Most notably
Ricardo has led business initiatives and managed design, engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning and decommissioning of capital projects valued at up to $21 billion.
At Noble Corporation, he set an industry record by delivering a $650 million first-of-a-kind drillship in 28 months.
He oversaw a project totaling more than 10 million man-hours, that was completed safely, on time, and on budget. His work contributed to the company receiving the Lloyd’s List Award for Offshore Operator of the Year.
At Worley, a global engineering firm, Ricardo’s team helped secure the Guinness World Record for the highest capacity integrated offshore energy complex at 1,236,000 barrels per day.
Also while at Worley, he received the Award for Excellence in Engineering and Construction for “Best Solution to the Climate Challenge and Water Crisis” from the Rice Global E & C Forum.
During his career, Ricardo has delivered more than 300,000 tons of floating offshore energy infrastructure through the full Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) lifecycle and presented more than 15 advanced nuclear energy technical papers at conferences including the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), the Deepwater Operations Conference & Exhibition, and Topsides, Platforms & Hulls Conference & Exhibition.
Professional experience
Prior to joining ZettaJoule, Ricardo co-invented and patented the Offshore Energy Generation System (OEGS). He pioneered system architectures that integrate zero-carbon nuclear energy with heavy industry, enabling decarbonization, hydrocarbon recovery, and petrochemical processing. He also developed technologies for producing zero-carbon ammonia, hydrogen, desalinated water, and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), as well as providing reliable power for floating data centers.
Ricardo previously served as a Senior Project Manager at Wood, a global engineering and consulting firm where he led the planning and execution strategy for multibillion-dollar offshore energy projects, including floating oil production and floating liquefied natural gas facilities. He earned best-in-class customer satisfaction recognition for an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) contract supporting BP’s Floating Production Systems program in the Gulf of Mexico.
At Worley, Ricardo led a team that achieved concept-to-delivery success on multibillion-dollar first-of-a-kind floating production unit projects by developing innovative methods for improving the effectiveness of capital use in concept definition and delivery strategy. He provided strategic and technical support for floating and offshore nuclear technologies in the Gulf of Mexico and the Middle East, including feasibility, risk and regulatory planning. His team also helped secure the Guinness World Record for the highest capacity integrated offshore energy complex at 1,236,000 barrels per day.
As a Project Manager at Noble Corporation, Ricardo spearheaded two industry records - delivering the $650 million first-of-a-kind Noble Don Taylor drillship in 28 months and completing the heaviest (at the time) offshore casing installation at 2.24 million pounds aboard the Noble Sam Croft drillship.
As a Project Manager and Lead Facilities Engineer at Heerema Fabrication, Ricardo oversaw the growth of the staff from fewer than 20 to more than 250 engineers working on projects in West Africa, Venezuela and the U.S., serving major clients including ExxonMobil, BP and Chevron.
Ricardo’s career also includes project management roles at Schlumberger, where he led business development and build-own-operate activities in Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador, and at Strycon, where he helped scale the engineering team from 12 to more than 500 employees. Earlier in his career, Ricardo established a pioneering research and development center at Universidad de los Andes focused on sustainable technologies for Colombia’s emerging oil and gas industry.
Education
Ricardo earned a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M University-Victoria and a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering with a concentration in fluid mechanics from Universidad de los Andes in Bogota, Colombia.
He also holds Certified Data Center Professional (CDCP) and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications, along with certificates from MIT in Sustainable Energy, and Nuclear Energy: Science, Systems and Society.
More about Ricardo
Ricardo’s career has taken him from jungles to deepwater marine settings around the world. Outside of work, he enjoys running, nature walks, and playing folk music and classic rock on guitar and piano.
He has a keen interest in systems philosophy, specifically exploring the intersection of quantum physics with Ken Wilber’s Integral Model.