Distinguished Engineer Citations

                 

Jack Rentz, P.E.

Distinguished Engineer

2011

Degree

B.S., Mechanical Engineering – 1974

 

Citation

At Time of Nomination in 2011

Jack Rentz is the founder, president, and CEO of RENTECH Boiler Systems, Inc. The company designs and sells a wide variety of custom designed and manufactured industrial steam boilers that are used by the refining, power generation, and chemical industries. RENTECH also designs and sells heat recovery steam generators. Rentz is also a co-founder and vice president of RENTECH Boiler Services, Inc. and Frontier Welded Products, Inc.

Rentz was born and raised on a small farm near China Spring, Texas, which has been owned by his family for 110 years. He worked his way through high school managing the farm operations for a prominent local attorney. He was the only student in his freshman class at China Spring High School that drove a company truck. He graduated from high school in 1970. That year, he applied and was accepted to Texas Tech. When he got off the tractor that summer, he vowed that his farming days were over. He had decided that he would go off to Texas Tech and get one of those "engineering degrees" to see where it would take him.

Rentz enjoyed his years at Texas Tech, where he met his future wife, Becky. During his senior year, he was hired for a part time position at Lubbock Manufacturing Company. This is where he got his first exposure to the ASME code for boilers and pressure vessels. Rentz also learned about manufacturing and general management while in this position. After graduating from Texas Tech in the summer of 1974, he continued working full time at Lubbock Manufacturing. It was during this time that he realized he enjoyed designing and building fabricated steel products. The satisfaction of seeing the final product that he had designed and built being shipped out the door to a customer was something he truly enjoyed.

After his wife Becky graduated from Texas Tech in the fall of 1974, they moved to Abilene, Texas. In Abilene, he went to work for ABCO Industries, Inc. ABCO was a small company that manufactured boilers. During the course of his 21 years at ABCO, Rentz designed and sold many "first of a kind" boilers which are being used by major corporations today. Working his way up through the company that he helped to build, he was named President of ABCO in 1992.

In 1996, he decided it was time to start his own boiler company. That year, Rentz left ABCO and started RENTECH Boiler Systems, Inc. At that time, he registered the trademark - "RENTECH Boilers for People Who Know and Care". He chose this guiding statement to set his company apart from his competitors that were selling boilers that simply were not as good as he knew they should be. Sticking to this philosophy, he has grown RENTECH into in the largest industrial boiler company in the industry, experiencing phenomenal growth over the past 14 years and supplying industrial boilers all over the world.

Rentz currently serves as the chairman of the Board of the American Boiler Manufacturers Association. He is a member of the Abilene Chapter of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers. He served as the president of the Abilene Chapter in 1988 through 1989 and was voted "Young Engineer of the Year" in 1984 and "Engineer of the Year" in 1993. He has also served on the boards of directors for the Abilene Better Business Bureau, the Kiwanis Club, and the Abilene Industrial Foundation. RENTECH was awarded the Corporate Star Award in March of 2011. This award is presented by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce to a Corporation that has demonstrated outstanding service to the Abilene community.

Rentz's companies are active in the Abilene community and support many local charities. He and Becky are also active members of First Baptist Church of Abilene.

Rentz is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Texas. He was inducted into membership of the Texas Tech Academy of Mechanical Engineers in 2001. He and Becky have been married for 37 years and have three children - Scott, Amy, and Bailey.

Because of his and his wife's hard work, they are enjoying the American dream. They enjoy all types of water activities at Possum Kingdom Lake where they spend as much time as possible. He also finds time to get back to his roots and visits the family farm.

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