John F. Price '85 has a B.S. in Engineering Technology and currently is the General Manager of NOV Grant Prideco in Navasota, Texas, the world's largest drill pipe manufacturing facility. NOV, or National Oilwell Varco, is a major oilfield manufacturing and service company. At the Navasota plant, with over 800 employees, drill pipe and drill stem accessories are manufactured for use globally. John has been with NOV Grant Prideco for over 20 years, and has worked through several corporate name changes and management restructures. He was a Product Engineer, then Senior Product Engineer, both in Navasota and at the Grant Prideco S.A. de C.V. facility in Veracruz, Mexico. He eventually became the Manager of Quality and Process Improvement, before being promoted to General Manager. John says that this range of experience with the company let him learn about all facets of the manufacturing process for the oilfield service industry.

John holds a patent for an upset forging process for drill pipe, and he developed the SmoothEdge(tm) tool joint design. John was awarded Employee of the Year for Grant Prideco, S.A. de C.V., for his service to the company and his assistance with a major program implementation. He and the rest of his management team in Navasota were selected from thousands of potential candidates and presented with the 2007 Grant Prideco Chairman's Award for their efforts to improve safety while increasing production.
When asked about the course work in the Mechanical Engineering Technology program that helped prepare him for his industry experience, John said that he benefited from all of it to some extent. He specifically mentioned ENTC 207 Metallic Materials, ENTC 405 Welding Metallurgy of Ferrous metals, and ENTC 320 Quality Assurance, as being particularly suited to his field of interest.
Though his work is demanding, John finds time to serve his community as well. He was elected in 2007 to the Navasota ISD School Board, and he represents industry as a member of the Navasota ISD Education Foundation. John also has coached Little League and youth soccer in Navasota, and is a member of his church choir.

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