About

Who We Are

VIV Solutions^® offers a diverse range of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) technologies.  Formed in 2010, the company maintains an extensive track record supporting major projects across the globe.  The team’s engineering experts have been testing, analyzing, designing and manufacturing VIV suppression equipment since 1987 for deepwater risers, tendons, umbilicals, jumpers, and pipeline spans. 

Our business model focuses solely on meeting the challenge of understanding and reducing vortex-shedding forces on subsea structures, hence the reason we are known across the industry as the “VIV Suppression Experts.”  We are proud to be the industry’s preferred supplier of helical strakes and fairings.

Our Vision

VIV Solutions’ mission is to develop and apply innovative solutions for VIV suppression which establish us as the expert company for VIV suppression products and services.  We find ourselves at the cutting edge of suppression design, always pushing the boundaries of performance to solve complex vortex-induced vibration challenges.  Our engineers excel at developing new technologies to meet our customers’ needs.

Experience

VIV Solutions was formed in 2010 but our team’s work dates back over thirty years.  As the oil and gas industry marched into deepwater, we foresaw a need to preserve the integrity of subsea risers and protect them from damage caused by vortex-induced vibrations.  VIV Solutions personnel pioneered the use of tall helical strakes for offshore applications, and our strake geometry specifications became the global standard for many major operators.  The short fairing design was discovered shortly thereafter with the added benefit of reducing hydrodynamic drag and is installed on numerous deepwater tubulars worldwide.

Our experts have invented dozens of new VIV suppression technologies throughout the past few decades.  We currently hold almost 50 patents and remain committed to developing additional methods and products to mitigate VIV.  We have also performed VIV analyses on numerous deepwater tubulars including tendons, top tensioned risers, catenary risers, mooring lines, pipeline spans, spars, and umbilicals since the late 1980’s.

Project Management

Our longstanding history of supporting global deepwater projects is a testament to the team’s technical capabilities and commitment to customer service. A sample list of project experience is shown below:

Year	Location	Sample Projects
2015-present	Gulf of Mexico South America Caribbean	Helical strakes for production risers Umbilical fairings Drilling riser fairings Tendon fairings Marine growth study Helical strakes for subsea jumpers
2010-2015	Gulf of Mexico South America Caribbean Japan	Helical strakes and fairings for production risers Drilling riser fairings Helical strakes for subsea jumpers Post-install fairings for SCRs S-lay fairings for production risers Riserless drilling fairings Suppression equipment to replace competitor’s product
2005-2010	Gulf of Mexico South America Caribbean Japan	Helical strakes and fairings for production risers Drilling riser fairings Tendon fairings Retrofit fairings Helical strakes for subsea jumpers S-lay fairings for production risers
2000-2005	Gulf of Mexico South America	Helical strakes and fairings for production risers Drilling riser fairings Retrofit helical strakes and fairings for production risers S-lay fairings for production risers Umbilical fairings
2000-1988	Gulf of Mexico	Helical strakes and fairings for production risers Drilling riser fairings Retrofit helical strakes and fairings for pipeline spans Helical strakes for transducer hull pipes Helical strakes for fixed platform conductors

Safety

At VIV Solutions, our focus is always first and foremost on safety.  We adhere to the 12 Life-Saving Rules and maintain a safety program that is compliant with OSHA 14001:2015.  Each employee must complete a 10-hour OSHA industry course before being granted access to a job site.  Other mandatory training classes address topics such as hazard communication, PPE, basic first aid and CPR, defensive driving, injury and illness prevention, emergency evacuation protocol, HSE recordkeeping, etc.  We solicit input from clients and stakeholders when developing project-specific safety plans to ensure full participation from all parties involved.  These plans include job safety analyses, stop work authorities, and site inspections.  Since the company’s inception in 2010, VIV Solutions has experienced zero safety recordables, LTIs, and fatalities.  We are proud of our commitment to a safe workplace where employees are equipped with the knowledge and power to get the job done right with no injuries.

Quality

VIV Solutions is ISO 9001:2015 certified organization.  We strive for continuous improvement of our internal operations and processes.  The ISO standard guides our company’s ongoing commitment to quality control and quality assurance in all activities and operations.  Our quality system utilizes several processes and procedures to achieve the highest possible level of customer satisfaction.  Under the direction of an active leadership team, our engineers evaluate current and future customer needs, meet customer requirements, and venture to exceed customer expectations.  Key decisions are based upon the objective analysis of data and information.  Project quality plans, corrective/preventative actions, and internal audits are some of the effective tools that we utilize for attaining product realization.  We also work closely with our vendors to ensure mutually beneficial relationships that create value for all parties.  Please click here to download a copy of our ISO certificate.

Environment

We endeavor to provide high-quality products and services in a manner that minimizes our impact on the environment. The company operates in compliance with all relevant environmental legislation and implements appropriate emergency and spill response programs where potential health, safety, or environmental hazards exist.  We also promote environmental awareness among our employees and encourage integration of environmental concerns into decision-making activities.  Furthermore, the company strives to positively contribute to the economic, social and environmental development of the communities, regions, and countries in which we operate.

Business Ethics

At the center of our business principles is a commitment to ethics and integrity.  We pledge to combat bribery, corruption, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace.  The company’s core values serve as a foundation for upholding the highest standards when dealing with clients, vendors, and other global entities.  A thorough external compliance training program is mandatory for all employees and is complimented by an internal training program championed by upper management.  We take ethics violations very seriously.  To report a potential violation, please contact us and ask to speak directly with the company’s compliance officer. 

Don Allen, President

Don Allen graduated from Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1981 and completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Rice University in 1986.   Upon completion of his Ph.D. studies and concurrent summer assignments at Exxon, Don joined Shell and began work in offshore structures research.  One of his first projects was leading a study on oil spill containment booms for Alaska Clean Seas, and the resulting design was subsequently utilized to contain the Valdez oil spill.  In 1987, he began research in vortex-induced vibration (VIV) of risers, tendons, pipelines, and umbilicals.  Shortly thereafter Don performed his first experiments on VIV suppression devices, conducting a set of experiments with his long-time colleague Dean Henning (also with VIV Solutions) that led to the discovery of both the short fairing and the tall helical strake.  These two discoveries represent the vast majority of VIV suppression devices used in the ocean today.  During the period of 1992-1994, Don led a joint industry program with MIT that resulted in the program SHEAR7 which has become the industry model for analyzing VIV of deepwater tubulars.  In addition to numerous advances in VIV and VIV suppression, Don made significant contributions to pipeline on-bottom stability, riser interference, VIV in wind, and spar technologies.

In the mid-1990s, Don’s Shell team began fabricating VIV suppression devices for internal projects, partner projects, and then eventually third-parties.  The team was formally acknowledged as a small business entity by Shell Global Solutions in 2002.  Don managed this business for nearly a decade while continuing to conduct VIV research with his colleagues Li Lee and Dean Henning.  This team achieved many “firsts” including underwater retrofitting of fairings, s-lay installation of fairings, and use of tail-fin fairings (now called Tail Fairings^TM) for drilling risers.  In 2010, Don retired from Shell and founded VIV Solutions.

Don has been awarded over 50 US patents and has received several industry awards.  He has been inducted into the Offshore Energy Center Hall of Fame as a Technology Pioneer together with his Shell colleagues that developed the steel catenary riser.  This team also received the ASCE OTC Hall of Fame Award.  In 2019 Don was inducted into the Oilfield Energy Center Hall of Fame as a Technology Pioneer for VIV.  In his private life, he enjoys coaching high school and youth baseball, photography, church work, and keeping up with his wife and five children.