Principal, Stress Engineering Services, Inc.
B.S. CE 1985, The University of Texas at Austin
M.S. CE 1986, California Institute of Technology
Ph.D. EM 1995, The University of Texas at Austin
Tommy is a Principal at Stress Engineering Services, Inc., an engineering consulting firm located in Houston. He works in the upstream oil and gas practice, primarily on projects involving deepwater floating production facilities.
Power received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1985. During his undergraduate years, he worked at the Ferguson Structural Engineering Lab and was a member of the Longhorn Band for five years, with whom he marched in Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural parade. He obtained a master of science degree in civil engineering from Caltech in 1986 and worked for a summer at TRW Electronics and Defense Sector in Torrance, CA. He returned to UT Austin, where he received his Ph.D. in engineering mechanics in 1995. As an assistant instructor during his graduate studies at UT, he received the Engineering Foundation Award in recognition of “exemplary performance in engineering teaching while pursuing a graduate degree.”
After finishing his graduate studies, Power accepted an offer from Stress Engineering Services, Inc., where he has been employed since. He was promoted to Senior Associate in 2000, and then again to Principal in 2008. He has worked on a variety of projects, including test lab work as well as analytical evaluations. As a Principal, he has an ownership stake in the company and is responsible for managing work, though he still does a good bit of technical work. Most recently, he has been leading a large project which began with his relocating temporarily to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to lead a design team for the top-tensioned risers on Malaysia’s first tension-leg platform (TLP) located offshore East Malaysia in 1500 feet of water. The first-phase risers are now in operation, and Power’s work is currently being conducted from Houston.
Power is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is a licensed Professional Engineer in Texas. He has served multiple terms on the UT Austin ASE/EM External Advisory Committee and has a lifelong commitment to and enjoyment of learning and teaching others. He is co-inventor on U.S. Patent 7,798,234 “Umbilical assembly, subsea system, and methods of use.”
Power resides near Houston and enjoys being an active member of his church. He is a baseball fan and was fortunate to be able to attend one of the recent Houston Astros World Series victories in Houston. He also enjoys woodworking and birdwatching when he is not analyzing a riser system or trying to figure out how or if something is going to buckle.
