On April 14, 2014, Dr. Yassin Hassan, department head of nuclear engineering, named David Barker ’66 a distinguished former student of the department.
He is currently the director of the Aftermarket Services Business Unit at Dril-Quip, Inc. where he is responsible for the overall aftermarket support and services which includes customer refurbishment projects; capital drilling equipment repair and recertification; and field life management services. Additional responsibilities include global service for rental tools, technical development and writing, training, and certification of field service technicians.
Barker has over 40 years of cumulative experience in a broad range of businesses including engineering, construction, manufacturing, project management, procurement, finance and accounting, emergency planning and restoration, start-up, testing, quality assurance and control. He has spent 10 years with Dril-Quip, Inc. in positions as head of manufacturing and project management prior to being assigned to lead the Aftermarket Business Unit.
Prior to joining Dril-Quip, Inc., Barker had a progressive career in the nuclear power field working on the NS Savannah Program, the world’s first nuclear powered commercial vessel; served as Project Manager on the South Texas Nuclear Project and was a key player in bringing the plant to its current operable status; and managed major architectural and construction programs on large commercial real estate projects throughout the state as well as several coal fired electric generating stations. He is considered to be an expert in project management across many disciplines for projects that are labeled global.
Barker has a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and a master’s in nuclear engineering from Texas A&M University, and an MBA from Penn State University. He is also a registered professional engineer.