OIL & GAS

Kevin E. Colburn, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) engineer and specialist in computer-aided engineering (CAE) with more than a decade of experience, has joined CEI to head the company’s Houston office in the role of sales manager. In addition to serving clients within Texas, Colburn will be responsible for new and existing accounts throughout the Southwest. Best-known for its industry-leading EnSight software, CEI is a developer of simulation software and offers a range of applications for the scientific and engineering community, including tools for meshing, visualization and plotting, image analysis, communicating 3D results, and editing animations. Colburn, a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in mechanical engineering, comes to CEI from Combustion Science & Engineering, where he served as senior CFD engineer. In previous positions, he served as a CFD engineer at McLaren International, ADAPCO, and General Electric, and brings with him extensive knowledge of computer-aided engineering applications. “Kevin’s extensive firsthand experience with CEI’s products coupled with his understanding of how clients can use CFD to solve engineering challenges and develop better products will clearly benefit both CEI and its clients throughout the region,” says Darin McKinnis, CEI’s vice president of marketing and sales. Colburn was first introduced to CEI’s software in his quest to improve engineering and design processes at a former employer. “CEI’s suite of visualization products was a real eye-opener in my previous work as a CFD engineer. The ability to better understand CFD data and share sophisticated scenarios with designers and management through visualizations was a critical turning point in integrating CFD into the mainstream design environment. I’m pleased to have the opportunity to help CEI’s existing and potential clients understand how they, too, can break down barriers to CFD integration with CEI’s powerful tools.” Open only since late 2006, the Houston office holds great potential, according to McKinnis, who opened the office and temporarily ran the operation until Colburn was hired. In just a few months, it has already allowed CEI to further relationships with existing clients in Texas, such as Bechtel, ExxonMobil, Lockheed, NASA, Shell, the Texas Advanced Computing Center at the University of Texas, Texas A&M and Rice University, and has allowed the company to add a number of new clients throughout the region.