COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Dr. E.G. "Skip" Ward, associate director of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station’s Offshore Technology Research Center, was honored by the American Petroleum Institute (API) for his 30 years of service to the organization. Ward received the institute’s 30+ Years of Service Recognition Award at the Executive Committee on Standardization of Oilfield Equipment and Materials Conference. Ward has been "a key contributor to API’s standardization program," said David Miller, API’s director of Standards. Ward joined OTRC in 1998 as associate director. Since then, he has worked to enhance and strengthen the center’s relationship with the oil industry though expanding existing and introducing new technical thrusts; developing and promoting more applied research and application studies; and developing new roles for the center to serve the oil industry. He has also had a lead role in planning, coordinating and administrating the center¿s research program, which typically includes about 20 active projects in a variety of technical areas. He previously spent 30 years with Shell Oil Co., beginning with Shell Development Co.’s E&P Research Division in 1968 as a researcher. From 1981 to 1985, he supervised the Oceanographic Engineering section, and from 1985 to 1994 he managed the Offshore Engineering Research Department. In 1994, Ward became technology manager with Shell Offshore Inc.’s Deepwater Division, where he was responsible for a group that designed deepwater structures and developed new structural concepts and components for deepwater production systems. Throughout his career, Ward has made significant technical contributions in the areas of oceanography and ocean engineering, arctic engineering, structural engineering and pipeline engineering. Ward has been a member of API since 1976. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Lamar University and master’s and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Houston, all in mechanical engineering. Established in 1988 with funding from the NSF and industry, the OTRC was created to conduct basic engineering research and develop systems for the economical and reliable recovery of hydrocarbons and other energy sources at ocean depths of 3,000 feet or more. The center is jointly operated by the Texas A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, the engineering research agency of Texas and a member of The Texas A&M University System.
