vulcan trendsetter

CONQUERING FRONTIERS. REDEFINING SAFETY. INNOVATING WITHOUT LIMITS.

We don’t adapt to change. WE DRIVE IT.

Experts in bespoke engineering solutions that improve safety while extending the limits of today’s frontiers

Trendsetter

Our experts are leaders in engineering advancements and a driving force for innovation.
We create solutions that reframe the operating landscape and set new standards for safety.

Unmatched Expertise

Our team of deep-knowledge experts brings unparalleled experience and innovation to every project.

Pioneering Solutions

We don't just solve problems; we transform them into opportunities for growth and advancement.

Safety Leadership

We are redefining safety, setting the bar for performance standards that ensure the wellbeing of people and the environment.

Proactive Adaptability

We drive change by monitoring industry trends and anticipating shifts that demand greater performance, then develop the solutions needed to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

What Makes Us Different Makes Us Better.

Meet Our Collaborative Team of High-Impact Problem Solvers.

Ricky Brown
Jay Bullard
Kevin Chell
Derek Kennedy
Jon Kersey
Wanjun Kim
Ben Kubichek
Andrea Maher
Jim Maher
J.P. Martinez
Laurie McCelvey
Kim Mittendorf
Steven Tran
Janet Wolf

We solve the “unsolveable”

Ricky Brown, Design Manager and Lead Designer for TVO, has extensive oil and gas industry experience. He was the Design Manager at Horton Wison Deepwater, served as the Design and Drafting Manager at Floatec, and was Lead Designer on various Spar projects. Ricky was the Fabrication Consultant for the Tubular Bells Spar, one of the first spars designed for the Gulf of Mexico and the largest ever built at the time of its construction. Ricky was a lead designer on a number of Gulf Of Mexico Subsea Projects and is owner and co-owner of a number of US patents.
Jay Bullard brings more than 20 years of experience in the offshore oil and gas industry to the TVO team. He has broad experience with designing and delivering electrical, electronic, and electro-hydraulic systems, including PCB designs, software, firmware, power distribution, and subsea motors and pumps.
Kevin Chell leads TVO’s Tethered BOP (TBOP) business, managing both Business Development and Projects. Before joining the company, Kevin was the CEO of Swanson, President of GMC, and Manager of Vetco’s Floating Production Systems Group during the most active time for Dry Tree Riser equipment deliveries. He has been involved in the business development and execution of many of the premier deepwater riser deliveries in the Gulf of Mexico. An accomplished business leader, Kevin has more than 40 years of commercial, business development, and global P&L experience in energy, technology, and oil and gas and has held senior management roles based in Europe, the UK and the US. He has led the expansion of TVO’s patented BOP tethering technology, building and leveraging an international network of strategic partnerships to enhance TVO’s market position as a nimble, dependable, and cost-competitive business partner.
Matt Crotwell is a Principal Engineer at TVO. Before joining the company, he was an R&D Advanced Design Engineer at Dril-Quip, where he was involved in multiple product line developments for Subsea Wellhead and Vertical and Horizontal Trees and gained extensive experience in the design and qualification of metal-to-metal seals for Subsea Wellhead and Tree Systems. Matt holds several US Patents and has been involved in the development of multiple products recognized by OTC for Spotlight on Technology Awards.
Angie Flores is the Document Controller for TVO, responsible for version and quality control of engineering and design drawings, maintaining archives, and managing document access and retrieval. She has an extensive background in document control and worked as a Document Control Specialist for GMC prior to joining TVO. In her current role, Angie has been responsible for ensuring the accuracy, accessibility, and security of documents that have been critical in the execution of many successful projects in the offshore oil and gas sector.
Jim Maher is the original founder and coowner (along with Trendsetter Engineering) of TVO. Before forming TVO, he co-founded Horton Deepwater with Ed Horton, credited with the introduction of Spar and Tension Leg Platform concepts. Jim was the Spar Product Manager for Technip in the early 2000s and has been involved in the planning, development, and aftermarket support for many of the deepwater floating systems projects in the Gulf of Mexico. He holds more than 40 US Patents and is a four-time nominee to the National Academy of Engineering’s “Frontiers of Engineering” program.
Kim Mittendorf leads TVO’s monitoring, global analysis, and data analytics initiatives. He has a solid background of advancing technology in the offshore oil and gas industry working as Directory of Projects at Horton Wison Deepwater and has contributed to the development of offshore wind in the United States in his roles at Gamesa Wind US an Vestas Technology R&D Americas, Inc. Integrating technical and strategic skills, Kim has enhanced operational efficiency and driven innovation within the energy sector. Navigating through international projects and strategic planning, Kim guides technologies and processes toward practical improvements by identifying straightforward strategies to bridge technological and operational advancements from idea to execution.

