Steering Committee

Ayo Kilani is currently an ‘Independent Consultant’ on Valves & Mechanical Static Equipment for the Oil & Gas industry in Nigeria and recently retired from Nigeria LNG Limited as the Corporate Engineering Manager. 

He has over 35 years industry experience and occupied other safety critical positions of Head Mechanical Static discipline, Area Maintenance Superintendent (LNG Trains), Senior Engineer, Design Office (Mechanical / Civil) and Mechanical Engineer NLNG Plus Project at Nigeria LNG Limited.

He was the Mechanical Static SME / Site Technical Authority at NLNG, where he led his team to develop the first risk based Valve Maintenance Strategy that resulted in cost savings and plant reliability improvement. Ayo has been a steering committee member since 2018 and had the privilege of being the Steering Committee chairman for the 2022 Valve World Conference.

Bader is Saudi Aramco Valve Engineering Specialist part of Consulting Service Department Piping & Valve Engineering Group. He served as the Chairman of Valve Engineering Standards Committee as well as committee member of several engineering standards.
He has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and M.S. in Material Engineering. In additional to that Bader achieved several international certificates related to valves.
Bader joined Saudi Aramco in 2000: since then he dealt with various valve design, commissioning, operations & maintenance issues. Bader has several international publication and was involved in the development and the delivery of several short courses and specialized workshops related to valves.

David M. Anderson is a senior leader at Score, overseeing development and global deployment of valve condition and performance monitoring solutions that drive emissions reduction, cost savings, and operational efficiency. With 42 years working in the valve industry, 31 of those at Score, he has specialised in valve diagnostics and condition monitoring for more than 25 years. A Chartered Quality Professional and Fellow of the Institute of Directors, David also holds memberships with the CQI, IoD and IAM. A time-served Mechanical Engineering Technician, he is a passionate mentor and an international, award-winning, keynote and conference speaker, known for his valve industry insights

SME Hydrogen, Leak Detection & Engineered Solutions, Ventil Test Equipment

Emiel Lechevallier began his career in the oil and gas sector before joining Ventil, where he develops advanced testing solutions to improve safety and reliability across the valve industry.

His work focuses on new methods for hydrogen and deep cryogenic service, including a liquid hydrogen valve testing solution and alternatives to helium for production testing. Alongside his role in the writing of international standards, Emiel is an active conference speaker and trainer on specialist valve subjects. He is passionate about advancing knowledge and driving innovation that helps the industry meet future challenges.

Hu Jun ,(Hefei General Machinery Research Institute Co. Ltd.) ,Senior Engineer of HGMRI.

He is mainly engaged in the study of Chinese national standards and foreign industry valve and relative standards, technical services for industrial valve etc. He has participated in a number of ISO valves related international standards, and prepared a number of Chinese national and professional industry valve standards.

Best regards, Hu Jun
Hefei General Machinery Research Institute Co., Ltd, China.  hujun0905@163.com

Laurent is a Senior International Executive, with over 20 years experience in General Management and Business Development. He now leads the Projects and Severe Service BU as Executive Vice President at Velan inc. a World Leader in Valve Manufacturing.

Laurent holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and finance from the Institut d’études politiques de Strasbourg and a master’s degree from the École de Management de Reims.

His career trajectory includes working in various capacities for oil companies, as well as valve companies for over 15 years. He spent a significant part of his career overseas, in Brazil, France, the UK and the UAE among other places. After spending a decade at Vallourec across different countries, he joined Tyco Valves and Controls as the Director Global Sales for the oil & gas division, overseeing sales that exceeded $800 million.

“My name is Marty van Tilburg, and I work as a Process Control Engineer at Sitech Services in the south of the Netherlands, specializing in control valves. At Chemelot, I support clients with replacement projects and carry out inspections in overhaul workshops, during regular revisions, turnarounds, and for new valves at suppliers. Outside of work, I enjoy sports and have a particular passion for triathlons and marathons.”

I am grateful to have been appointed as a member of the Valve World Steering Committee since 2008. I currently serve as Chief Expert of Piping Materials at JGC Corporation. With extensive execution experience in both EPC and FEED projects, I have built professional expertise in piping design and materials, manufacturer qualification, and serving on committees for industrial standards.

Adi is one of Jack of All trades in valve. Originated from Indonesia, graduate from Mechanical Engineering from Bandung Institute of Technology, kick started his career in valve industry starting as a Product Engineer for AkerKvaerner Subsea specializing in Wellhead design; later followed up by gaining field and repair experiences during his tenure as field Engineer for Geographe Energy (now Schlumberger – Cameron Valve Service) covering various offshore/onshore facilities in Southeast Asia. ‘Get first time right without rework’ is his motto.

At one point he was also accredited safety valve assembler for Farris Engineering. Posses also Project Management skills through his time at Pertamina (Indonesian state oil company) and TetraPak Stainless Steel Equipment.

Since 2014, he has been valve’s subject matter expert for Shell Nederland Raffinaderij, biggest and complex refinery in Europe. Shell Pernis is now becoming Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, heading towards net zero emission.

On his spare times, Adi also enjoys refurbishing vintage bikes.

“Sieuwert Blommaert is a seasoned engineering professional based in Belgium, with over a decade of expertise. He has played a key role at INEOS Oxide, specializing in manual valves, piping and vessel technologies. His multidisciplinary background spans Maintenance, Inspection, and Project Management, contributing to the reliability and efficiency of the chemical industry.”

Thijs has over 17 years of experience in the global valve industry. In his role at MRC Global he focuses on connecting end users, suppliers, and manufacturers to build stronger and more resilient supply chains. Having worked extensively across Europe and Asia, Thijs brings an international perspective and is passionate about fostering open dialogue and collaboration within the valve community.

Thomas Wagner has a Diploma Engineering degree from the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Germany. Since 2003, he is working for Framatome GmbH, at Karlstein, Germany. Mr. Wagner is the Engineering Supervisor at the ISO 17025-accredited Components Qualification Department. As a Senior Test Engineer, he gained experiences in testing of fuel elements, containment venting systems, passive safety systems, pressurizer heaters, Reactor Coolant Pump seal systems and various types of valve assemblies.

Tony Smart, with 40+ years in Oil & Gas, spent 35 years at Shell leading global valve teams. In Feb 2023, he became VP of Valve Engineering at Neway Valve, marking a new chapter in his rich professional journey.

Vesa Lempinen is an experienced automation engineer with over 25 years of expertise in delivering advanced valve solutions for the process industry, oil and gas processing, and petrochemical sectors. Throughout his career, he has helped customers to optimize their flow control applications by combining deep technical knowledge with a strong understanding of industry needs.

Currently, Vesa serves as Director, Valve Business at Valmet.

His previous roles include:

• Vice President, Products and Solutions
• Head of Valve Product Lines
• Various leadership positions in product and business management for control valves, actuators, and predictive maintenance services
• Control Loop Specialist, focusing on performance improvement, analysis, and condition monitoring