An advocate of early childhood development, Ruth C. Ibanez can only look back at her childhood of broken toys. Curiosity trumps the pleasure of play, and wide-eyed “ohs!” of discovery build a stock of knowledge from every broken part that specified functionality.
Curiosity served her well in the evolution of the SmartBOP. Curious about the events at the Gulf of Mexico, she delved into and dissected every news article describing the catastrophic Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Appreciating that volumes of pressure are best managed rather than controlled, she designed a blowout preventer that is chambers based to use as bleeders to vent to containers or loading ships, should volumes of pressure spike unexpectedly, and prevent erosion and worst explosion. The technology is fully computerized to ensure real-time monitoring and surveillance in the well bore.
The initial patent application was titled CAT an acronym for Cap and Tap. With thought references to Newton’s Laws. Having no background in the oil field, she set out to provide a solution in response to every disturbing problem that was defined in the news. i.e. volumes of pressure, velocity, erosion, freezing. Her health concerns for the affected and love of the environment sent her into overdrive. After four grueling days and four sleepless nights, in those fateful months of spring that rolled into summer in 2010, the SmartBOP was born. The technology received two Patent Certificates from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. U.S. patent number 9109430 for structure on August 8, 2015, and 9850729 for method on December 26, 2017.
The SmartBOP solution is ahead of its time. But the need for a new generation of oil and gas technology has caught up.
In 2016, the U.S. regulations mandated the requirement of well real-time monitoring for all blowout preventers operating in the Gulf of Mexico. Therefore, with the increased emphasis on well safety, the offshore oil and gas industry has been working to develop new technologies and business relationships that can help operators and drilling contractors improve well control and integrity. Source Mordor Intelligence.
In June 2022, at the Reuters Event held in Houston, Texas, Reuters Report confirms, “Data digitalization will not only help oil and gas companies scale operations but also ensure environmental benefits, attract top talent, improve safety, and maximize assets.”
Previously, Ms. Ibanez did the pioneering work in the design and development of a hospital-wide software system that was pivotal in the proliferation of the electronic medical record in hospitals and private practice. A hotelier by profession, she has opened two five-star hotels in Dubai (The Hyatt Regency and Galleria) and Abu Dhabi (The Inter-Continental Hotel) and later worked at the Sheraton in the capacity of public relations director. Her secret to overcoming gender and cultural barriers? Know your place. Always.
She did coursework in biology at the Adventist University of the Philippines and optometry at the Manila Central University.
She is the producer of a master class concert series for the West Village Concerts at the Manhattan Seventh Day Adventist Church, featuring world-renowned David Starobin, guitar; Vassily Primakov, concert pianist; Michael Crane, composer, arranger, concert pianist; and the late extraordinaire Kenneth Cooper, maestro, and harpsichordist, to name a few. A soprano, she has studied under the tutelage of pedagogue Josephine Mongiardo. In her leisure, she writes poems and songs.
Her childhood highlight was to be chosen among the Girl Scouts sent by then First Lady Mrs. Imelda Marcos to travel throughout Southeast Asia as Ambassadors of Goodwill, and meet with each country’s respective first ladies, and Scout leaders.
Two words describe Ms. Ibanez. Visionary and unaffected. Her secret to prolific creative expressions. “Just do it. Passionately.”
