Mike Starkey is a Senior Technical Engineer at Commander Downhole Technologies, bringing nearly 30 years of experience across every corner of the directional drilling industry. Born and raised in Southeastern Oklahoma, Mike earned a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in 1997 and launched his career as a Directional Driller and MWD Engineer at Anadrill-Schlumberger. Over the decades that followed, he has taken on roles spanning operations coordination, district management, product development, well planning, and technical engineering at companies including Black Viper Energy Services, Cudd Energy Services, Scientific Drilling, Terra Directional Services, Leam Drilling Systems, and Commander Downhole Technologies. He has developed a deep specialty in downhole drilling motors, applying that expertise across both field and engineering capacities throughout the Permian Basin and beyond. Outside of work, Mike serves as a volunteer Director on the Board of Reel Thanx, an organization dedicated to taking combat-wounded soldiers fishing as a way of honoring their service and reconnecting them with what they can do. He enjoys golfing, hunting, and especially getting out on the water, most often alongside the veterans he proudly supports.