31st Annual Spring Symposium Speakers

Opening Keynote Speaker 

Doug Lawler
President and Chief Executive Officer, Continental Resources

Doug Lawler is an energy executive with over 30 years of leadership in the oil and gas industry. He currently serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Continental Resources, having joined the company in 2022 as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President. Doug began his career in 1988 with Kerr-McGee and transitioned to Anadarko Petroleum following its acquisition in 2006. At Anadarko, he held several senior leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of International and Deepwater Operations. He later served as President and CEO of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, where he led a major corporate transformation and served on the board until 2021. He also serves as a director at Pilot Travel Centers LLC (Pilot/Flying J), contributing to strategic oversight in the travel and logistics sector since 2016. Doug holds a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines, where he played football, and an MBA from Rice University. He remains deeply connected to both institutions. In 2023, Doug and his brother, Dave, established the Robert M. and Nancy L. Lawler Endowed Scholarship Fund at Colorado School of Mines which celebrates his parents’ love and sacrifice while supporting future generations of engineering leaders. Beyond the boardroom, Doug is known for his strong family values and adventurous spirit. In a memorable moment captured by Reese Energy Consulting, Doug and his brother Dave once teamed up for a charity auction alligator hunt—an experience that showcased their shared sense of humor, camaraderie, and commitment to giving back. Known for his strategic vision, operational excellence, and ethical leadership, Doug Lawler is a recognized voice in the global energy community. His career reflects a deep commitment to innovation, sustainability, and mentoring. Most recently, Doug delivered the 2025 keynote address at the Colorado School of Mines Commencement Ceremony. Doug is a board member of the Hamm Institute for American Energy. 

Aaron M. Hunter
President Permian, ConocoPhillips

Aaron has 21 years of experience in the Permian spanning time with Chevron, Concho Resources, and now ConocoPhillips. Over the course of Aaron’s 21 years, he has worked in reservoir and operations engineering, secondary and tertiary recovery, microbial water flooding, field operations management, asset manager, and most recently President of the Permian. Aaron has also held multiple volunteer positions in technical and non-technical nonprofit boards. Aaron earned a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech in 2004.

Justin Weinkauf, P.Eng.
Manager, Drilling Performance, Precision Drilling

Justin Weinkauf, P.Eng. is Manager of Drilling Performance at Precision Drilling, based in Calgary, Alberta, holds a Petroleum Engineering degree from Montana Technological University (’19), and is a Professional Engineer (APEGA).

Jordan Jackson
Completions Manager, US Operations, Ovintiv

Jordan is a Senior Drilling and Completions Engineer with over 17 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and currently serves as the US Operations Completions Manager at Ovintiv. Throughout his career, he has led teams and innovative projects across more than eight North American basins.

Jordan’s focus is on continuous improvement—raising the bar on efficiency to maximize value while never compromising safety or operational integrity. The teams he leads have been pioneers in completions innovation, including first of kind applications of wet sand, as well as simultaneously hydraulic fracturing three and four wells at once using a single frac fleet.

Under his leadership, these teams continue to enhance well productivity through rigorous frac design, improved cluster efficiency, advanced fluid selection, and the deployment of cutting-edge diagnostics and technologies. Jordan’s work in multiwell pad operations and collaborative knowledge sharing has set new benchmarks in safety, cycle time, cost reduction, and capital efficiency.

Nidhal Badrouchi
Principal Reservoir Engineer, Energy and Environmental Research Center

Dr. Nidhal Badrouchi is a Principal Reservoir Engineer and Team Lead of the Applied Reservoir Engineering Laboratory at the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) at the University of North Dakota. His work focuses on advancing subsurface energy technologies through integrated laboratory experimentation and reservoir modeling.

He has over 12 years of experience spanning academia, industry, and applied research, working on projects related to unconventional reservoir development, CO₂ injection, and subsurface fluid behavior characterization. His research interests include carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), enhanced oil recovery (EOR), reservoir characterization, multiphase flow in porous media, and geomechanics.

