Fred Florence

Fred Florence is the president of Rig Operations LLC and is retired from National Oilwell Varco as director of advanced drilling technology. He previously worked for several drilling contractors in engineering and operations roles in both land and offshore. He has served previously as chairman of the SPE Drilling Systems Automation Technical Section (DSATS) and remains as an active volunteer co-leading the Drillbotics competition. He is a former SPE Distinguished Lecturer and has authored or coauthored numerous SPE papers on drilling automation. Florence holds a BS in electrical engineering from Southern Methodist University and an MA in international management and an MBA in marketing, both from the University of Texas at Dallas.