KC is the Founder, President & CEO of PEER Research Ltd. He is responsible for the efficient running of the company. He is a multidisciplinary geoscientist with over 40 years of international experience as a teacher, entrepreneur, researcher, consultant, and oil and gas explorationist. He describes himself as the ultimate engineer – “always striving to build a better mousetrap.”
Age: Born 1946
Nationality: Nigerian and US Citizen
Career: Following a BSc degree in Geology in 1973 from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and a pioneer year in the National Youth Service Corps, he worked as an exploration geologist and trainee geophysicist for two small oil companies in Lagos, Deminex, and Ashland. His hard work at Ashland earned him the Ashland scholarship to study geophysics at the world-renowned Colorado School of Mines, where he earned an MSc degree in Geophysical Engineering and a PhD in Geophysics.
It was at Mines that he met his mentor and teacher, the late world-renowned petrophysicist, Dr. George R. Pickett. Following his Ph.D. in 1980, KC worked seven years as a senior geophysicist/seismic interpreter for two large oil companies, Getty and Texaco, before striking out on his own in 1987 to found Colorado-based IEC Inc., a research-focused and consulting company, to further develop innovative petrophysical concepts he and Dr. Pickett had worked on for his PhD. In this capacity, he won and successfully completed research projects for multiple U.S. agencies, as well as consulted for independent contractors on national and international oil and gas projects.
In 2012, Dr. Ikwuakor moved to Nigeria to help develop a newly created university, Kwara State University, where he taught geosciences and served the university for six years as Director Center for Sponsored Projects and Executive Secretary of the University Research Council.
His experience in academia, together with interactions he had with government research agencies and their activities, has formed his strong advocacy for proper institutional research structure, enhanced collaborative research efficiency, and proper development of personnel at all levels of the research structure.