Olagoke Olabisi

Olagoke Olabisi
Born	(1943-09-25) 25 September 1943 Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria
🎓 Alma mater	Purdue University, Case Western Reserve University, University of California, Berkeley
💼 Occupation
🏅 Awards	Clarence Lottes Memorial Prize, Honorable Minister of Science and Technology Merit Award, Outstanding Achievement Award

Olagoke Olabisi is a Nigerian-American chemical engineer, author, inventor, educator, mentor and entrepreneur. He has played a remarkable role in the acquisition, digestion, advancement, and dissemination of technical knowledge globally. A consummate mentor, he has been an exemplary chemical engineer providing dynamic goal-oriented leadership and creative vision in the wide-ranging practice of engineering in Nigeria, USA, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, including the publication of "Handbook of Thermoplastics".. Now the chief consultant at Infra-Tech Consulting, Sugar Land, Texas, he is still waxing strong after five decades of a distinguished career.

Early life and education

Born in Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria on September 25, 1943, Olagoke had his elementary education at All Saints' School, Osogbo and Saint John's School, Aroloya, Lagos before proceeding to Ibadan Boys' High School, Ibadan where in 1962, he graduated with Grade I in the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate Examinations. With a Western Nigeria Government Merit Scholarship, he proceeded to Government College, Ibadan and, in December 1964, he passed the Cambridge Overseas Higher School Certificate (HSC). In January 1965, he passed the University of London General Certificate of Education, Advanced Level (GCE A/L) Examinations with distinctions. The same year, he won a 4-year university scholarship award, which was administered by the African -American Institute (AAI), to study Chemical Engineering (Ch.E.) at Purdue University, Lafayette, Indiana, under the auspices of African Scholarship Program of American Universities (ASPAU).

On account of his successful testing-out of a set of sophomore and junior level courses in his first year at Purdue University, Olagoke could have completed his B.S. (Ch.E.) degree in two and a half years. However, he chose to utilize the full 4-year scholarship to complete the requirements for two separate degrees. Hence, he received B.S., Ch.E. and B.S., Industrial Management, on graduation from Purdue University in 1969. It is noteworthy that his senior project in chemical engineering resulted in his first presentation at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE, in 1969 and a 1971 publication in AIChE Journal. ,

Olagoke proceeded to the University of California, Berkeley on a teaching assistantship, where he earned the M.S. degree in Chemical Engineering in 1971 with a thesis entitled "Secondary and Primary Normal Stresses, Hole Error, and Reservoir Edge Effects in Cone-and-Plate Flow of Polymer Solutions.". In 1971, he proceeded, on a full University fellowship, to Case-Western Reserve University where, in 1973, he earned the PhD degree in Macromolecular Science and Engineering, with a dissertation entitled "Pressure-volume-temperature properties of amorphous and crystallizable polymers and oligomers"

Career

During his undergraduate and graduate years (1968, 1969, and 1970), Olagoke had summer employment as a chemical engineer with the American Oil Company (AMOCO), Whiting, Indiana. He however joined the R&D Department of Union Carbide Corporation, Bound Brook, New Jersey in August, 1973 on completing his Ph.D. His very first assignment eventually resulted in the co-authored publication of the pioneering book entitled "Polymer-Polymer Miscibility" (Academic Press, 1979) .. Through his original R&D efforts, Dr. Olabisi invented several processes for which eight global patents were granted. His novel structural foam/structural web processes make polymeric articles with superior properties and have widened the field of application of plastics products in building construction, automotive, materials handling, and food industries. Following the publication of his first book, Dr. Olabisi was appointed Adjunct Professor of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of New York (PINY, now Polytechnic University, to teach a 3-credit graduate-level course using his new book. He concurrently committed himself to a self-development program of study at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) where he earned MS in Engineering Management at NJIT in 1980.

