New Product Development – Meet Tom Myerley, Senior Design Engineer

This is the fifth installment of our 2016 “Meet the Team” series, featuring the D&L Oil Tools Engineering team.

The D&L Oil Tools Engineering team has over 106 combined years of oil field product engineering experience. D&L has full-time design engineers on staff, willing and able to assist customers with technical challenges and custom product development. Click here to reach our engineering team.

Qualifications

Tom Myerley joined D&L at the beginning of 2014 and has 28 years of experience, working with downhole oilfield equipment in design & manufacturing facilities. The majority of that time has been spent in new product development, although he has also worked in sustaining engineering and product modification groups. In addition to engineering, he has worked in many cross-functional, special project teams to improve manufacturing, inspection, and engineering processes and products. Tom currently has 11 patents.

1. What is your specialty at D&L?

My primary focus is new product development, which can range from designing strategic market driven products to designs for specific customer needs. I have a lot of experience designing for manufacturing, inspection, and assembly so those are always important considerations when doing a new design. I really like designing new products because there are always new problems to solve which keeps things interesting. It’s a great feeling to complete a successful test program and know that we’re sending a good, reliable product out to the field.

2. What makes D&L’s products superior?

One of D&L’s advantages over the competition is that we are in control of the product from start to finish. We are based at one location so the link between departments, as well as employees and management, is very efficient and effective. Having our own rubber molding and coating/plating facilities allows us to have complete control over the quality and scheduling of processes that are usually outside processes for other equipment manufacturers.

The same advantage applies to engineering as well. We control the development of a design from the initial concept to the assembly and testing of the finished prototype. In addition to the products themselves, we design the seal molds, assembly fixtures, test equipment, and anything else we need to develop a good product. The D&L culture and common location allow engineers to easily collaborate on designs within engineering and with any of the employees or management from other departments. This accessibility to different types of talent, knowledge, and skillsets helps make our products better.

3. Tell us a fun fact about yourself.

I love outdoor activities… fishing, hunting, hiking, etc. Let’s see, a fun fact… You know the big aquarium aquarium at Bass Pro Shops? I have fished in it many times (with permission of course, I used to give fishing demos there).