Meet LSUS’ Sarah Okpe: First to Build an Operator Interface for BENTELER Steel/Tube
October 15, 2024
Supporting Louisiana’s Energy Industry
When BENTELER Steel/Tube Manufacturing Corporation technicians begin work in the international company’s new $21 million threading facility at the Port of Caddo-Bossier later this year, they’ll be using an interface designed by an LSU Shreveport graduate student. Sarah Okpe, a computer systems technology student at LSUS, spent her BENTELER internship building the human-machine interface that will allow operators to produce seamless steel tubes for clients in the energy industry.
“This application is a client interface in which the operators can communicate with the machines, communicate with the database, and communicate with services,” Okpe said. “The whole idea is that operators can stand in the pulpit with this interface and know if the machines are working, if the threading lines are moving, and if the products are correctly threaded from start to finish.”
Pipes like the ones BENTELER makes crisscross Louisiana, Texas, and the Gulf South, supplying a large portion of the United States’ energy.
Sarah Okpe.
– Art by LSU’s Graphic Design Student Office
“The LSUS students are working on solutions we really need, and they are supporting our workforce. It’s a win-win.”
Michael Fritz, BENTELER Steel/Tube process and system optimization manager