Alumni spotlight
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Samuel David, BSc'95 (Mechanical Engineering)
Problem solving skills fuel long career in oil and gas
Energy entrepreneur Samuel David got his start at Schulich
Samuel David was destined to start his own company, but like any good entrepreneur, the president, CEO, and director of Prospera Energy took a few detours along the way.
As a young undergraduate student at the University of Calgary, David switched from engineering to the “easier route” of economics after his father passed away. He had to go to work while going to school to help his family. After graduating with his B.A. in economics, getting married, and starting a job at Petro Canada, he went back to the “very tough curriculum” at the Schulich School of Engineering. Believing “the harder you fall, the higher you bounce back,” David finished the degree he had started years earlier.
My preference was to be an engineer, so while I was working, I went back to school and finished mechanical engineering. It’s a great school. It really teaches you how to solve problems on your feet. I think that is the greatest tool that has helped me over my career.
Samuel David, BSc'95 (Mechanical Engineering)
David has applied that problem solving, as well as his deep understanding of economics, over three decades operating, developing, and managing oil and gas companies big and small. He spent about 12 years at Petro Canada in increasingly more senior roles, before moving to AEC Oil & Gas, which later split to become EnCana and Cenovus.
“The first 18 or so years of my career was working with majors,” he says. “And then I got brave, and I started my own company. The first one lasted five years. Most start-ups don't last. They don't survive the first year.” After his first start-up, Ventura Energy, David went on to start other successful energy juniors, First West Petroleum and Quanterra Et Al. He has since joined Prospera Energy and restructured the company.
David’s LinkedIn profile documents his long career as well as hinting at his family’s long tradition of entrepreneurship. He posts his grandfather’s sir name, Davaraj, in parentheses after his own. “David is my legal last name. It’s on my passport but ‘Samuel David’ doesn't provide the heritage, so I always put ‘Davaraj’ in brackets,” he says.
David was born in Southern India and his family moved to Calgary when he was four. “Traditionally, culturally, I'm from southern India and our background is business. My mother's side owns a spice plantation. Most of my sisters are entrepreneurial, whether it's technical or not. It was always in me to start my own businesses.”
It takes more than courage to launch a successful company, he says. “Starting your own company requires a full view, not just the technical view. You must have a good understanding of the business side of things. And the first few companies I started; I didn't have the experience that I have now after 35 years.”
He’s enjoyed his years in the “dynamic” field of oil and gas, a career that was launched from UCalgary, with plenty of “good memories” and tough engineering exams that put his problem-solving skills to work. “I learned problem solving and the discipline of trying to pass the exams and getting through that curriculum,” says David. “I had a wonderful time.”