Alan’s career began in 1984 with an established manufacturer of missile and bomb bodies. As a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Option, Alan began his career in the Dallas, Texas, area with an established manufacturer of missile and bomb bodies. Manufacturing drawings were created the traditional way on the drafting board with drafting machines and templates for every shape. He learned the art of tool making and that experienced help to open the doors at two NASA installations. Alan was initiated into the world of codes and standards while at the Mississippi facility assembling Advanced Solid Rocket Motors (ASRM) and at the Michoud facility in New Orleans that produced the External Tank for the Space Shuttle system. Staying with the aerospace industry, he developed the primary controls and structures for full-flight simulators.
As a change in career direction and after earning his Professional Engineer’s license, Alan joined T. D. Williamson in 1999 as Project Engineer, supporting the development of the world’s largest tapping machine the 2460XXL. During the seventeen years at TDW, Alan had many positive mentors. One mentor stands out that made life-changing experiences for him. Dixit Kadakia’s sharp sense of strategic thinking, genuine customer service, and clear vision helped Alan to differentiate the critical thinking from the ‘noise’ of day-to-day events. This developed focus set him in motion to build trust with customer, peers, and industry professionals and to see our industry as a dynamic model, ever changing and evolving. He began to listen more to the customer’s needs, talking less, and experiencing the challenges of our industry in a unique way. At TDW Alan has six product patents granted in the US and in other countries, helping to improve TDW’s position in the marketspace.
For a short five-year break from TDW, Alan joined Williams Companies in Tulsa as an Integrity Engineer, eventually being promoted to Manager of the group. Running pigs and in-line inspection tools were common to maintain the liquid regulated pipelines from Wyoming to Kansas. Alan found ways to complete the field service work and bundle service providers to minimize the footprint on the right-of-way and save costs to Williams. Alan returned to TDW in 2017 as Director, Pigging Products, and supported the technology team in rationalizing both the pigging product line and the closure product line. Alan’s last two years at TDW provided leadership to product development to all global regions with a seminar on Systems Engineering and Design of Experiments.
Throughout the time at TDW and Williams, Alan became a volunteer on the ASME code committees and currently is a sub-group chair for the B31.4 code. This opportunity to work with industry experts helped to foster industrial relationships with peers from diverse sectors of the energy industry. Previously he was an active member of ASME PCC-2 Non-Metallics during the time TDW was developing the composite repair and rehabilitation system.
Alan’s technical papers are published in industry magazines and in ASME proceedings. He has presented at trade events and industry conferences in global locations and presented code interpretations in a World Pipeline webinar.
