People call Robert Torgerson “the professor” because he has a knack for grasping complex technologies and explaining them to colleagues and customers. And he does so with patience, clarity, and obvious passion for his field of expertise: temperature monitoring solutions for refineries and petrochemical plants.
Further solidifying his reputation, Robert frequently writes papers and presents them at international technology events like American Fuels and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), European Refining Technology Conference (ERTC), Asia Downstream, and American Petroleum Institute (API). In fact, he leads the API subcommittee that’s writing recommendations for furnace tubeskin thermocouples (API RP 556-6). For these and other reasons, in 2024 WIKA named him Director of Technology and Applications for Engineered Products.
But the professor first had to be a learner.
Oil runs in his veins
Robert was born in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where Phillips 66 was founded, and went to high school in Tulsa, nicknamed “The Oil Capital of the World.” He grew up hearing about the international oil business from his father, a degreed petroleum engineer who did global sales for various energy companies. Robert also swam from a young age, thanks in large part to the P66 Splash Club. (One of Phillips 66’s social impact projects is swim safety in the communities where it operates.)
Thus, it was in these two oil towns that Robert acquired the two major interests that would set the course for the rest of his life: technology and swimming. He went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville to study engineering but also to swim competitively.
At first, he was emphatic about not wanting to follow in his father’s footsteps. “I had it in my head that I did not want to be him, and I swore I would never be in the oil business and never be in sales,” Robert said. “However, the longer I was in school, the more I came to realize that those two areas were actually where my talents lie. I enjoy talking about innovations and technology – teaching and sharing information – and Industrial engineering was the best route for me for that at Vanderbilt. So, as it turned out, walking in my father’s footsteps was really a great thing to be doing.”
Finding a path in the oil business
Unfortunately, Robert graduated during a minor but persistent global recession. Engineering sales jobs were scarce, so he returned to Tulsa and became a high school swim coach. “It was a very rewarding and successful year,” he said. “But I still had the technology itch, and I wanted a job that made use of my degree.”
That itch was scratched when he landed a job at Baker Performance Chemicals and learned to sell process chemicals to refineries and chemical plants. “I gained a tremendous practical education in the downstream oil business, largely due to my manager, Barry Hoeffner. He was instrumental in a promotion that moved me first to Indianapolis and then to Chicago.”
It was in Chicago, while working for ICI Katalco, that he started selling syngas catalysts for the production of hydrogen and absorbents. There he learned about refinery catalytic processes, both from on-the-job experience and from leading industry influencers. He eventually ended up in Houston, where he met his wife, started a family, and put down roots.
In his role as catalyst product manager for Univar, Robert heard from numerous clients that they would like to add temperature monitoring to their catalyst and furnace systems. As it turned out, those conversations helped activate the next stage of his career, which had its start in the most unlikely of places.
One weekend in 2004, his family went to the home of his daughter’s soccer coach for a cookout. He and the coach, Blake Costanzi, engaged in the usual small talk about what they did for work. “Houston is an interesting town,” Robert quipped, “and you never know who you’re going to meet. Turns out Blake was the CFO of Gayesco International, a world leader in temperature monitoring solutions for catalysts and furnaces.”
Becoming a world specialist in refinery temperature monitoring
Blake put Robert in touch with Mike Strebel, the technology director at Gayesco. Robert was so impressed with the company, and vice versa, that Mike soon hired him on to lead global sales. Robert credits Mike, along with Gayesco President Dale Datcher, as the two men who would most impact his professional life.
“They worked hard to teach me the business, specifically multipoint thermocouples and furnace tubeskin thermocouples,” Robert said. “They gave me the opportunity and the responsibility to go all over the world, helping the industry to solve critical measurement problems. It was a wonderful experience, and I got to work with some of the brightest refinery people around the globe.”
At Gayesco, he was part of a dynamic team eager to solve engineering problems in high-temperature measurement and monitoring. The performance and reliability of Gayesco products became so well-known in the industry that it caught the attention of larger companies. One of them was the WIKA Group, which acquired Gayesco in 2013. With that move, WIKA also acquired Robert Torgerson’s deep well of knowledge and experience.
Teaching WIKA customers and colleagues
Today at WIKA, Robert continues to lead efforts in improving the Gayesco portfolio of multipoint thermometers and tubeskin thermocouples. He is especially proud of how the TC59 family of tubeskin thermocouple assemblies – TC59-T TEFRACTO-PAD ®, TC59-E eTEFRACTO-PAD (extractable), TC59-V V-PAD®, etc. – has evolved to better serve the refinery and chemical industries. These temperature sensors’ performance was first backed by real-world testing at WIKA’s own R&D furnace unit, and then proven independently on customer sites. “At WIKA, we show our customers that the data prove what we say about our products is true.”
His current role is unusual in the industry because his team supports highly technical sales.“It’s difficult to be an expert in everything in a portfolio as broad as WIKA’s,” he explained. “Our job is to help sell the complicated or niche measurement solutions, and the director of technology and applications position grew out of that specialized need.” Most of the people on Robert’s team have the title of technical application specialist, to reflect that they know how to custom-fit complex technology to the needs of very demanding applications.
Looking forward, Robert knows from experience that the types of demanding applications will only continue to proliferate and evolve. “But the common thread will be the need for more information,” he said. “That means more sensors feeding digital twins and more virtual sensing. With additional data and AI-driven decision-making, refineries and plants will be able to react faster and more accurately, which leads to greater safety and profitability.”
Ever engaged, always learning
His job keeps him busy, including traveling to customer sites to better understand their particular applications and challenges. And even though the Gen Xer half-jokingly describes himself as old, he is nowhere close to slowing down. He still swims. “After so many years in pools, the water still feels like home,” he said. “But compared to my heyday, I’m a better floater these days!”
His children were passionate about other sports, so Robert spent years as a dance dad for his daughter and as president of his son’s football club all the way from first grade through high school graduation. Now, with both kids out of college and out of the house, his new pastime is learning 3D printing and modeling – “a perfect hobby for a geeky engineer,” he said with a laugh.
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