The University of Tulsa's Petroleum Engineering Department

Andrew Konczvald was born in Transylvania, a mountainous area of Central Romania. Inspired by my uncle, he always wanted to be a petroleum engineer, but under communism he was barred from pursuing higher education. Eventually he was allowed to attend the University in Yashi and he graduated in construction engineering. After immigrating to Hungary he worked as a research engineer in construction of deep foundations. In 1976, he escaped to former West Germany. Two years later the U.S. Embassy sent him a letter stating that they had found a sponsor in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He eventually joined TU in 1979 and graduated with a degree in petroleum engineering, in 1981. He worked for Occidental Petroleum for several years before joining Mineral Management Service in 1990. He currently is involved in regulating off-shore oil production.

Andrew in his own words:

How did you join TU?

When the U.S. embassy sent me a letter informing about a sponsor in Oklahoma, I was looking for where it is located. Having no idea where Oklahoma was located, my old German landlord grabbed a German "World Atlas - 1905" that listed Oklahoma as "Indian Territory", with Guthrie as the capital! Very seriously he frowned at me and said, "You better pack your pocket knife -there are cowboys and Indians on the streets!” However, a German professor of mathematics, very wisely told me, "Forget the pocket knife. Pack the slide rule instead!" I arrived in Oklahoma in the summer of 1978 with only the clothes on my back, a few technical textbooks and an English-Hungarian dictionary. Since I could not speak English, the only work I could find was as a draftsman. Every weekend I would drive by The University of Tulsa buildings, waiting for the magic moment when I would pass the English exams and be allowed to apply to the university.

By October, 1979, I had learned enough English. I quit working and with only enough money saved up for tuition, books, and living expenses for two years, I enrolled in the petroleum engineering sciences of The University of Tulsa. We were in the North Campus, used a monster punch-card computer, and tossed the slide-rules for pocket calculators. I was lucky to have excellent professors, like Dr. Brown, Dr. Azar, Dr. Baggs (the famous "Beggs-and-Brill Equations"), and many others. I graduated in May, 1981, and started working in the enhanced oil recovery research with Occidental Petroleum. Later I transferred to California working in the onshore/ offshore domains, studied air quality and combustion optimization, and since 1990 I am with Minerals Management Service, U.S. DOI, regulating the offshore petroleum industry. Since 2002 I am working at the Virginia headquarters.

Any memories while in Tulsa?

Soon after graduation, I wanted to say thanks to my draftsman friends who helped me while I could not speak English. We hugged each other, shook hands, and I was invited into the foreman's office. Mr. Green looked into my eyes and in a loud voice, almost yelling and slowly enunciating each syllable said: "Andrew - how - are - youuu?!" I explained everything, then he hugged me and smiled and very proudly Mr. Green said, "Wow! Your hearing has improved!"