Soni Oyekan

Soni Olufemi Olubunmi Oyekan [1] is a Nigerian-American chemical engineer.

Early life and education

Soni Oyekan was born in Aba, Nigeria on June 1, 1946 and came to the United States to study in 1966.[1][2] Oyekan was a recipient of an African Scholarship Program of American Universities (ASPAU) award which was administered by the African American Institute (AAI) in 1966. The scholarship award enabled Soni to pursue his studies in Engineering and Applied Sciences with specialization in Chemical Engineering at Yale University. He completed his Bachelor of Science degree program at Yale University in 1970. After his undergraduate studies at Yale, Soni moved on to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and completed graduate studies in Chemical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He was awarded the Master of Science (MS) degree in 1972 and the doctoral (PhD) degree in 1977. His MS degree thesis title was on "The Stability of Low Tension Interfaces—Effects of layers of Discrete Dipoles and Charges". The title of his doctoral thesis was "An Infrared Spectroscopic Study of the Isomerization and Hydrogenation of Cyclic Olefins Over Zinc Oxide". Soni has over 40 years of experience in petroleum refining technologies and operations.

Career

Soni Oyekan is the President and CEO of Prafis Energy Solutions. Prafis Energy Solutions is an oil refining and energy consulting services company. The company is located in Richmond, Texas. Prior to start up of his oil and gas processing consulting services company in 2013, Dr. Oyekan had contributed significantly to chemical engineering and oil refining with his inventions and studies on catalytic systems and the catalytic naphtha reforming process. His patents have been applied successfully in the efficient use of reactor engineering and catalysis for the processing of crude oil to meet consumer demands for transportation fuels, heating oil, propane and butane gases. Dr Soni Oyekan has been recognized for his contributions in oil refining, and for his extensive volunteer and leadership roles in the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Soni has held a variety of positions in AIChE. The positions include chair of Fuels and Petrochemicals Division (F&PD), chair of the Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) and a director of the AIChE Executive Board. He is currently a member of the Foundation Board of Trustees of AIChE. Soni has contributed over the years in numerous technical discussions on petroleum refining at the annual National Petroleum Refiners Association (NPRA) Q&A conferences. NPRA is now the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM). Dr. Oyekan retired in January 2013 from Marathon Petroleum Company[1] after fourteen years as the Reforming and Isomerization Technologist of the company.

Honors and awards

Dr. Oyekan has received numerous recognitions for his contributions in oil refining, chemical engineering and in the mentoring of engineers and technical personnel. He is a member of the AIChE Foundation Board of Trustees and a Fellow of the AIChE. He has received honors and awards for his academic achievements and research in oil refining. Soni is a member of Sigma Xi and Phi Kappa Phi honour societies. He is a member of the Yale Manuscript Society. He was honored by AIChE's Minority Affairs Committee (MAC) with its Distinguished Service award in 2000. The Fuels and Petrochemicals Division honored him with its Distinguished Service award in 2002. He is listed in the 2000 13th edition of Who's Who Amongst African Americans. Dr Soni Oyekan was named an Eminent Black Chemical Engineer at the AIChE Centennial Meeting in 2008. He was the recipient of the AIChE 2008 William W. Grimes award for excellent contributions in chemical engineering and for the mentoring of under represented minority groups. Dr. Soni Oyekan was the recipient of the 2009 Percy Lavon Julian award.[1][3] The Percy Julian award is the most prestigious honor given by the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE). The award recognizes and honors a recipient's scientific contributions and achievements, dedication to research, commitment to the educational development of others and passion for the chemistry profession.

Patents & some publications

Soni Oyekan has 14 patents including 5 US patents and over 70 publications on a variety of topics in petroleum refining and catalysis. He is a co-author of Catalyst Regeneration and Continuous Reforming Issues with P. K. Doolin and D. J. Zalewski, in the Catalytic Naphtha Reforming book, Second Edition, edited by G. J. Antos and A. M. Aitani, Marcel Dekker, 2004. Oyekan is the author of Catalytic Naphtha Reforming Process, CRC Press, 2018.

Personal life

Soni is married to Priscilla Ann Parker and they reside in Richmond, Texas. They have four children.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Lauren K. Wolf (November 5, 2012). "Joining The NOBCChE Family: Nigeria-born student builds relationships at annual meeting of black chemists and chemical engineers". Chemical and Engineering News. American Chemical Society. 90 (45): 36–37.
  2. ↑ Soni Oyekan: Directory; www.LinkedIn.com/pub/dir/soni oyekan
  3. ↑ "Chemical Engineering Graduate Dr. Soni Oyekan receives the Percy L. Julian Award". Carnegie Mellon University. 2005. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
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