After 28 years with IADC, Mike Killalea retired from IADC in March, leaving a legacy of mentorship and innovation. Mr. Killalea joined the association in 1991 as Associate Editor of Drilling Contractor magazine and retired as Group Vice President and Editor/Publisher.
Throughout his career with IADC, Mr Killalea was instrumental in the establishment of the IADC ART Committee, and the IADC World Drilling Conference and he assisted in the development of the first electronic version of the IADC Drilling Manual and oversaw the 12th edition of the same. Under his direction, 167 issues of Drilling Contractor magazine have been published and he launched the Drill Bits newsletter and eNews from drillingcontractor.org, establishing IADC as a leader in video and multimedia content for the drilling industry.
“One of his greatest strengths is getting something at the root level before there’s even shoots and nurturing it,” said IADC President Jason McFarland. “Often, his projects would then grow into their own and be handed off to other colleagues at IADC. There’s no one better suited for a new kind of initiative, even at the conceptual level just to say, ‘I’d like something like this’, and then let them run with it. That kind of innovation will be missed.”
