Mechanical Engineering Hall of Fame
BSME, University of Texas at Austin, 1967
Larry earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Texas and is a registered engineer in Texas. While at UT, he joined the Army National Guard, graduated from MP school, airborne training, OCS, and was commissioned.
In 1967, he joined Cameron where he gained experience in engineering, offshore service, and manufacturing of blowout preventers and subsea equipment. This was diverse experience in a large global company founded by a great entrepreneur Jim Abercrombie and led by a great engineer and president Herbert Allen.
After nine years with Cameron, Larry joined Worldwide Oil Tools as Vice President & General Manager. It was a startup in complete disarray, and in four years he built this little company into a respected international manufacturer of pipe testing equipment. Traveling worldwide and directing the development of four new product lines, Larry received his first three patents and learned to love startup manufacturing companies.
In 1980, Larry started Venturetech in his garage. Venturetech power swivels now lead the field working on oil and gas rigs worldwide. In 2007, Venturetech was honored as one of Houston’s fastest growing businesses by the Houston Business Journal, along with receiving their Enterprise Champion award for community work above and beyond financial performance. Larry continues to direct Venturetech's development and is excited to be launching additional new product lines. 36 patents so far.
For fun, Larry is building a car collection including a 34 Ford pickup, a 62 Corvette, several Jeeps, a 1923 Ford T-bucket roadster, and a Bonneville Salt Flats race car. To fund this enterprise and create jobs, he started Torque Engineering, LP to manufacture AIRTORQ, a driver-controlled air suspension kit allowing offroad Jeep drivers 8” up-down-tilt on-the-fly.
He also learned to fly and rides his bicycle to work 10 miles twice a week. He loves having a lot going on and does not understand retirement.
Giving back to the community is an important part of Larry’s life. He learned the power of support groups in the substance abuse programs Insight and Lifeway and was an advisory board member of Cornerstone Recovery. After his wife was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1996, Larry was elected to the board of the Texas Liver Coalition as Director of Support Groups. Under Larry’s direction, the Coalition developed 32 support groups in Texas cities which helped thousands of people each year. Larry also served on Mayor Bill White’s Task Force for Hepatitis C. Thankfully, Larry's wife was cured after struggling through four years of the earliest difficult treatments. Today’s meds cure Hep C quickly and easily.
Mr. Keast has enjoyed speaking to engineering and entrepreneurship students at the University of Texas and the University of Houston. He has served on the Business Advisory Council of Goodwill Industries. Larry has also served as President of the Dover Club, a support organization of business owners and entrepreneurs, and as a board member of Unity church. Larry is a member of Nomads since 1980, and has enjoyed membership in The Alternative Board, a business owners' roundtable group. In 2012, he was honored by Dickinson High School as Alumni of the Year and served on the board of their education foundation. Larry is a member of AESC, IADC, SAE, AOPA, EAA, and is a Certified Fluid Power Engineer.
In 2000 Venturetech began hiring people who deserve a second chance including ex-offenders and older folks. Returning these Americans to the workforce continues to increase company morale and productivity. In 2004 Larry founded America in Recovery, a non-profit which encouraged other companies to hire such people.
Married for 57 years, Larry and Zandra have three children and six grandchildren.