By 1983, 18 years after leaving Nigeria, Dr. Olabisi decided to take an early retirement from Union Carbide and returned to Nigeria on account of his ailing father. In Nigeria, he became a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Lagos (UNILAG). His primary focus was chemical engineering education in terms of teaching, research, and public service. His research interests were centered on technology adoption/adaptation for the exploitation of local raw materials for national industrialization, state and rural development. He felt that a strong chemical engineering program could play a significant role in arresting the deteriorating state of the national economy and enable fruitful interchange between the local universities, business, industry people and their counterparts worldwide. He also incubated a scheme that found overseas post-graduate fellowships for brilliant chemical and mechanical engineering graduates, who subsequently graduated with PhDs at the University of Akron and Case-Western Reserve University. During 1984, he consulted, on-and-off, for the Specialty Polymers and Composite Division of Union Carbide Corporation, Danbury, Connecticut . In 1985, Olagoke was appointed Professor and Foundation Dean of Engineering, Technology and Environmental Sciences (FETES) at Lagos State University (LASU), a 2-year assignment. At LASU, he got an enviable opportunity to establish several engineering departments that could potentially contribute to the national industrialization process. After considerable deliberations, consultations, and due diligence, Professor Olabisi established the following departments: Chemical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Marine Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Polymer Technology, and Environmental Sciences. To facilitate his new role, he sought and was awarded the "Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Senior Traveling Fellowship" for a three-month exchange program that enabled him to visit 6 universities in four commonwealth countries, namely: UK, Australia, Canada and India. Aside from providing purposeful linkages between LASU and international institutions, the visit to the University of Adelaide, Australia, resulted in the donation of engineering equipment worth more than a million dollars to LASU. That was fortunate for FETES because the succeeding Military Governments in Lagos State did not bother to equip FETES.

After the 2-year assignment at LASU, Professor Olabisi returned to the University of Lagos in October 1987 and was appointed the Head of Department of Chemical Engineering in 1988. The same year, the new Military leadership of Lagos State decided to rationalize the degree programs offered by LASU. Among others, Chemical Engineering was discontinued. As the new Department Head of Chemical Engineering at UNILAG, Professor Olabisi embarked on the arduous task of absorbing almost all the stranded LASU Chemical Engineering students into UNILAG. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise for UNILAG as a few of the students so absorbed eventually graduated with First Class Honors. In 1989, Professor Olabisi was appointed the Managing Director, University of Lagos Consultancy Services (UNILAG Consult), where he was responsible and accountable for the optimum diversification of the university's consultancy business portfolio at a time of harsh economic predicament in Nigeria.

He quickly sought and got the endorsement of the Federal Military Government to organize a world-class "National Workshop on Economic Recovery Program", whose speakers were drawn from Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The 5-volume proceedings of the workshop were distilled into a workable Master Plan, which was eventually acted upon by the Federal Executive Council. Thus, innovative consultancy at UNILAG Consult was beginning to play a role in harnessing the diverse potential of Nigeria's human, material, and natural endowments. Other activities completed by UNILAG Consult included (1) Baseline Ecological Studies of the Niger Delta Basin, (2) Soil Maps of Nigeria, (3) Possible effects of the 1992 Single European Market on ECOWAS Member States, and (4) Delivery of Technical Aid to Equatorial Guinea.

By 1990, UNILAG Consult was executing a variety of client-funded engineering and socio-economic projects utilizing the pool of expertise within the university. Clients included private/public companies, multinational petroleum exploration and production companies, United Nations Organizations (UNO), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), government and non-government organizations. Under his leadership, UNILAG Consult recorded a remarkable success and made significant contributions to the revenue base of the students, staff and the university. Professor Olabisi left UNILAG Consult in July 1990 and became a Visiting Consultant (September 1 – November 30, 1990), at Metals and Ceramics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL. While at ORNL, he had an invention disclosure (ESID No. 917-X) relating to the project entitled "Alternative Non-Carcinogenic Polymeric Gel Casting Methodology for Molding Ceramic Powders." By November 1990, Dr. Olabisi accepted a position as Professor and Senior Research Engineer at the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals KFUPM, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. His sojourn at KFUPM resulted in many publications and his consulting activities for SABIC resulted in a US patent ,. Dr. Olabisi resigned from KFUPM in 1996, and joined Saudi Aramco, the national exploration and producing company of Saudi Arabia. As an Engineering Specialist, Consulting Services Department, he managed a variety of corporate materials engineering & corrosion control programs, Joint-Industry Projects (JIPs), and published several papers.

