Oil Recovery Project Luncheon Remarks and Introductions by Chancellor Robert Hemenway

AmericInn
Russell, Kansas
Dec. 4, 2003, 12:45 p.m.

 • Part of the mission of the University of Kansas is to foster research that ultimately benefits the state and its people.

 • The oil recovery project we are recognizing today is a terrific example of such research, but it is not the only one.

 • Currently, there are more than 1,300 active research projects under way at KU. Among national public universities, KU ranks among the top 50 in the amount of federally funded science and engineering research grants our faculty receive.

 • As Lieutenant Governor Moore and our friends at KTEC know, KU is making impressive strides in the area of life sciences research at both the Lawrence and Medical Center campuses.

 • Overall, KU's research expenditures reached $243 million last year. That's money flowing into Kansas from elsewhere.

 • With those grants come jobs, skilled graduates, and the prospect of technology transfer to new and existing companies.

 • Technology transfer is as integral to our mission as research itself. It's a form of service to the state that also benefits the university, since our future is linked closely to the future of Kansas.

 • It is in our best interests that this state prosper and grow. If it does, the Legislature will be able to fund us, private donors will be able to give more, and families will be able to send us their children to be educated.

 • The recent Kansas Prosperity Summit, held in Wichita under the leadership of the Lieutenant Governor, underscored a simple truth.

 • The future prosperity of Kansas will depend more and more on technology, an entrepreneurial spirit, and well-educated people.

 • The university sees itself as a partner in that future -- through workforce development and our ability to leverage a huge economic impact from a relatively modest amount of state funding.

 • We seek to become an even larger contributor to the economic life of Kansas. We are pleased to be part of this project, which could have a significant impact on oil production in Kansas.

 • We want the ideas our faculty and staff generate to become products and techniques that benefit people and result in jobs and tax revenue. I'm pleased to introduce two such persons to you now.

 • Paul Willhite is the Ross H. Forney Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Kansas. He also serves as co-director of the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project and co-director of KU's Energy Research Center.

 • With him is Alan Byrnes, a research geologist-petrophysicist with KU's Kansas Geological Survey. Alan has been with KGS since 1997 and has more than 26 years experience in oil field and laboratory studies, analytical and computer modeling and industry service work.

 • Paul and Alan have worked tirelessly over the past three years, testing and studying the Hall-Gurney oil field, in order to make this day a reality.

 • On behalf of KU, I express appreciation for their efforts and invite each of them to make a presentation.