Oceaneering Women in Technology Series: Lori Guidry
Oceaneering is devoted to creating a talented, diverse, and inclusive workforce. The Women in Technology series, presented in partnership with the Oceaneering Women’s Network, highlights the women contributing to our company’s technological advances. In this series, we discover what makes their jobs rewarding and what advice they have for the next generation of engineers.
View more profiles in this series.
Lori Guidry is the Designer/Drafting Lead and Systems Engineer for Oceaneering’s Offshore Projects Group (OPG) in Houston. The most rewarding aspect of her time at Oceaneering has been growing her skill set with each new position earned.
Lori came to Oceaneering with nearly 18 years of design experience. For the last seven she continued to expand her learnings and her skills within many Oceaneering Groups as design engineer, design supervisor, systems engineer, reliability engineer, and now a designer/drafting lead – a newly formed role with an emphasis on continuing systems engineering and helping in the development of design and drafting standards.
Lori has spent time with many segments within Oceaneering including the Intervention team. “I used my design skills along with systems engineering and reliability engineering. During my time on this team, I was able to work with the intervention skid tool and well stimulation tool, which gave me the opportunity to spend more time in the shop, getting valuable hydraulics knowledge and collaborating with the technicians.”
“We have a great set of guys and gals working out there whose experience and knowledge has helped me on more than one occasion."
Lori did not always know she would be an engineer, however. As a young single mother, Lori sat down with a family member to chart her potential future career, listing things she liked and disliked.
“At the top of the list of things I liked was math and drawing,” she said. Lori looked through a community college catalog and saw an associate degree for design and drafting. “I could get [this degree] and still have time to be a mother,” she added.
Once Lori received her Associate of Applied Science in Design and Drafting and as a plus went ahead and achieved an A.A.S. in Manufacturing, she went to work as a mechanical designer. She later earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the University of Houston.
Lori said it has been challenging at times being in a male dominated field, but she believes the dynamics are changing.
“I have had to deal with some rather unpleasant people over the course of my career with respects to me being a woman in a man’s field, but I have to say it is getting better.” she said. “My assertiveness and strong will, along with my ability to be just one of the guys (or gals) has overcome most of those challenges. Respecting others no matter their job or title goes a long way."
Lori said she was fortunate to not have many of those issues while at Oceaneering. At Oceaneering, she said, her managers noticed her talents and offered her opportunities to increase her skillset and her professional certifications, including the Associate Systems Engineering Profession Certificate and the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Her advice to the next generation of women is to be open to engineering as a career.
“Engineering is fun no matter which discipline you choose and where you start is never where you finish,” she said. “There are so many paths you can take. Just be open to them. Try them out and you may find you like something you never knew existed. During my time in school, I never even heard of Systems or Reliability Engineering.”
Lori added that she was lucky to get career advice from her family, but she believes it is important not to rely on only one source of information. “Get advice from others about their experiences. Research job availability in the region you want to live. Make sure what you want to do and where you want to do it is attainable.”
Interested in a new career path? Visit our Careers page to search our available job opportunities.
Articles To solve the unsolvable, Oceaneering seeks out the utmost experts in their respective fields. We provide engineered services and products primarily to the offshore energy industry. Today, we also use applied technology expertise to serve the defense, entertainment, material handling, aerospace, science, and renewable energy industries. With a varied and diverse pool of expertise, Oceaneering strives to be the go-to thoughtleader in our wide-ranging on- and offshore service lines. We thrive by creating industry-changing technically creative solutions for the most complex operational challenges under water, on land, and in space. Our experts are sought out for their knowledge and experience, to shed light on the latest innovative technology and trends within the wide-ranging industries we serve. Our experts are able to speak to these subjects because they are out in the field, working shoulder-to-shoulder with our clients and associated contractors. They work closely to devise solutions to problems that couldn’t be solved otherwise. We demonstrate our value every day, striving to complete projects on-time and on-budget. Our experts have penned thousands of words on topics related to remotely operated vehicles, subsea hardware, asset integrity, flow assurance, diving, survey and mapping, vessels, well intervention, workover control systems, pipeline repair, inspection, non-destructive testing, decommissioning, renewables, umbilicals, valves, marine services, product testing and qualification, data management, vessel navigation and positioning systems, science and other research, and space systems. Our articles section shines a spotlight on our best and brightest thoughtleaders offering history, data, case studies, and even opinions on industry trends and service techniques, so that we may open a dialogue with the rest of the industry, in order to see how we can all better ourselves and come up with the latest solutions and processes yet to be created. We partner with industry publications and other newsmakers to help tell our story and those of our clients because we aim to not only solve the unsolvable but demonstrate our value and expertise as a company, every single day. We do this work with much importance placed on safety, because safety is instilled in every worker, in every region in which we do business.