Dr. Olabisi retired from Saudi Aramco in September 2003 and started his own consulting company www.infra-techconsulting.com whose activities include oil-field engineering and operations services for surface and sub-surface facilities; pipeline integrity management; internal corrosion integrity management; materials engineering; non-metallic materials; root-cause failure analysis (RCFA); materials selection; specifications and standards. In 2006, he was contracted by Corrpro Companies, Inc. Houston, Texas to develop Laboratory & Field Procedures for the internal corrosion monitoring services (ICMS) Project for Kuwait Oil Company in Kuwait. The procedures relate to gases, liquids, and solids including microbial control.

In 2007, he was appointed Director, Internal Corrosion Engineering at the Houston Corrpro office. While associated with Corrpro, he was the Lead Developer for the Pipeline Corrosion Integrity Management (PCIM) Course for NACE International, Houston, Texas. Dr. Olabisi's key responsibilities at Corrpro were focused on providing leadership, management, and stewardship for corrosion projects. The projects were executed on behalf of several Oil & Gas clients, including: ENI US Operating Co., Inc. North Slope Alaska; Pioneer Natural Resources Alaska, Inc. North Slope Alaska; Gulf South Pipeline Company LP; Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP; SCANA Transmission Pipelines; Trunkline LNG Company, LLC; Cheniere Energy; and Murphy Exploration & Production Company. He also was the Principal Investigator of the Project DTPH56-08-T-000012 sponsored by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) Pipeline & Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) (7). He successfully managed the projects in terms of quality, project objectives, budget priorities, and functional requirements. In 2012, he returned to Kuwait once again and became fully involved with the ICMS Project. His responsibilities were then focused on providing technical leadership for the multi-cultural team working on all aspects of the Project. These pertained to pipeline corrosion integrity risk assessment based on internal corrosion monitoring data, corrosion control systems, treatment/mitigation systems, developing scopes, directing and developing key performance indicators (KPIs) and project performance indicators (PPIs), data interpretations relating to bacteria corrosivity, corrosion severity rankings with correlation to black powder formation and mitigation in export gas lines. His responsibilities included annual project planning and its prioritization; providing timely, quality, and actionable recommendations; technical training of staff in terms of current and emerging internal corrosion monitoring technologies and best practices. He was involved with HSE activities; initiating judicious and fruitful interactions, cultivating, energizing, and managing productive relationships with stakeholders. In March 2016, when DNV GL took over the KOC ICMS Project, Dr. Olabisi was retained on the Contract. In December, 2018, Dr. Olabisi returned to the U.S. and became the Chief Consultant of www.infra-techconsulting.com with activities focused on using materials & internal corrosion engineering, technology, allied skills, unique methodologies, as well as best practices to provide cost-effective solutions for pipeline corrosion integrity problems faced by customers in oil & gas industry.

In addition to the above, Dr. Olabisi was an Adjunct Professor of (1) Chemical Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of New York (now Polytechnic University), 1981-82; (2) Polymer Program, Clark-Atlanta University (Formerly Atlanta University) 1983-1986 , and (3) Polymer Engineering, Institute of Polymer Engineering, The University of Akron, 1985-1990; (4) Acting Vice-Chancellor, LASU, April 21 – May 12, 1986. He remains a NACE-certified Corrosion Specialist and Chemical Treatment Specialist.

