OU Engineering

The Thomas family, in honor of their family’s patriarch, who passed away in May 2020, have established The Dr. L. Kent Thomas AIM Fund to support the advancement, innovation and mentoring of graduate students. The $170,000 gift to the University of Oklahoma Foundation establishes two endowments—one in the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education, where Kent’s wife, Kayleen, earned her bachelor’s degree, and another in the Gallogly College of Engineering. “I am very grateful that Dr. Thomas’ family has chosen to honor him in a way that supports graduate students in the Gallogly College of Engineering,” said Dean John Klier. “The legacy of his life will be realized by the accomplishments of these students.” Dr. Thomas was born and raised in Miami, Oklahoma, where he attended Northeastern Oklahoma Junior College before earning a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from OU in 1962, followed by a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Michigan. In 1966, Thomas began hi...

NORMAN, OKLA. – A team of petroleum engineering students from the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy at the University of Oklahoma are international champions after being named winners of the 2020 Society of Petroleum Engineers PetroBowl competition last week. PetroBowl, founded by the Society of Petroleum Engineering in 2002, matches SPE student chapter teams against each other for fast-paced quiz competitions. Students answer both technical and nontechnical questions about the energy industry. The OU team advanced to the international championship after winning the North American Regional Qualifier in Los Angeles last February. This year’s championship was hosted virtually and delayed from its usual fall date to three weekends during January 2021 because of COVID precautions. While the format differed, it was still fast-paced and as competitive as ever. “A top-level PetroBowl round is eight or 10 minutes of pure pressure,” said team member and Ph.D. student Felipe Cruz. “We must c...