UK Oil and Gas Industry Panel Meeting

Paola De Bono is Section Manager in the Laser and Sheet Processes Section at TWI Ltd. Paola has over eight years of specific experience in laser processing for micro-scale applications, including the welding of highly reflective metals and applications using dissimilar materials.

Having gained her master’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Palermo in Italy, Paola continued her studies with the Italian Engineering Association, becoming a Chartered Engineer.

Moving to the UK, Paola studied for an engineering doctorate with Birmingham University, where her investigation focused on the topic of ‘Laser Welding of Copper and Aluminium Alloys for electrical Interconnects’.

Originally joining TWI as a Project Leader in 2007, Paola went on to become a Senior Project Leader and then the Team Manager for the Lasers and Sheet Processes section, before becoming the section manager. Her current role involves day-to-day operational management, supporting the delivery of the section strategy, in line with TWI’s corporate plan.

Dr Shiladitya Paul is an innovative technology specialist with experience in the industrial development and application of specialised materials, coatings, and corrosion mitigation methods. His chapters in the Encyclopaedia of Aerospace Engineering (Wiley, 2010) and the ASM Handbook (ASM International, 2013) are widely considered as authoritative reference works providing critical scientific concepts on materials, coatings and corrosion, and their application to engineering practice, and he has published over 100 papers/articles on materials, coatings and corrosion. Shiladitya is active in the scientific community as a peer reviewer and member of the editorial team for several journals, and on a number of international, scientific and industrial committees, including holding the positions of Vice Chair of the European Federation of Corrosion WP9) and member, and judge, of the Journal of Thermal Spray Technology (JTST), Best Paper Award committee. He is a registered Chartered Engineer (CEng) in the UK and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).

Carol joined TWI and the Fatigue Integrity Management section in 2009. She manages a range of projects related to the fatigue strength and structural integrity of welded joints. Her main area of work is on validation fatigue testing of welds using the resonance fatigue testing technique and she is now focussing on how TWI’s experience and expertise can be applied and used in the renewable energy sector.

Jon is TWI’s Strategic Capability Development Manager, ensuring TWI is well positioned to support its Industrial Members future needs. In addition, he leads TWI’s hydrogen economy strategy. Jon has a background in Mechanical Engineering, a doctorate in Manufacturing Engineering, and prior to joining TWI worked in the Canadian pulp industry in the province of Alberta during their planned shutdown and maintenance periods. He joined TWI in 2006, and has held leadership positions in TWI’s Advanced Manufacturing, Materials and Structural Integrity activities. Outside of TWI, Jon is a President of the UK's Association of Industrial Laser Users.

Graham Edwards has over 45 years of experience in Non-Destructive Testing (NDT). Along with several other graduates, he started his career in NDT with the Unit Inspection Company, where he received training in all aspects of NDT and weld inspection. In 1973, he was one of the first ultrasonic test technicians to gain CSWIP approval. For the next four years, he worked in the North Sea offshore oil, the French nuclear power and Middle Eastern petrochemical industries. In 1977 he joined Baugh and Weedon Ltd as an applications engineer, and was involved in the development of the award winning ‘Seaprobe’ underwater ultrasonic test equipment. In 1981 he became a lecturer in the School of Applied NDT at The Welding Institute (TWI), before moving over to the NDT Research department in 1986. There, his research projects included NDT of plastics and composites, expert systems, and acceptance criteria in BS5500 for ultrasonic testing. He also set up the specialist site services team. While at TWI, he collaborated with the French Welding Institute on the NDT of fillet welds and was seconded to the Edison Welding Institute in the USA for two years to set up the NDT section there. In 1997 he moved to Plant Integrity (PI) Ltd, a subsidiary of TWI, as a plant assessment engineer, and ran many of the early inspections using the Teletest Long Range Ultrasonic Test (LRUT) system.

After 7 years as an independent consultant in NDT, he moved back to TWI in 2005 and has since managed many collaborative projects in topics ranging from guided wave inspection of aircraft wiring to robotic inspection of mooring chains. He is currently in the Monitoring and Inspection Research section (CSM) at TWI, where he is developing continuous monitoring techniques for quality control during manufacture and structural health in service.

Yingwei Wu (Kylee) is a senior project leader in laser additive manufacturing section based in Sheffield TWI. She obtained her PhD from the University of Oxford in Materials with a focus on additive manufacturing of graded and anisotropic materials. She is also a charted engineer. Her current work focus is around hydrogen barrier coating for metallic components.

Dr Bernadette Craster is  the Technology Fellow on Polymeric Materials and Ageing through Permeation Processes at TWI. She  has studied transport processes through non metallic (inorganic and organic) materials since 1989. Bernadette worked in the research laboratory of  a service company on permeation processes related to  high pressure CO2, H2S and water, and  barrier development applications for wellbore products. Since 2012 at TWI Ltd,  in addition to studying hydrocarbon fractions, the  permeation of hydrogen gas through non metallic materials such as thermoplastics and thermosets have also been considered.

Bernadette works with seven colleagues (PhD scientists, engineers and experimentalists) who support the activities in the ageing through permeation  facility on small and large scale samples and at all TRL. Previous projects for Member companies include some permeation aspects of  multi material products such as flexible risers, flow lines, polymer lined pipe, thermoplastic composite pipe, reinforced thermoplastic pipe and reinforced thermoset pipe. TWI also has activities on sensor performance  and underwater cables. The overall aim is  to assist the member company to assess the residual lifetime of the product.

Alan is a Technology Fellow at TWI, he is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He holds a PhD in sol-gel chemistry from Warwick University and has over 25 years of experience of industrial R& D experience in the field of advanced coatings. He has participated in over 175 industrially focused projects including 30 large national and international collaborations. He has 20 patents and over 40 published articles to his name. He is an expert reviewer for the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme and the UKRI’s Future Leaders Fellowship scheme.

Alan sits on the Surface Engineering Leadership Forum and his primary interests are related to the development and characterization of high performance, durable functional surfaces. He has mentored 14 PhD candidates and his interests include history and Manchester United.

Michael specializes in finite element analysis and manufacturing process simulations to advise members on questions of distortion control , weld residual stress, structural integrity and material  behaviour. He has led and contributed to significant projects in the aerospace, nuclear industries and marine industries over 20 years. Michael is a Professional Simulation Engineer,  and a Member of the panel IIW Commission X on fatigue modelling and residual stress and the NAFEMS Computational Structural Mechanics working group.