Paul Bonifas

About Paul

• I was born in France and moved with my family to south Texas and then to Casper, Wyoming, always following my father’s job in uranium mining.
• After high school, I knew I wanted to go to college, but I had no idea what I wanted to study—I was good at math and science, so I was encouraged to go into engineering.
• I started with petroleum engineering, but switched to chemical engineering because it sounded interesting—I kept taking petroleum engineering electives because those jobs started at a higher salary.
• After graduating, I took a job as a reservoir petroleum engineer in Dallas, Texas.
• The oil industry crashed and I was laid off, but I was actually excited because it gave me an opportunity to explore the world—I booked a ticket to Thailand and spent the next few months backpacking.
• I took another job as an engineer in North Dakota before deciding to go back to school—I received a grant that allowed me to earn both my MBA and a master’s degree in petroleum engineering.
• After graduate school, I explored some entrepreneurial and consulting opportunities—one of those opportunities led me back to Wyoming as a petroleum engineering consultant.
• I was again laid off when oil crashed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but I was quickly recruited to the 9H Research Foundation, where I now help drive innovation in clean energy and engineering.