Students and staff alike got the chance to tour the ONEOK “Powered by One” exhibit when it made a visit to the OCCC campus Aug. 12. The exhibit consisted of a tractor and semitrailer completely powered by CNG or Compressed Natural Gas.

A ONEOK representative also gave a recruiting presentation to about 50 students in the Engineering Club.

Engineering major James McManus attended.

“There is high demand for engineers in the natural gas industry right now,” McManus said.

He added there is a lot more room for career advancement now that the industry is booming and technology is advancing.

The speaker pointed out a large block of engineering jobs for the natural gas industry are about to open, as a wave of current employees begin to reach retirement age, McManus said.

He said the company representative stayed around after the one-hour speech to answer any questions.

James MacDonald, also an engineering major, said one thing from the speech that stood out to him was how well ONEOK treats its employees. He said ONEOK keeps to the idea that a happy engineer is a good engineer.

ONEOK Community Relations Representative Lynda Mobley said the exhibit was making visits to local colleges to inform students and visitors about career opportunities at ONEOK, as well as tell people what ONEOK is all about.

Mobley said that ONEOK is environmentally aware. She noted that CNG is actually more environmentally friendly than most other current fuel sources, including gasoline.

The benefits of CNG can also be seen at the pump.

“You may be able to fuel up for anywhere from 88 cents to $1.18 per gallon.” Mobley said.

“However a CNG vehicle won’t carry you quite as far as an equivalent gasoline powered vehicle.

ONEOK is a fortune 500 company and has been around since 1906.

“Most of its 4,800 employees are based out of Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas, with a few locations in more northern states,” Mobley said.

The mobile unit featured many interactive displays as well as a few video games, including a game where you try to place different shapes and sizes of pipe in the ground to make a pipeline.

For more information on ONEOK or the natural gas industry, contact Lynda Mobley at 405-551-6774 or lynda.mobley@oneok.com. You can also visit www.oneok.com.