University of Tulsa mechanical engineering alumnus Tim Latimer (BS ’12) was dealing with drilling equipment that kept breaking from the high temperatures deep underground. “I had never even heard of ‘geothermal’ at that point,” Latimer says. “But it was where all the solutions for high-temperature drilling were, so I did more and more research.”
That research ultimately led him down an entrepreneurial path. Generated from Earth’s internal heat, geothermal energy offers a renewable, carbon-free source of power – but it’s been expensive to access.
“I was right in the middle of the ‘shale revolution,’” Latimer says, with oil production skyrocketing from the use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. “It just seemed to me very obvious that we could take some of these major technology breakthroughs from oil and gas and apply them to geothermal.”
The geothermal industry didn’t seem to agree, but Latimer was determined to pursue the idea. “It would give me a spot to work in ‘energy transition’ as we make more and more efforts to address climate change,” Latimer says. In 2015, Latimer enrolled at Stanford University to seek an MBA and study in its geothermal research program. His graduate school application boldly proclaimed he was going to revolutionize the geothermal industry. And he has.
Co-founded with a doctoral student from Stanford, Fervo Energy finished a pilot project last November in Nevada. And it recently broke ground on a 400-megawatt project in Utah. Fervo’s horizontal drilling can generate geothermal energy almost anywhere. CEO Latimer believes it will one day generate up to 20% of the U.S. demand for electricity.
“We’re right at the cusp of a revolution,” he says, “adding a huge new part of our energy mix from something that’s carbon-free and sustainable and works around the clock.” After growing up in a Texas town with 900 people, Latimer wanted a college with a strong engineering program and a campus small enough for a tight-knit community. UTulsa was “a perfect fit,” he says.
“One thing I really appreciated about UTulsa was how hands-on it was,” Latimer says. “It wasn’t just like, ‘Let’s model these things on a computer and not get our hands dirty.’ We actually got to build things. … The curriculum showed you how to be resourceful.” Latimer lives in Houston, where Fervo is headquartered. He returned to Tulsa this past April for UTulsa’s College of Engineering & Computer Science Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Latimer was one of three distinguished alumni inducted into the hall of fame. ECS Inaugural Dean Andreas A. Polycarpou praised Latimer’s ingenuity.
“It is alumni like Tim who make us proud. His innovative ideas and entrepreneurship will likely have a profound impact on our society,” Polycarpou said.