Dr. Badrouchi works with multidisciplinary teams to lead advanced research programs that combine field-scale testing, experimental investigations, and reservoir simulation to improve understanding of fluid–rock interactions and recovery mechanisms in complex reservoirs.

Dylan Lougheed
CEO, SAGA Wisdom

Dylan Lougheed is Co-Founder and CEO of SAGA Wisdom, an AI-enabled learning and knowledge platform serving global energy professionals. Dylan has 15 years of experience across energy, engineering software, and technology. He previously held reservoir engineering and leadership roles at Fekete Associates (now SPE Global), where he helped develop petroleum engineering software products now used throughout the upstream oil and gas industry. Dylan is an active Society of Petroleum Engineers volunteer, conference chair, and published technical author, with a passion for energy and technology. He also loves to go skiing.

Medhat (Med) M. Kamal
Chevron Fellow Emeritus and the 2023 SPE President

Medhat (Med) M. Kamal is a Chevron Fellow Emeritus and the 2023 President of the International Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). He is an Honorary Member of AIME. He previously worked for Cairo University, Amoco Production Company, and ARCO Exploration and Production Company.

Kamal has more than 50 years of industry experience in well testing, reservoir description, and production and reservoir engineering. He is the lead author and editor of SPE Monograph 23, “Transient Well Testing,” and has published more than 40 papers in various refereed SPE journals.

He was an SPE Distinguished Lecturer in 1997–1998 and 2018–2019, during which he presented his lectures more than 80 times in 35 countries. He served as a member and chairman of the SPE Annual Meeting Well Testing subcommittee, as well as the textbook and monograph committees, and as technical reviewer, associate editor, and executive editor for SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering Journal and the Journal of Petroleum Technology and is a member of the Peer-Apart group. He chaired the first SPE conference on research and development in 2007 and the Western Regional Meeting in 2019. He served on the boards of directors of Mid-Continent, Gulf Coast, Dallas, and Golden Gate sections of SPE and chaired the Dallas and Golden Gate sections. He also served on the SPE International Board of Directors (2007–2009) as the Regional Director of Western North America.

Kamal has been recognized with several regional and international awards, including the SPE Cedric K. Ferguson Medal, SPE Formation Evaluation Award, SPE Distinguished Service Award, SPE North and East Texas Regional Service Award, and the Texas Petroleum Engineer of the Year Award.

He holds a BSc in petroleum engineering from Cairo University, as well as an MS and PhD in petroleum engineering with a minor in computer science from Stanford University.

Mohamed Shafik Khaled
Assistant Professor, Colorado School of Mines

Dr. Mohamed Shafik Khaled is an Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Colorado School of Mines, where he leads the VERTEX Research Lab, developing next-generation drilling and well-construction solutions for subsurface energy systems. He brings over five years of industry experience with Halliburton Sperry Drilling and previously held postdoctoral and research faculty roles at The University of Texas at Austin. He earned his PhD, MSc, and BSc in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University, Cairo University, and Suez University, respectively, and has authored 40+ technical publications in drilling engineering, geothermal development, and advanced modeling.

James K. Wicklund
Managing Director, PPHB LLC - Investment Bank
Presentation Title: What’s Next?!?

Mr. Wicklund is a veteran of the energy industry, having taken his career from field geophysicist to international operations, to equity research, to managing a hedge fund, and working as an investment banker. He has worked in geophysics and engineering for a geophysical company, an oil company, and a Petroleum Engineering group, both in the US and years of work internationally. He has lived and worked in Australia, Singapore, Milan, London several times as well as the US, with Western Geophysical, Sun Oil, and ECL before joining the financial services industry as a research analyst covering the Oilfield Services sector. He has won Best on the Street honors from the WSJ, 1st team in the II ranking multiple times and won the Greenwich Industry Knowledge recognition.

