Ford Brett, SPE, was recognized with the 2020 American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) Presidential Citation. The award recognizes extraordinary and dedicated service to further the goals, purposes, and traditions of AIME.
Brett is the CEO of PetroSkills and has consulted in more than 45 countries in petroleum process and project management. Before joining PetroSkills, he was with Amoco Production Company where he worked on drilling projects in the Bering Sea, the North Slope of Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, offshore Trinidad, and Wyoming and led a project that first identified drill-bit whirl, which is considered as one of the 100 most significant developments in the history of the petroleum industry.
In 2010, he advised the US Department of Interior as one of seven reviewers of the “30-Day Report” immediately following the BP Macondo tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico. He continued serving through 2012 on the US National Academies Committee on the “Effectiveness of Safety and Environmental Management Systems for Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Operations.” Brett holds more than 30 US and international patents and is the author of more than 30 technical publications. He was the SPE Technical Director for Drilling and Completions from 2007 to 2010. Brett holds a BS in mechanical engineering and physics from Duke University, an MS in engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from Oklahoma State University. He is a registered Professional Engineer and a Project Management Professional.