Janet Wolf, P.E., performs detailed Finite Element Analysis for TVO’s clients and as part of the internal product design process. She has extensive experience verifying designs and performing detailed structural analysis on oil and gas structures, having worked as an analyst at Horton Wison Deepwater and at Engineering Research and Computing. Janet also worked for the analysis software company ANSYS as an application engineer, providing technical support, developing workshops, and training users. She has experience in advanced analysis and high- pressure/high-temperature and has analyzed designs for extreme environments, including earthquakes, hurricanes, and impact.

Ben Kubichek, PE, is a Principal Engineer at TVO, providing engineering support and technical expertise for both the Tethered BOP (TBOP) and TVO Projects business units. Ben began his career as an Edison Engineer at GE Oil & Gas, advancing through technical positions in the Vetco Gray floating production systems business while earning his professional engineering license. Ben’s most rewarding work has been his involvement in complex projects from initial concept development through installation and operation.
Jon Kersey, P.E., is a Senior Engineer supporting the design team at TVO. Prior to TVO, Jon worked for GE Oil & Gas developing custom equipment for floating production facilities. He played a lead role in the design, testing, and successful offshore implementation of the TVO Jupiter winch, which enabled P&A of a damaged wellhead offshore Brazil. The Jupiter design served as the basis for TVO’s development of shallow-water BOP tethering within the Hercules product line.
Glenn Wald is a Senior Riser Engineer responsible for the design and delivery of top-tensioned and catenary riser systems for floating drilling, production, and intervention facilities. He has extensive design, delivery, and installation experience and has worked on projects that include spars, TLPs and FPSOs in the GoM, North Sea, and Brazil. He recently retired from Shell, where he led teams responsible for riser systems for the Perdido Spar and Olympus TLP as well as a 10,000 ft water depth 15 ksi pressure rated intervention system and an industry joint venture oil spill response cap and containment system.
Steven Tran, P.E., is a Mechanical Engineer who designs riser equipment for TVO projects. Before joining the company, he worked as Mechanical Design Engineer for Dril-Quip and as a Riser Equipment Engineer and Riser Delivery Manager at Technip. An entrepreneur, Tran started a joint venture with friends and is one of the three owners of RN Motion Technologies LLC, which designs and manufactures production and drilling equipment. He has been involved with subsea hardware, risers, and riser tensioners, from initial design through manufacturing, testing, and delivery.
James McCelvey, Senior Engineer, is a Designer for TVO. Prior to taking on his current role, he worked for Horton Wison Deepwater and GMC. James holds two patents and has provided critical support for many successful, offshore oil and gas industry projects.
J.P. Martinez is TVO’s Aftermarket Engineer, assisting in the testing and assembly of TVO equipment, supporting offshore representatives, and providing clients with support and solutions to technical inquiries associated with tensioning equipment. A valuable member of the TVO engineering team, he has served as the company’s Representative Engineer on multiple offshore projects.
Derek Kennedy, Senior Project Manager, developed TVO’s QHSE processes and is directly involved in the execution, delivery, and installation of TVO projects and custom-built systems globally. He filled multiple technical and commercial roles at Tier 1 OMC supply companies, including Vice President of Global Tubular Systems at Franks International, Global Subsea Business Development Director at OneSubsea, and Director for Offshore/Floating Production Systems at GE Oil & Gas (formerly Vetco Gray Inc). He was a Design Engineer on the industry’s first Drilling Riser System in 10,000 ft water depth, which incorporated a fluid assist bearing to interface with a telescopic joint, for which he holds a patent. Derek has been involved in the business development, management, and execution, of several high-profile deepwater TLP/spar and subsea production projects.
Wanjun Kim, PMP, is an Engineering Project Manager, executing riser system design and delivery projects. Prior to joining TVO, he worked as a Riser Engineer, applying his mechanical engineering background to numerous riser system designs, including drilling risers, production top-tensioned risers (TTRs), infield steel catenary risers (SCRs), and export risers. He has managed the full life cycle of multiple deepwater riser delivery projects and has experience in integrity management as well as deepwater technology development.
Andrea Bio coming soon.
Laurie McCelvey executes projects for the Tethered BOP (TBOP) business. She was a Chemistry teacher for 12 years before joining TVO and applies her problem-solving, organization, and management expertise from the classroom to executing TVO project builds from procurement through customer delivery. Her educational leadership and planning experience has been valuable in streamlining TVO’s winning approach to project execution.
Kayla Bio coming soon.

