Steering Committee 2024

DAVID M. ANDERSON is a Director in the Score Group and is responsible for the global deployment and development of the company’s valve condition and performance monitoring products and services, which are focused on delivering emissions reductions, operating cost reductions, risk minimization and efficiency maximization for the benefit of all stakeholders.

With 40 years of experience of working directly in the valve industry, David has worked in many roles. He is in his 30th year of employment in the Score Group and has been involved in valve diagnostics and condition monitoring for over 20 years.

David is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, a Chartered Quality Professional, a Member of the Chartered Quality Institute and a Member of the Institute of Asset Management. He is a time served Mechanical Engineering Technician by trade and has a wide array of Engineering and Business qualifications. David is passionate about sharing his knowledge and coaching / mentoring others and is a well-travelled, award-winning conference speaker.

Mike has a wide engineering experience from a long career the oil and Gas industry both in office and global work sites. Mike has worked for several major contracting companies but principally at KBR on multi-varied projects and CTE roles involving piping stress and materials. In addition to consultancy work and engineering lecturing, Mike was made an honourary professor of piping technologies at UCL. Mike has joined the conference team to create new links between the valve industry and academia.

Sieuwert Blommaert, residing in Belgium – Flanders, has a decade of expertise in piping and vessel engineering.
Over the past seven years, his professional focus has centered on the technology of manual valves, piping, and vessels For INEOS Oxide Services.
With a background encompassing Maintenance, Inspection, and Project Engineering.

Aylin Çelik is working as senior project manager at Messe Düsseldorf for the tube, pipe and valve sector. She is responsible for developing topics and is the contact person for the accompanying and supporting program of the Valve trade fair. Aylin has been working in the field of conferences, congresses and trade fairs for numerous years.

Claire Dwyer is a piping material engineer with Fluor and began her career with the company in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has over thirty-five years of experience with piping design, engineering, and valves for a variety of projects in hydrocarbon, chemical, mining and even brewery piping. In 2020 Claire became a Fluor Fellow and is currently the lead piping material engineer on a large capital project in Houston.

After his PhD in Physics at the TU Kaiserslautern, Alexander Hein joined BASF in 2021 as Automation Engineer in Instrumentation Technology. He is part of the team for Global Engineering Services supporting both the Ludwigshafen site as well as international projects concerning automated valves and instrumentation.

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.

Hu Jun (, family name is Hu, Hefei General Machinery Research Institute Co. Ltd.), Senior Engineer of HGMRI and ISO Registered Expert.

He is mainly engaged in the study of Chinese national standards and foreign industry valve and related standards, technical services for industrial valve etc. He has participated in the revision of a number of ISO valves related international standards since 2009, and prepared a number of Chinese national and professional valve standards. He won the title of “Twelfth Five-Year” machinery industry standardization advanced worker.

Gobind N Khiani, a distinguished alumnus of the University of Calgary, is a seasoned change-maker in the energy sector. Along with a Fellowship, he is on the Board of Directors for Energy Sustainability Training for Young Engineers and Geoscientists and Canadian Prairie Group of Chartered Engineers since 2019, and also serves as Chairman of the End User Group at API 609 and Vice-Chairman of Standards Council of Canada. As the past chair of the CBEC of APEGA, he has showcased his leadership and contributions to professional engineering organizations.

His expertise extends across diverse domains, including strategy, governance, engineering management, sustainable development, and operations. Gobind is adept at enhancing standards, ensuring technical compliance, and spearheading research and development initiatives. His proficiency also includes Asset Performance Management and Integrity projects.
As a dedicated volunteer, Gobind contributes significantly to technical standards, particularly in energy and public safety pertaining to ESG in ECCC and EPA.

In summary, Gobind’s rich background encompasses leadership roles in industry organizations, deep involvement in technical standards, and a commitment to fostering innovation and excellence in engineering. His multifaceted expertise makes him a valuable contributor to the energy sector and a mentor in shaping the future of engineering. He extends his impact as a mentor emphasizing his commitment to nurturing the next generation of innovators.

Ayo Kilani is currently the Corporate Engineering Manager at Nigeria LNG Limited, a company that produces liquified natural gas (LNG) and natural gas liquids (NGLs) for export.