He has a breadth of experience in many aspects of energy.

Most recently, he was Managing Director and Senior Banker in the Energy Group at Stephens Inc., following decades as a research analyst and investor, with Rauscher Pierce, Banc of America, Credit Suisse, and running a fund at Carlson Capital. He is a member and past symposium chair of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG), on the boards of the National Offshore Industry Association (NOIA), the Technology Workforce and Technology Council (formerly PESA), Merit Advisors, Preng & Associated, and the Maguire Institute Advisory Board at SMU, his alma mater.

Simon Seaton
CEO/EVP, Society of Petroleum Engineers

As CEO, Simon Seaton is responsible for overall management of SPE. He works with the Board of Directors and senior staff to develop strategic and business plans and formulate the organization’s goals, objectives, policies, and programs. He also organizes and directs the global staff organization, which includes offices in Dallas, Houston, Calgary, Kuala Lumpur, and Dubai, to ensure the accomplishment of SPE’s mission.

He previously held the role of CEO, Energy and Resources, at Sodexo, a global food, facilities management, and workplace services company where he worked since 2012 in Houston, Singapore, and Dubai.

A graduate of Cardiff University and a chemist by education, his career began as a drilling fluids engineer. He spent 22 years at Halliburton in various technical, business development, and executive roles in Aberdeen, Houston, and Nigeria. Positions at Halliburton included country vice president, managing director of the UK, and senior director of deepwater solutions.

Seaton has been an SPE member for 30 years and has authored or coauthored more than 20 technical papers. In 2021 he completed the Global Energy Leadership Program at the Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University. In 2025 he was elected a Fellow of the Energy Institute and joined the National Petroleum Council in 2026. Originally from the UK, he currently resides in Houston.

Nitin Srivastava
EVP Engineering, Locke Capital LLC

Nitin Srivastava is responsible for reservoir engineering evaluation, reserves analysis, economic modeling, and oversight of geoscience and operational activities. He has over 20 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas industry. Most recently, he served as EVP of Engineering at Locke Capital, and prior to that as EVP Technical at Titanium Exploration and Technical Team Lead at Occidental Petroleum.

In these roles, Nitin has been involved in the technical and economic evaluation of more than 1,000 acquisition and divestiture opportunities across multiple shale basins in the Lower 48 while navigating the constantly evolving dynamics of the oil and gas A&D market.

Nitin holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in India, a master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Ken Beattie
COO, CrownQuest Operating, LLC

Ken Beattie is the chief operating officer of CrownQuest Operating, LLC, with extensive experience in petroleum engineering and business development. He earned his degree in petroleum engineering from Montana Tech in 1993 and began his career the following year at Meridian Oil, which later became Burlington Resources. Over time, he took on increasingly senior roles, ultimately serving as Gulf Coast engineering manager. After Burlington merged with ConocoPhillips in 2006, Ken transitioned into a leadership position overseeing strategic initiatives. In 2007, he joined CrownQuest Operating, playing a vital role in enhancing the company’s market position through a private equity partnership with Lime Rock Partners.

Kate Heiken
Founder, Execution Partner, Wayfinder Energy

Kate Heiken is the Founder and Execution Partner at Wayfinder Energy, where she works with energy-focused startups and growth-stage companies to streamline operations, scale efficiently, and drive profitability. Prior to founding Wayfinder Energy, she held technical and leadership roles in industry, including Development Outlook Lead and Reservoir Engineering Advisor for the Uinta Basin at Ovintiv, and Staff Asset Development Engineer at Newfield Exploration. She also serves on the Leadership Committee for 50/50 Women on Boards, supporting greater board diversity. Kate is a Petroleum Engineering alumna of Montana Technological University.

Nicholas Draper
Wellsite Engineer, Hilcorp North Slope

Bio coming.