When There is No Answer, We Design One.

In a Rapidly Evolving Landscape, TVO is Pushing the Limits of What is Possible.
  • CONSULTING & CUSTOM ENGINEERING
  • TETHERED BOP SYSTEMS
  • CONTAINER LASHING

CONSULTING AND
CUSTOM ENGINEERING

REMOVING OPERATIONAL
BARRIERS

We manage the technical details so you can manage your business
Drawing on decades of experience and unique problem-solving skills, we design and implement customized solutions across the business life cycle from design to decommissioning. When there is no obvious solution, we develop original designs and handle installation, managing the critical details so you can focus on the big picture.

EXTENDING THE LIMITS OF
PERFORMANCE

When there is no answer, we design one.
Our engineering innovations expand operational windows around the world, enabling safe operations at the limits of today’s frontiers.

EXPERTISE THAT TRANSCENDS CONTINENTS

With projects completed or underway on every continent, we are a global force for engineering innovation.

TETHERED BOP SYSTEMS

EXPANDING THE ENVELOPE
OF OPERATIONS

Our solutions change the playing field.
Our dominant patent portfolio is the largest assemblage of Tethered BOP (TBOP) assets in the industry.

We introduced our pioneering TBOP systems in 2013 and for more than a decade have enhanced system capabilities and expanded applications to mitigate wellhead fatigue, allow safe operations in HP/HT and other harsh environments, and enable deepwater DP rigs to work in shallow water.

REDUCING FATIGUE IS VITAL
FOR ASSET LONGEVITY AND
RELIABILITY

The Mars™ Wellhead System, patented in 2016, arrests unwanted motion and transfers loads throughout the system to reduce wellhead cyclic stresses and enhance fatigue life.

ENABLING DYNAMICALLY
POSITIONED (DP) VESSELS TO WORK SAFELY IN SHALLOW WATER

The Hercules™ High-Strength Tethering System puts DP drilling rigs to work in areas where they previously were considered unsuitable, allowing operators to combine shallow-water and deepwater drilling in the same campaign.

EVERYWHERE YOU NEED TO BE

CONTAINER LASHING REDEFINING MARITIME SAFETY

Trendsetter

WE KNOW SAFETY IS
NONNEGOTIABLE

Modifying our proprietary tensioner technology and applying it to container shipping helps vessel owners improve crew safety and reduce the likelihood of incidents that can lead to container or vessel loss.

JANUS MONITORING

The Janus system monitors dynamics across the vessel to predict and detect the vessel’s response to parametric roll and issues a warning so evasive maneuvers can be initiated. Additional sensors can be installed to allow the system to monitor container stack dynamics for incident mitigation.

ATLAS SEATBELT

The Atlas SEAtbelt™ revolutionizes container lashing by tethering the outermost container stacks to create a wing wall that stabilizes containers in the bay and reduces the likelihood of overboarding
ICHCA
Our novel solution was recognized in 2024 at the sixth annual TT Club Innovation in Safety Awards for its proven ability to reduce the likelihood of containership incidents and accidents.
Trendsetter
Trendsetter

When There is No Answer, We Design One.

Let us show you what we can do for you.