He was previously the Mechanical Static equipment SME in the company and led his team to develop a risk-based Valve Maintenance Strategy for the organisation. Ayo had the privilege to be the Steering Committee Chairman for the 2022 Valve World Conference.

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.

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.

Knut Riegel is a Senior Sales Manager at Emerson. Knut has over 15 years of experience in mission-critical flow control in the field of valves, actuators and their comprehensive controls. He is currently the Head of Local Business Partners Network in the DACH region at Isolation Valves. Prior to Emerson, Knut spent many years in various roles, including Site Services, Engineering, and Sales at well-known global actuator manufacturers. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Process Automation and is a Master Professional in Business Management. He is an active member of DIN and CEN, participating in Valves & Actuators standards committees. He serves as an SME for topics around electrification and digital transformation.

Mechanical Engineer, actually R&D Manager of Neway Valve Europe.

From more than two decades operates in design & qualification of isolation valves for Oil & Gas and other industrial applications.

Started his carrier as designer of industrial vibrating machines and plants for transport, sorting and conditioning of bulk materials.

In 1996 started his collaboration with major valve manufacturers in Italy and then Russia with following positions: Valve Design Eng., R&D Manager, Application Eng., Engineering Manager and Technical Director.

From 2016 with Neway Valve Suzhou (China), based in Milan (Italian branch) collaborating with HQ technical departments and R&D for valve design and qualification including support to IPO for strategic supply chain (materials & special process, sealing systems and actuation).

Author of two patent application publications relevant to design of DIB critical isolation features for MtoM TMBVs qualified Vs operational requirements (“Flex Seat” and “Reverse Piston Effect”).

Collaboration with IOGP from 2016 in review and development of S-562 specification (API-6D TMBVs).

QA/QC Inspector for The Dow Chemical Company plant in Terneuzen, The Netherlands. For more than 38 years.
Responsible for Incoming Quality Control activities, performing Shop Inspections and Quality audits at manufacturers and suppliers of Valves, Pipe, Flanges, Fittings and PCE equipment.
Preparing procedures for inspection, organizing PIM’s etc. to make sure the delivered goods are in compliance with the specifications and the applicable International standards.
Member of the Dow Global Valve team.
Educational background:

• Graduated from school in 1979 (mechanical engineering) and started as mechanical draftsman/designer at an engineering office.
• Started at Dow in 1980 as a contractor, helping to set up the “Material Quality Control” department at DOW in Terneuzen.
• Joined Dow permanently in 1985 as an Inspector for PVF components. (Pipe, Valves & Fittings).

Attended courses for Internal and External Auditing, Statistical Quality Control, Materials Science, Non Destructive Examinations, etc.
Graduated as a certified SNT-TC-1A Level 2 Inspector in 1999.
Special interest in Valves: All facets of valves as used on the Dow sites with all possible related problems.
Member of the Valve World Steering Committee since 2011.

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.

A time-served hydro-mechanical & controls engineer, Tony first worked in automation and heavy mobile plant equipment. He subsequently designed primary flight control systems in aviation, before joining GE Oil & Gas in 2008, where he worked as Subsea Controls Product Director, covering subsea production systems, intervention and life-of-field applications.

He joined Rotork in 2020, as Head of Product Management, and continues to manage a global team of product managers across the full Rotork portfolio of products.

Tony has a degree in Mechanical and Materials Engineering, post-graduate qualifications in Engineering Business Management, plus leadership & advanced management training from both GE and Rotork.

Tony’s professional passions are truly understanding customer value and working with differentiated technology.

He also enjoys literature and is a keen runner and fly-angler.

As a graduate from the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt, Germany, Mr. Wagner started his career at Organic Power ASA, Norway; as a Commissioning- and R&D-Engineer for Small Scale Plants for Municipal Waste.
Since 2003, he is working for Framatome GmbH (former AREVA, Framatome ANP, Siemens, KWU), at Karlstein, Germany.
Mr. Wagner is the Engineering Supervisor at the 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 (Safety Valves, Main Steam Isolation Valves, control valves, etc.).
Mr. Wagner works together closely with customers from America, Europe and Asia; from the “request for quotation” until the delivery of the Test Data Report.