Winter 99/00 - Petroleum Engineering | The University of Oklahoma

New Faculty and Staff Members
Chandra Rai, professor, Integrated Core
Characterization Center, Tulsa
Prior to joining Amoco Production
Co. in 1982, Chandra Rai conducted
research in the area of high pressure
and temperature geophysics at the
University of Hawaii. He was employed
at Amoco from 1982 to 1999, and
is the principal or co-author on 10 U.S.
patents. Along with Carl Sondergeld
and Bruce Spears, he was responsible
for developing the mobile, highly
automated and versatile core characterization
system, GEM, that led to the IC» .
He and Sondergeld are also responsible
for the development of the rock properties
database that is one of the most
comprehensive in industry and academia.
Rai’s undergraduate and
master’s degrees in applied geophysics
are from the Indian School of Mines,
India. He earned his doctorate in
geology and geophysics from the
University of Hawaii. Rai joined PGE
in November 1999. Rai and his wife,
Usha, have a daughter, Rachna, 18, who
will graduate from Tulsa Union High
School in May 2000, and a son, Rohit,
who is 12.
Dan O’ Meara, associate professor and
interim director, Reservoir Engineering
Group.
Dan O’Meara joined Sarkeys Energy
Center as director of the Institute for
Reservoir Characterization in 1992 and
joined the School of Petroleum and
Geological Engineering as interim
director of the new Reservoir Engineering
Group and associate professor in
October 1999. Before coming to OU
O’Meara managed the Integrated
Reservoir Characterization Team at
British Petroleum’s Houston Technology
Center. He earned his bachelor’s
degree in chemical engineering at the
University of Rochester and his
master’s and doctoral degrees, both in
chemical engineering, from Princeton
University.
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Carl Sondergeld, professor, Integrated
Core Characterization Center, Tulsa
Carl Sondergeld earned his bachelor
of arts degree and master’s of arts
degree in geology at Queens College of
the City of New York and his doctorate
in geology from Cornell University.
He is the principal or co-author on 14
patents and has published extensively
in the area of rock mechanics and
petrophysics. He has been associated
with the Tulsa Research Center since
1981. He and Rai are considered the
“founding fathers” of the Integrated
Core Characterization Center for their
instrumental roles in laboratory automation,
system and equipment design,
and interpretation and application of
resulting data. Sondergeld and his
wife, Rose Marie, have two daughters
who will both graduate this spring:
Amy, 21, will graduate from Trinity
University, San Antonio, Texas, and
Lindsay, 18, from Union High School,
Tulsa.
Dr. Jonathan Kwan, Martin G. Miller
Chair and visiting professor
Jonathan Kwan joined PGE in May
1999 after working at Unocal Corp. for
20 years in various technical and
management positions in research,
operations, marketing and business
development. Over the past four years,
he has promoted the use of natural gas
in power generation, chemical manufacturing
and gas-to-liquid conversion
throughout the United States, Asia, and
Europe. Kwan received his undergraduate
degree from the University of
California at Berkeley and his master’s
of science and doctorate in Chemical
and Environmental Engineering from
the University of Southern California.
His research interests are in strategic
planning, scenario analysis, system
thinking, project economics, natural
gas engineering and trading, enhanced
oil recovery, heavy oil and asphaltene
formation. He and his wife, Anne, have
two sons, Lesley, 18, and Kevin, 17.
OU Discovery
School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering
Bruce Spears
Bruce Spears is responsible for the
day- to-day operations and management
of IC» in Tulsa. Bruce designed
much of the equipment used in the
Center and wrote and maintains the
software used for lab automation and
multiple Web pages in support of IC» .
Spears’ career with Amoco Production
began at the Tulsa Research Center in
1976 when he was the first student
selected for a cooperative program
between Oklahoma State University
and Amoco to give students work
experience prior to graduation. Bruce
earned his bachelor of science degree
in electrical engineering at Oklahoma
State University. He and his wife,
JoBeth and family live on a 300-hundred
acre farm outside Pawnee, Oklahoma.
He has five children: Carrie, 25;
Justin, 24; Molly, 21; Michael, 12; and
Grant, 11.
Joao Tadeu Vidal de Sousa
Joao Tadeu Vidal de Sousa is serving
as a postdoctoral research fellow in
PGE at the Well Construction Technology
Center. De Sousa completed his
doctorate in mining science at the
University of Leoben, Austria, in March
1999. His master’s degree is from the
State University of Campinas, Brazil.
His responsibilities are in the areas of
development of drilling research
proposals, mathematical modeling and
computer simulations of drilling
processes; and characterization of
drilling fluids. He and his wife,
Lucivania, have a 3-year old son, Joao
Tadeu Vidal de Sousa Filho, and live in
Norman.
Nicolette Gosvener
Nicolette Gosvener joined the
department in October 1999 as
coordinator for Financial Operations.
Nicolette earned her accounting degree
at the University of Tulsa and has been
a licensed CPA since 1982. Nicolette
lives in Norman and has two sons:
Dylan, 15, and Cody, 11.