Tony Odita

Dr. Tony A. Odita studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ilorin, Ilorin Kwara state, and has a Masters in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Morgan State University, USA. He also recently obtained his Doctoral (Ph.D.) in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the same university in the US.

Tony is currently working with the Maryland Department of Transportation as the Materials Management Systems Team Leader (Transportation Engineering Manager 1) in the Office Of Material Technology/ Material Management Division where he provides guidance to system users as to which materials should be associated to contract work items and specific Material Quality Assurance processes that are applicable for the proposed scope of construction and participate in technical teams relating to Project Closeout and Materials Clearance to provide a partnership with construction contractors, material producers, material suppliers, construction staff, and material quality assurance staff

Tony has attended several courses in engineering and leadership training both in Africa, Europe, and the United States of America and has various certificates in Oil and Gas, Engineering Design and Construction, and Project management which has added to his wealth of experience. He has over 23 years of Technical and Construction experience in the Oil and Gas industry which is the upstream sector (exploration and production) and the downstream sector (Fuels and Lubricants) with special expertise in execution engineering, construction, and installation, for both shallow and deep water assets.

Tony started his career in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited; An ExxonMobil Subsidiary in 1998 as a Facility Engineer where he transcended to the downstream arm of ExxonMobil (Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc.) as an Industrial Lubes Sale Engineer.

He worked in various departments of Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc. rising through ranks and positions such as Tactical Pricing Advisor for West Africa cluster, Production Supervisor, and Production Manager with over (46) forty-six staff reporting to him, he later resigned and joined the Esso Exploration & Production Ltd also an ExxonMobil Subsidiary as a Project interface Manager.

As the Project Interface Manager for the Deepwater ExxonMobil Projects Development Group for over 10 years, where he was responsible for Managing Construction/Execution Projects, Interfacing with both external & internal within the company, Co-Venture Partners, Government Stakeholders, and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

Tony also worked with Northbridge Energy LLC as the Group Head Engineering reporting to the Managing Director, where he was managing the Engineering division and was responsible for the strategic focus of the company to enhance processes and procedures, create new processes and procedures to cater to small and large value EPC (Engineering Procurement and Construction) project. He led a team of multiple discipline design engineers in the proper execution of engineering-related activities for various projects, Involvement in detailed design calculations, preparation of engineering data sheets & specifications, shop fabrication drawings, and troubleshooting of design problems resulting from shop and field capabilities, Pre-award activities such as preliminary design, preparation of tender and material take-offs, cost estimation of material, plant & preliminaries, collaborating with commercial / procurement in preparation of quotation, material sourcing & vendor development., etc.

Prior to the completion of his doctorate in May 2020, Tony worked at ExxonMobil as a Project manager and execution support consultant and was responsible for the completion of the assigned work scope consistent with the project objectives and also engage the Project Team and functional resources to verify that the design & construction is consistent with project specifications & standards. He also serves as an interface between the project Team & Contractor and ensures smooth transitions between project stages and Leads Project Management Team (PMT) in applying Project Management Systems.

During his working career, Tony developed key competencies in Leadership, interpersonal skills, Selling skills, Design/Execution Engineering, Construction Management, Site Safety, Commissioning/Start-up, Contracting/Subcontracting, and Cost & Schedule just to mention a few.

He manages the external & internal interfaces within the company, Co-Venturer Partners, NAPIMS, and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), developing early career professionals to their full potential, driving functional excellence, and building in-country capacity and capability for ExxonMobil.

He is a member of Project Management Professional in the USA, a corporate member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (MNSE), and a member of the council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) equivalent to Professional Engineering PE. He is an ISO 9000:2000 QMS AUDITOR.

He also did his Doctoral Graduate Internship on Risk & Reliability with NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland USA. The Project work was on the Model-Based Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Initiative (MBSMAI) using MADe and MagicDraw System Engineering tools to ascertain Reliability, Risk, and Safety, Produced and Evaluated Software Assurance (SWA) Artifacts, Reliability artifacts (e.g., FMECA, LLA, and FTA), Safety & Quality artifacts using Models of a Single Mission.

Tony has a rich pedigree in upstream and in downstream business, planning, development, and construction/execution of onshore and offshore Greenfield and Brownfield.