Leadership

Steve Jones

PRESIDENT & CEO

Steve Jones is the President and CEO of Sanvean Technologies. He is focused on leading the Sanvean engineering team to develop and commercialize next-generation measurement, control systems, and data science technology for the oil and gas directional drilling sector.

Steve is a detailed and performance-driven individual with 28 years of experience in directional drilling, rotary steerable, research and development, and product management. Throughout his career, he has worked for Halliburton, Pathfinder Energy Services, and Schlumberger in both domestic and international locations.

Steve has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and an MSc in Mechanical and Offshore Engineering from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland. He has published over 35 technical papers on drilling technology and has over 28 patents and pending patents worldwide.

Junichi Sugiura

VICE PRESIDENT

Junichi Sugiura is the Vice President and co-founder of Sanvean Technologies, Chartered Engineer (CEng), Chartered Petroleum Engineer, Chartered Energy Engineer, Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIET) and Fellow of the Energy Institute (FEI). He was formerly a Schlumberger Principal Engineer in the UK. Sugiura's research interests include sensor technologies, artificial intelligence, data analytics, drilling dynamics/mechanics, directional drilling, geothermal drilling, and completions optimization. He is the author/co-author of 70 external publications/presentations and holds 60 US patents/pending patents in downhole technology. He holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. From 2012 to 2024, Sugiura served as a Session Chair and as Drilling/Completions Program Committee chair for the IADC/SPE Drilling Conference and the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE). In 2019, he served as an SPE ATCE Vice-Chair in Calgary, Canada, and he was a 2020 SPE ATCE Chair in Houston, Texas, USA. He is an SPE Distinguished Member (2020), SPE Distinguished Lecturer (2021-2022), SPE Europe Regional Drilling Engineering Award Winner (2021), SPE Europe Regional Service Award winner (2022), and SPE International Service Award Winner (2023). He is also an Executive Editor for "Geoenergy Science and Engineering" and "SPE Journal", having reviewed more than 800 engineering and scientific articles.

Tom Balogh

ENGINEERING MANAGER

Tom Balogh is the Engineering Manager for Sanvean Technologies. He is also a Principle Engineer providing electronics design of downhole and surface board assemblies. Tom has over 40 years of experience in the Oil and Gas Industry and, throughout that time, has held various technical and personal management positions. Much of his technical experience is in MWD applications including the design of products suitable for use at temperatures up to 200°C. Tom has specialized experience in the design of microprocessor-based products and associated electronics including data acquisition and control electronics, power supplies, and specialized sensor assemblies. He joined Sanvean Technologies in 2015, and before that, he worked for Schlumberger, Eastman Whipstock, Gearhart MWD, Southwest Research Institute, High-Resolution Seismics, Baker Hughes Inteq, Protechnics, MicroTesla, and APS Technology. Tom has a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas in Austin.

Trey Saunders

Engineering Lab Manager

Trey Saunders is the Engineering Lab Manager at Sanvean Technologies. He has 17 years of experience in the Oil and Gas Industry and over 13 years of experience in the Information Technology Industry. Trey joined Sanvean Technologies in 2015, and, before that, worked for NL McCullough, Baker Atlas, MIC Group, Unipixel Displays, Compaq Computer, and Hewlett Packard. Over the years, he served in many different roles ranging from Electronic Technician, Engineering Technician, Procurement Engineer, Quality Engineer, and sustaining Program Manager. Trey received his Certificate of Electronic Technology from the Texas A & M University, Institute of Electronic Science.

Tom Hinrichs

R&M LEAD (Rotary Steerable Systems)

Tom Hinrichs is the R&M Lead (Rotary Steerable Systems) of Sanvean Technologies. Tom started with Exlog in 1984 servicing collar based LWD Tools. He built and supervised the Flow loop during his time at Baker Hughes from 1989 through 2004. Tom’s initial Rotary-steerable tool involvement was with PathFinder and the PathMaker series of tools, as the RSS Engineering Mechanical Supervisor. During that period, he assisted in the initial build and field testing of three separate systems. Additional Rotary-Steerable involvement came with APS Technology. During Tom’s time with Weatherford (2016-2018), he worked in engineering as an R&M Technologist on the Magnus Rotary-Steerable system and then was transferred to manufacturing as the RSS Production Supervisor.

Glen Stephens

R&M LEAD (Embedded Sensors)

Glen Stephens is the R&M Lead (Embedded Sensors) of Sanvean Technologies. Glen has 15 years in field service management with surface equipment. He joined Sanvean Technologies in 2019. Before that, Glen was the Field Service and Repair Operations Manager for Forum Energy Technologies. He was responsible for Field Service Operations, Operational Excellence, Technical Training, HSE guidelines and improvements, and 24/7 Customer Support Center. He has worked for companies such as Canrig Drilling Technologies as the Field Service Operations Manager and Northland Intertech Drilling Solution as a Field Service technician.

Clifton Barker

DATA ACQUISITION & OPERATIONS SUPPORT

Clifton Barker is the Data Acquisition & Operations Support Manager of Sanvean Technologies. Clifton has over 15 years of experience in drilling and oilfield equipment and has specialized in downhole electronics since 2009. He joined Sanvean Technologies in 2018, and before that, he worked for SDI, Tolteq, and WellTronics.