Three alumni join Engineering Hall of Fame at Kansas State University
Monday, April 1, 2019
MANHATTAN — The Carl R. Ice College of Engineering at Kansas State University will induct three new members into its Hall of Fame on April 13.
Induction to the hall is the highest honor bestowed on its alumni by the college. Honorees are recognized for their professional success and accomplishment, involvement with and support of the College of Engineering, dedication to Kansas State University, and professional and public service.
The following are members of the class of 2019:
Gib Compton, Wichita, is a 1980 graduate of Kansas State University in construction science. He is the managing member of Compton Construction Services LLC, a commercial general contractor in Wichita. He began his career as a field engineer and project superintendent, founding Compton Construction in 1997, focusing on projects involving design-build, new construction, renovations and restorations. He is currently a member of the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering Advisory Council, KSU Foundation board of trustees, Presidents Athletic Advisory Council and the Wichita-area K-State alumni board. He has served as a past member of the K-State Alumni Association board of directors, construction science and management department advisory board at Kansas State University, which he will rejoin in fall 2019, and co-president of the Wichita Catbackers Club with his wife, Brenda, a 1977 Kansas State University alumna. The Comptons are both members of the university's Innovation and Inspiration Campaign steering committee and were awarded the Kansas State University Medal of Excellence in 2017, which recognizes exceptional service, leadership and philanthropic contributions.
Roger Farrell, Edmond, Oklahoma, is a 1975 magna cum laude graduate of Kansas State University in civil engineering. He is currently chairman of the board of Intensity Midstream LLC, a private equity-backed natural gas gathering and processing company serving the prolific SCOOP shale play in south central Oklahoma. His previous executive-level positions include CEO of Xplorer Midstream LLC, a start-up gathering and processing company in Oklahoma; president and chief operating officer of Southern Union Gas Services in Texas; and president and CEO of Enogex Inc. in Oklahoma. Before these positions, he had been responsible for a number of engineering designs, including a jet fuel terminal at Houston's Hobby Airport, refined products pipeline in south Texas, LPG ship-unloading facility in Corpus Christi, tailings disposal and water-recovery system at an Arizona copper mine, and a proprietary fuel system aboard large crude-oil carriers with retrofits occurring in Italy and Spain. He has served on the boards of directors of several companies, industry organizations and nonprofits, including Continental Resources, Southern Gas Association, Gas Processors' Association, Oklahoma Energy Explorers, Infant Crisis Services of Oklahoma and Kansas Senior Living Inc. He has also been a guest presenter for Oklahoma City University's MBA energy management program and Princeton University's Business Today national conference.
Steve G.K. Hsu, Hong Kong, China, earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Kansas State University in 1959, having previously completed a bachelor's degree in 1957 from Louisiana State University. He left the U.S. for Japan to help establish a new overseas market for his family's shipping business, constructing numerous new buildings in Japan and Korea between 1963 and 1990, and eventually chairing, until his retirement, the Hong Kong-based Oak Maritime Group and Taiwan-listed company, Sincere Navigation Corporation. He still serves on Sincere's board of directors. From 1991 to present, under his leadership, the companies initiated new building orders at Chinese shipyards, assisted in development of the Zhoushan Port as a transshipment port, opened offices in Vancouver and London, and established a branch company in Shanghai. Hsu serves on the American Bureau of Shipping, and previously served as chairman and director of the Continental Mariner Investment Co. LTD, listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. He had been an independent director of the Teekay Group and a committee member of Liverpool and London Steamship Protection and Indemnity Association Limited. He was honored as China's most outstanding entrepreneur in 2009 and his company was named by Forbes magazine as one of the "Best Under a Billion" companies in Asia in 2006. Hsu has been chairman and director of more than 100 single ship-owning companies during his 50-year career in international shipping.