Company page Since our founding in the early 1960s, Oceaneering has expanded and grown globally to service several industries such as the offshore energy industry, defense, entertainment, material handling, aerospace, science, and renewable energy industries. In 1964, Mike Hughes and Johnny Johnson formed a Gulf of Mexico diving company called World Wide Divers. The company grew in response to increasing demand for their services and in 1969 merged with two other diving companies to form Oceaneering International, Inc. To solve the toughest challenges, we do things differently, creatively, and smarter. As your trusted partner, our unmatched experience and truly innovative portfolio of technologies and solutions give us the flexibility to adapt and evolve, regardless of market conditions. Our mission is to solve the unsolvable. We thrive by creating industry-changing technically creative solutions for the most complex operational challenges under water, on land, and in space. Our five core values establish a common culture and demonstrate what is most important for us as a company. Since the beginning, the company has transformed from a small regional diving company into a global provider of engineered products and services. Today, we develop products and services for use throughout the lifecycle of an offshore oilfield, from drilling to decommissioning. We operate the world's premier fleet of work class ROVs. Additionally, we are a leader in offshore oilfield maintenance services, umbilicals, subsea hardware, and tooling. We also serve the aerospace, defense, and theme park industries. Underpinning everything we do, safety is not only the foundation of our core values, but it is vital to our unmatched performance record and company culture. The industries we serve are as diverse as they are complex. Whether we are engineering deepwater umbilicals or developing robotics for aerospace applications, the safety and health of our employees, vendors, and customers is an integral part of our day-to-day business. If we are working, then our responsibility is to be working safely. Since our inception in 1964, we have placed a high value on employee safety—from diving services and subsea inspection to vessel-based installation operations. We have and will continue to evolve not only our health, safety, and environmental (HSE) processes, but those of the industries in which we work. Although we have been fatality-free since 1999, our HSE journey goes beyond statistics. As our portfolio of services has grown, we have continued to prioritize and advance our approach to HSE.
Trade Shows Oceaneering is a global company, spanning several industries such as the offshore energy industry, defense, entertainment, material handling, aerospace, science, and renewable energy industries. Because our work is global, we strive to showcase our talent, expertise, technology and services worldwide at several important and high-profile trade shows per year. At Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, as well as European-centric trade shows like Offshore Northern Seas (ONS) and Offshore Europe, Oceaneering displayed a touch screen that allows users to bring our technologies and services to life with in-depth facts and figures, and informative videos. Another highlight of our conference stand is the live, mobile mission control center, which provides a look at our collaborative and operational onshore base, supporting all kinds of operations both on- and offshore, topside and subsea. The MSC allows you to optimize resources, hence reducing cost, lowering HSE risk, and lowering emissions to the environment. Trade Shows allow Oceaneering the ability to meet with the public and potential clients to give them more in-depth knowledge about our specialized tools and services. By meeting with Oceaneering’s subject matter experts about our offerings, clients and potential clients can get an open window into the types of services Oceaneering can provide. Oceaneering’s expertise covers the spectrum from remotely operated vehicles, subsea hardware, asset integrity, flow assurance, diving, survey and mapping, vessels, well intervention, workover control systems, pipeline repair, inspection, non-destructive testing, decommissioning, entertainment systems, renewables, umbilicals, valves, marine services, product testing and qualification, data management, vessel navigation and positioning systems, science and other research, and even space systems. Our experts are sought out for their knowledge and experience, to shed light on the latest innovative technology and trends within the wide-ranging industries we serve. They work closely to devise solutions to problems that couldn’t be solved otherwise. We demonstrate our value every day, striving to complete projects on-time and on-budget. Trade shows, including smaller, local meet-and-greets, help tell our story and showcase the expertise and innovation behind our tools, technology, and services. We aim to not only solve the unsolvable but demonstrate our value and expertise as a company, every single day, on every single job, all across the world. We hope to serve you soon.
Brochures Our brochures section allows users to read more in-depth about our specialized tools and services that span several industries, such as the offshore energy industry, defense, entertainment, material handling, aerospace, science, and renewable energy industries. By reading more about our offerings, clients and potential clients can get an open window into the types of services Oceaneering can provide. Oceaneering’s expertise covers the spectrum from remotely operated vehicles, subsea hardware, asset integrity, flow assurance, diving, survey and mapping, vessels, well intervention, workover control systems, pipeline repair, inspection, non-destructive testing, decommissioning, entertainment systems, renewables, umbilicals, valves, marine services, product testing and qualification, data management, vessel navigation and positioning systems, science and other research, and even space systems. Our Brochure section features a searchable web database, where users don’t have to simply scroll to find the items for which they are searching. Simply enter your search terms, and select either “exact” or “search title” to help get you closer to relevant technology and services from Oceaneering that can help you solve your needs. Users can also filter their searches by category. Oceaneering offers 40 categories and sub categories to help users find what they need even faster. With a database of nearly 200 brochures, we aim to make the search process as easy as possible so we can get in touch faster to provide you with top-notch service and world-class expertise. Our experts are sought out for their knowledge and experience, to shed light on the latest innovative technology and trends within the wide-ranging industries we serve. They work closely to devise solutions to problems that couldn’t be solved otherwise. We demonstrate our value every day, striving to complete projects on-time and on-budget. Our brochures help to tell our story and showcase the expertise and innovation behind our tools, technology, and services. We aim to not only solve the unsolvable but demonstrate our value and expertise as a company, every single day, on every single job. We do this work with much importance placed on safety, because safety is instilled in every worker, in every region in which we do business. We hope to serve you soon.