Interviewer: Tyler Priest

Affiliation: University of Houston

Hank Van Calcar grew up on a ranch in Oregon, and attended Oregon State University to study power engineering. With an additional master’s degree from OSU in hand by 1959, Van Calcar worked on control and feedback systems for TRW Systems. After several years, Van Calcar relocated to Seattle to work for Honeywell, where he became involved in building dynamically-positioned ships for the offshore drilling contractor SEDCO. Over his long career, Van Calcar worked on the landmark Shell Cognac fixed platform, as well as on the Exxon first-of-its-kind Lena guyed or compliant tower. Van Calcar retired from Honeywell in 1992.