Angela Lozano, Larry Grillot
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From Left, Felipe Gallego, Dean Grillot,
Abel Chacon, Yoana Walschap, Alejandro Carrascal, Luz Angela Lozano,
Luis Carlos Rodriguez
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| Sebastian Bayer, Ameil Shadid, Larry Grillot |
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gave birth to a son, Diego Ignacio, on July 27, 2008. Norelis is working for Chevron in Houston as a geochemist. Gus is a development geologist for Conoco Phillips, also in Houston.
William "Randy" George , MPGE, BS '81, retired in 2007 after a 22-year career in the U.S. Air Force as a weather officer. His assignments included a tour of duty in Germany, working at the Pentagon, and teaching at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He is currently working as a technical director on the OU Research Campus for an engineering company (BCI, Inc.) doing R&D on the National Severe Storms Lab Multi-mission Phased Array Radar (MPAR) project. Randy and his wife, Tamara (College of Allied Health '83), live in Norman. Their daughter, Melinda, is a sophomore at OU majoring in Communication.
Marinus Tabak, MEE, MA '08, an alumnus of the former MEE Program, returned home to the Netherlands after graduating in December 2008. He is working as a management/trainee for RWE/Essent, one of the biggest utility/natural gas firms in Europe. While in the program at OU, Marinus participated in the IFP Exchange Program with the French Petroleum School in Paris.
Akinwale Ogunkoya, MEE MA '07, is working as a Project Planner for Air Liquide in Houston. While in the MEE program, Akin participated in the IFP Exchange Program with the French Petroleum School in Paris. Air Liquide's U.S. operation, American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc. (American Air Liquide), is part of an international group specializing in industrial and medical gases and related services.
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International Corner
International students 205
Latin American and Caribbean Students 43
African Students 52
Middle Eastern Students 55
Asian Students 51
European Students 4
Outreach |
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2008 was a good year for the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy (MCEE) and its international outreach in Latin America. The Energy Institute of the Americas (EIA), directed by Yoana Walschap, coordinated the outreach efforts of several college professors who presented papers, talks and short courses in Ecuador, Peru and Colombia. The year started with a presence at the International Congress of Conventional & Unconventional Hydrocarbon Resources in Cartagena, Colombia in February. Yoana Walschap and Naïla Williams manned a booth for the college at the conference which attracted potential graduate students and OU alumni. Also participating in the conference was Dr. Kurt Marfurt (ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics), who gave a two-day course for the American Association of Petroleum Geologists. In July, Dr. Shankar Mitra (CPGG) gave a course in Bogota for the Colombian Association of Petroleum Geologists and Geophysicists. This was coordinated by Fabio Ortega, OU Managerial Energy Economics alum, and the EIA office. |
In September, Dr. Yucel Akkutlu of the Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, Roberto Galliaso (Chemical Engineering researcher) and Yoana Walschap participated at the V Annual Energy and Petroleum Seminar in Quito, Ecuador. They gave talks at the seminar, met several students interested in petroleum engineering degrees, and visited the University of San Francisco de Quito. While there, Akkutlu and Walschap were invited to visit ESPOL – Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral in Guayaquil, home to one of the strongest student SPE chapters in Ecuador. Both gave presentations and met with professors and officials of the university.
In October, five professors participated in the VI International Seminar on Exploration and Production of Oil and Gas (INGEPET 2008) in Lima, Peru. Professors Roger Slatt (CPGG) and Faruk Civan (MPGE) each gave a two-day course and presented papers. Additional faculty presenting papers and posters were Professors Subhash Shah (MPGE) and Paul Philp (CPGG). Ph.D. alum, Dora Restrepo, presented a paper co-authored with Dr. Djebbar Tiab (MPGE). Information on graduate programs in both schools was distributed at the conference by Yoana Walschap at the college's display booth. As a result of a cooperative agreement that OU has with the National Engineering University in Lima, we are seeing an increase in applications from PE exchange students.
The year ended with a short course conducted for PetroGroup--a training company in Bogota--in December, where Dr. Slatt offered his Reservoir Characterization course. Over 250 potential students received information on the college's graduate programs.
Yoana Walschap, Contributor |
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