GE Global Research

[jn1780]

GE was probably already going in another direction than originally planned back when they first announced the Baker Hughes merger with their oil and gas unit. This facility hasn't really been around that long to accomplish much.

[Rover]

Maybe the new Prez at OU could make a joint venture with BH and the Engineering and Petroleum Engineering departments to conduct research there and offer advanced degree programs there. This would be a great fit with the University of OK and with their already existing MBA facility nearby. BH could negotiate a first right of refusal on technology developed there and OU and the citizens of OK could share in revenue derived from licensing, etc. Professors would be drawn there too as they would also share in the revenue. And, with OU having the business incubation center there in the district, there might be a number of new companies formed for commercialization, such as has been done on the bio-med side.

I think there might be a precedent with OSU and Conoco in Ponca City with the old R&D center which I believe houses their sensor development program.

[TheTravellers]

...BH could negotiate a first right of refusal on technology developed there and OU and the citizens of OK could share in revenue derived from licensing, etc. Professors would be drawn there too as they would also share in the revenue. ...

Does this revenue sharing ever actually happen? I honestly don't know, have never worked for/dealt with energy companies, but I've never heard of revenue sharing like that any place I've worked (DoD, banks, IBM, Arthur Andersen, public utilities, software development companies, a few other industries).

[PhiAlpha]

Maybe the new Prez at OU could make a joint venture with BH and the Engineering and Petroleum Engineering departments to conduct research there and offer advanced degree programs there. This would be a great fit with the University of OK and with their already existing MBA facility nearby. BH could negotiate a first right of refusal on technology developed there and OU and the citizens of OK could share in revenue derived from licensing, etc. Professors would be drawn there too as they would also share in the revenue. And, with OU having the business incubation center there in the district, there might be a number of new companies formed for commercialization, such as has been done on the bio-med side.

I think there might be a precedent with OSU and Conoco in Ponca City with the old R&D center which I believe houses their sensor development program.

It actually would be great if OU could get it's all of it's energy programs involved with the facility, especially the engineering and geology program but even the business energy programs could benefit from it.

[Pete]

Remember, OKC out-fought Norman and OU for this facility.

[PhiAlpha]

But the whole idea behind the GE facility is that this research was for the entire industry and there was all this hope it would lead to expansion, more research and start-ups.

When this was pitched and opened it was stated: " The new Center will become a central hub for GE scientists and engineers to closely collaborate with the Oil & Gas industry on cutting-edge digital and hardware solutions to advance the industry."

Remember, the whole idea behind placing this near downtown was to be in close proximity to Devon, Continental, etc.


So, isn't there the strong possibility that rather than sharing the research with 'the industry' that Baker Hughes will just use it for themselves? What is their motivation to share? GE seemed to have a completely different mission.

And will the main scientists and researchers stay in place now that they are no longer affiliated with a much larger GE research network?

All of those companies are probably major clients of Baker Hughes so the proximity is still beneficial in collaborating with the company engineers and geologists. Even if it turns into a Baker Hughes only research facility, it wouldn't hurt their ability to work with any of our local E&Ps or others around the country since they're not in the same market segment as the E&Ps are (CHK was in the space for a time, but hasn't been since they sold off NOMAC and it's other oil field operations companies). If BH sees it as a major asset that could improve their profitability and marketing efforts, it could end up being an even bigger focus for them than it was for GE and they could dump more resources into it than GE did. Not to mention that while GE did have an O&G presence, it wasn't their primary focus. It obviously is BH's primary focus.

I agree with whoever said it above on the scientists and researchers. They all have some type of oil and gas related backgrounds and BH is a massive international company so unless BH just shuts down the whole operations (which would be pretty stupid) I doubt they would be affect much by this.

All of that is just speculation so we'll have to wait and see, but I definitely don't think it's necessarily bad news.

[PhiAlpha]

Remember, OKC out-fought Norman and OU for this facility.

Well hopefully there are no sour grapes then haha.

[Pete]

I imagine the GE logo will soon be coming down.

[HOT ROD]

^ this to me is the biggest impact of this, no longer having a major world brand. Otherwise, spinoffs and acquisitions happen all of the time.

Just wish we knew what BH's mission is and how they plan to use the facility.

[Pete]

There is a puffy article behind the paywall on the Oklahoman.

Basically says they want to be more of an 'innovation' facility and spur start-ups.


But it also says the General Manager has retired (Michael Ming who was one of the first hires and has been the boss since that time) and the new head is a 33 year-old who was promoted from within.

I've also been told there has been quite a bit of turnover there. Would be interesting to know how many of the original 120 still remain.

[HangryHippo]

Maybe the new Prez at OU could make a joint venture with BH and the Engineering and Petroleum Engineering departments to conduct research there and offer advanced degree programs there. This would be a great fit with the University of OK and with their already existing MBA facility nearby. BH could negotiate a first right of refusal on technology developed there and OU and the citizens of OK could share in revenue derived from licensing, etc. Professors would be drawn there too as they would also share in the revenue. And, with OU having the business incubation center there in the district, there might be a number of new companies formed for commercialization, such as has been done on the bio-med side.

I think there might be a precedent with OSU and Conoco in Ponca City with the old R&D center which I believe houses their sensor development program.

I don't know how feasible or likely this is, but it's a great idea!

[Rover]

Does this revenue sharing ever actually happen? I honestly don't know, have never worked for/dealt with energy companies, but I've never heard of revenue sharing like that any place I've worked (DoD, banks, IBM, Arthur Andersen, public utilities, software development companies, a few other industries).

Commercialization through licensing of technologies can create shared revenue streams. We have a number of companies from research done at OU where royalties are paid.

[gopokes88]

There is a puffy article behind the paywall on the Oklahoman.

Basically says they want to be more of an 'innovation' facility and spur start-ups.


But it also says the General Manager has retired (Michael Ming who was one of the first hires and has been the boss since that time) and the new head is a 33 year-old who was promoted from within.

I've also been told there has been quite a bit of turnover there. Would be interesting to know how many of the original 120 still remain.

I know Ming, his retirement has nothing to do with the the changes.

[Pete]

I know Ming, his retirement has nothing to do with the the changes.

Just happens to exactly coincide with Baker Hughes taking over after only being on the job for a few years?

[hoya]

I know Ming, his retirement has nothing to do with the the changes.

Is he Merciless?

[gopokes88]

Just happens to exactly coincide with Baker Hughes taking over after only being on the job for a few years?

Yep. He was brought in to basically launch the place and get it up and running. Maybe it got accelerated or it became great timing but he was never setup to be a 25 year director. Original intention was 5, this project started in ‘14 so pretty close.

[shawnw]

https://newsok.com/article/5599077/b...s-mission-name

[gopokes88]

That’s great news.

[CloudDeckMedia]

https://newsok.com/article/5599077/b...s-mission-name

That story was published June 24.

[HangryHippo]

That story was published June 24.

Just became available for those without a subscription.

[shawnw]

That story was published June 24.

I didn't look at the date. I saw it on Twitter (tweeted by a NewsOK staffer), presumed it was fresh news, and posted.

[Pete]

[shawnw]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/15/ge-s...ccounting.html

[gopokes88]

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/15/ge-s...ccounting.html

Different company.

[Swake]

Different company.

Baker Hughes GE is a publicly traded subsidury of GE. So it's still GE.

https://www.chron.com/business/energ...e-14308499.php