He was, at one time or the other, a member of a variety of professional and engineering organizations namely: Association of Consulting Chemists and Chemical Engineers, NACE International, Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN), Nigerian Society of Engineers, Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (Fellow), American Chemical Society, American Physical Society, Polymer Processing Society, Society of Petroleum Engineers, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE), National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), American Association for the Advancement of Science, Materials Research Society, and New York Academy of Sciences. He also served as a member and/or chairman in a variety of Nigerian Groups, namely: Technical committee on the proposed Oyo State University of Technology (now Ladoke Akintola University of Technology), Multi-disciplinary task-force on raw materials for domestic and industrial plastics, rubber, and coatings sector (Raw Materials Research & Development Council), Technical committee on rubber and plastics (Standards Organization of Nigeria), Technical committee on foam mattresses (Standards Organization of Nigeria), Nigeria University Commission (NUC) Panel on academic standards for engineering and technology, Advisory board for the establishment of a faculty of engineering, technology, and environmental design (Lagos State Government), Mid-term evaluation task-force for the "Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute (CMRDI) of Jos, Nigeria" (UNDP-UNIDO Commission)

Honors and awards

Olagoke received numerous awards and recognitions. A member of Omega Chi Epsilon, Tau Beta Pi, and Sigma Xi Honor Societies, he is a Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers. On graduation from Purdue University, he was awarded the "Clarence Lottes Memorial Prize as the Most Promising Young Chemical Engineering Graduate". At LASU in 1987, he was awarded the "Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Senior Traveling Fellowship" (2). In 1989, while he was a UNILAG Professor, he was awarded the "Honorable Minister of Science and Technology Merit Award for Excellence in the Field of Engineering and Technology" for his innovative contributions to technological processes abroad and in Nigeria. In 1996 at KFUPM, Dr. Olabisi was awarded the SABIC Prize for innovative contributions under the auspices of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). At Saudi Aramco, he had two awards: "Saudi Aramco Certificate of Recognition for Outstanding Achievements in Engineering & Operations Services" in 2001 and "Saudi Aramco Certificate of Recognition for Contribution to the Building of a Research Paradigm Team in Research & Development Center" in 2003. Dr. Olabisi was honored with a life-time "Outstanding Achievement Award" by the USA Chapter of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSChE) in 2007, recognizing him for his professional contributions, scientific and technological achievements, as well as his passion for the educational development of the younger generation of engineers.

Patents & publications

Dr. Olabisi has 9 patents including 5 US patents and over 90 publications on different topics in polymers and corrosion ,. The world-wide number of citations to his publications is over 4,280 as of September 29, 2019. He is a co-author, editor, or co-editor of six books, currently published, namely: Handbook of Thermoplastics, Second Edition 2015, Polymer-polymer miscibility 2012, Handbook of Thermoplastics 1997, Thermoplastics Beyond the Year 2000: A Paradigm 1996, Polymer Engineering Reviews August 1982 Vol. 2 1982, and Polymer-Polymer Miscibility 1979. He is an author or co-author of twelve book chapters, namely: Polyolefins 2015, Stereoregular Polar Thermoplastics, 1997, Conventional Polyolefins, 1997, Thermoplastics Beyond the Year 200: A View From Polymer Science 1996, Polyblends 1982, Utilization of Miscible Polymers, 1979, Comprehensive Survey of Miscible Polymer Systems, 1979, Methods for Determining Polymer—Polymer Miscibility.

Personal life

Dr. Olagoke Olabisi resides with his wife, Dr. Juliet Olabisi in Sugar Land, Texas.

References

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:American chemical engineers Category:American inventors Category:American people of Nigerian descent Category:American people of Yoruba descent Category:Ibadan Boys' High School alumni Category:Inventors Category:Nigerian emigrants to the United States Category:Nigerian engineers Category:Nigerian inventors Category:People from Sugar Land, Texas Category:Purdue University alumni Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni Category:Yoruba engineers Category:Yoruba scientists

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