The University of Tulsa's Petroleum Engineering Department

Curtis graduated in 1982 from TU with a PhD in Petroleum Engineering. He also received Bachelor and Masters Degrees from the University of Tulsa in Applied Mathematics. He joined Amoco Production Company and worked at their Tulsa Research Center until 1997 when he moved to Amoco’s office in Houston. He focused on the development of gas reservoir engineering and pressure transient analysis technologies. Prior to the merger with BP, Curtis was the Technology Director for Reservoir & Production Applications. With BP, he continued his career in the technology organization as Base Management Excellence Team Leader. In January, Curtis transferred to Jakarta where he is the Senior Petroleum Engineer on the Tangguh LNG Project.

He has participated in SPE as technical reviewer, technical editor of JPT, and on a number of SPE committees. He has been a member of the Petroleum Enginnering Department’s Industry Advisory Board since 1990 and was the Chair of the IAB during the last two years.

Curtis is married to Kelly since 1992 and they have two children, Max and Alexis. Alexis is a recent graduate of the TU.

Curtis in his own words:

Why did you choose TU?

I went to high school inTulsa and was familiar with TU. After a year at the University of Oklahoma, I decided I wanted to attend a smaller school with a strong focus on academics.

How did TU prepare you for your job?

Through the courses I gained a firm technical foundation. But, most importantly the professors and especially my advisors, Dr. Reynolds and Dr. Raghavan, taught me how to think, how to approach a tough technical problem and find a way to solve it. They also helped me develop my abilities to communicate through presentations and by writing articles.

Any fond memories?

When I attended TU, the Engineering and Physical Sciences College was still on North Campus. I spent a lot of time there working with my fellow students. There were plenty of times we were there to the early morning hours trying to get our programs to run on the mainframe. I still remember the collaboration and special sense of being part of a technical community. I am still in contact and work with people that attended TU when I did.