Audrie Jensen
Student, Montana Tech Petroleum Engineering

Audrie Jensen is a third-year petroleum engineering student here at Montana Tech, where she is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering with plans to graduate in Spring 2027. She is an active officer and member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), the International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC), and the American Association of Drilling Engineers (AADE), and also serves as a student ambassador through Montana Tech’s Prospector Program. Her interests include traveling, exploring different cultures, meeting new people, and spending time outdoors.

Susan Howes
President, Subsurface Consultants & Associates LLC

C. Susan Howes is President at Subsurface Consultants & Associates (SCA), leading the firm’s consulting, recruitment, and training services with a commitment to technical excellence. She brings industry experience from her tenure at Anadarko and Chevron, where she held roles in business development, HR, organizational capability, and reservoir management. She has coauthored papers and articles on the topics of ethics, uncertainty management, risk management, and talent management. Howes received the SPE DeGolyer Distinguished Service Medal, is an SPE Honorary Member and SPE Distinguished Lecturer for 2019-20, and is 2027 SPE President. Howes is a member of the Advisory Council at the Jackson School of Geoscience at the University of Texas (UT). Howes holds a BS degree in Petroleum Engineering (PGE) from UT and was named a 2024 PGE Distinguished Alumna. Howes was Chair of Curriculum Committee on the Montana Tech Petroleum Engineering Department Industry Advisory Board from 2003 to 2007.

Nathaniel Younk
Completions Engineer - Permian, Ovintiv

Nathaniel Younk is a completions engineer supporting Ovintiv’s Permian asset, where he has contributed across multiple engineering and operational disciplines over his five years with the company. His diverse experience at Ovintiv has helped shape a strong technical foundation in well design, execution excellence, and cross-functional collaboration. Prior to joining Ovintiv, Nathaniel earned both his Bachelor of Science (2020) and Master of Science (2021) degrees in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Technological University.

Noah Daoust
Vice President, Technical Solutions, Superior Energy Services

Noah Daoust is Vice President of Technical Solutions at Superior Energy Services, where he leads a global team of application engineers focused on solving client drilling challenges. He brings 18 years of downhole tool experience spanning operations, product line management, sales, and executive leadership.

Prior to Superior, Noah served as Chief Operations Officer of Rival Downhole Tools, where he helped scale the company through the rapid development and global deployment of high-performance drilling technologies, with a continual focus on advancing tool reliability. He was a co-inventor of Rival’s RSS-specific zero-bypass mud-lubricated motor and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from University of Houston Downtown.

Qingwang (Kevin) Yuan
Assistant Professor, Texas Tech University

Dr. Qingwang Yuan is a tenured Assistant Professor in the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas Tech University, Co-Founder and President of The Association of Geological Hydrogen (AGH), and the holder of George F. and Joan Watford Energy Professorship. He established The Hope Group at Texas Tech University, focusing on in-situ HydrOgen production from PEtroleum reservoirs (carbon-zero), natural and stimulated HydrOgen Production from the Earth’s subsurface (carbon-free), geological hydrogen production with CO2 sequestration (carbon-negative), and enhanced geothermal recovery. Before joining Texas Tech University in 2020, he worked as a Postdoc at Stanford University (2017-2019), a Postdoc at University of Regina (2016-2017), and a Reservoir Engineer at CNOOC Research Institute in China (2014-2026). He received his PhD degree from University of Calgary (2015).

Sheldon Jahn
VP & Director, Engineering and Quality, MANTL USA

Sheldon Jahn is the Vice President & Director of Engineering at MANTL Canada Inc. He completed his studies in Petroleum Engineering Technology at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) and has worked in various roles for over 30 years. He has gained valuable experience by working in 30+ countries as an operations and application engineer. After three years as a Product Champion at KUDU-SLB, he co-founded MANTL Canada. Sheldon currently leads a team who are dedicated to developing new products and services while advising clients on completion optimization. He has authored several SPE papers and has been a member of SPE since 2012.