Written by Julie Doucet
Vice President of Engineering
I can’t believe it has been a month since I joined Jasper Ventures. I am still meeting and getting to know all of you but want to use this opportunity to officially introduce myself. I was raised in the small town of Auburn, Indiana. After graduating from Purdue University with a B.S in Chemical Engineering, I moved to the big city – Houston. I lived in Houston for seven years before going back to the Midwest to work for 12 years. I then moved back to Houston where I worked until accepting a position with Jasper Ventures.
My husband Terry and I have been blessed with five beautiful children and five grandchildren. We are “empty nesters,” and that has been tough. After having a large family for a lot of years, the house is very quiet now. I hate that; my husband loves it!
I love the country. We recently bought a house on 40 acres, and I am hoping to get a cow! I love animals, as evidenced by the stray dogs and cats that keep coming into my life. Somehow they know I can’t turn them away. I am a hunting widow from about August to December. And I love chocolate!
I have worked in oil and gas for the last 30 years in various roles. My last role was for a large corporation building an engineering team, bottom up, in the oil and gas market. Although it was very rewarding and a wonderful opportunity, my personal life suffered in various ways. Our home was on the far north side of the city and due to the long drive, I stayed in town during the week and went home on the weekends. It was far from a perfect lifestyle.
We continued to pray and ask for direction. I would love to say it was an easy, quick answer, but it took a few years to finally see the plan. We were not sure how God was going to work it out, but I waited for the sign I needed to know the time was right, and it happened. I just had peace that it was time to step out on faith. After that moment, it all came together perfectly.
I can’t even really explain it other than to say that God works in your life even when you don’t understand or realize what is happening. Sometimes you ask “Why, Lord?” and He says, “Be patient.” Sometimes in the silence, you think He isn’t there, but I assure you He is. Looking back over the last several years, I now feel that God was preparing me to be part of the Jasper Ventures family.
Without the last several years, I would not have been prepared to provide the leadership and experience I needed to benefit the Jasper Ventures team. I feel honored to be part of the growth that Jasper Ventures is experiencing. I am impressed with the resources and talent in the company. Our engineering team is focused on pooling our talents to prepare for the future, growing our capabilities to provide solutions for the midstream market, and continuously improving to ensure a consistent, quality product for our clients.
Over the course of the next year, engineering will focus on three key areas: specifications, procedures and workflows, and quality assurance. Our engineering team has been busy the last few weeks identifying codes and standards that will be followed to ensure industry compliance. Additionally, we will be documenting our design specifications to clearly outline our design criteria to our clients.
Next, we will evaluate procedures and workflows to document how information and data will move between departments to improve communication and efficiency. As we look at ways to gain a competitive edge, we must function as an efficient team. Procedures and workflows will ensure we are all moving in unison and in the same direction.
Finally, quality assurance is an essential piece of our business. Quality assurance means checking our work to ensure when it leaves our hands, it’s right. We must ensure all contractual agreements have been addressed, the engineering design has been checked and is correct, materials and equipment have been correctly identified and procured, and construction has what they need from engineering to build a safe, operable plant.
Thank you again for the warm welcome. I am excited about what’s ahead for Jasper Ventures and look forward to the opportunities God has planned for us. Our future together is bright, and there is nowhere to go but up!
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