Durham, North Carolina, United States
Strong engineering career of over 30 years specifying instrumentation, control systems, low voltage electrical, and industrial lighting design. Solid experience in project and team management, business development (proposal preparation), procurement engineering (developing RFPs, Scopes of Work, and Bid Evaluations), hiring staff, public speaking, and developing and delivering technical and non-technical training. Skilled in DCS, PLC, and SIS design, evaluation, execution / upgrades, programming, and troubleshooting, and fire / gas detection and annunciation design. Accomplished in instrumentation specification and expert technical reviewer. Experience in oil and gas, nuclear, drywall, power generation, and water treatment. Fluent in English; excellent knowledge of French. Received three promotions and five project / company service recognitions. Strong in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint). Proven ability to solve problems and develop / drive solutions. Solid in proposal development and salesmanship, public speaking, training, coaching / mentoring, and presentation delivery and success rate. Email: [email protected] Core Competencies: • Instrumentation, Lighting, Fire Detection, and Control Systems Design • Developing and executing solutions to complex problems • Written and verbal communication skills • Teaching, training, mentoring and instructing • Proposal building and sales / business development
Execute special projects to improve reliability and safety of refinery, including lighting upgrades, alarm management and rationalization, OT cybersecurity, control loop management, and APC migration / upgrades. As Control Systems Engineering Supervisor, managed control systems (over 8000 I/O for diverse refinery. • Mentor and lead two engineers, two technicians, and interns; grew group from two to eight. • Rapidly implemented several measures to improve maintainability and reliability including: o Correcting DCS and PLC installation and grounding, correcting numerous random, nagging, and otherwise inexplicable trips o Updating logic for boilers to identify and remove superfluous / nuisance trips, ensuring Code compliance with NFPA 85 o Reverse engineering Cause & Effect matrices for 48 heaters from SIS and PLC logic • Led and executed solutions for crucial refinery problems including: o Shutdowns / non-shutdowns on flame loss in fired heaters o Instrumentation design, selection, and specification for flow, level, and temperature • Managed organizations and system owners for control systems turnarounds. All completed safely and on schedule with major reliability and financial improvements. • Created clear scopes of work for electrical contractors, reducing cost, problems, and rework. • Site Technical Authority for Safety Instrumented Systems, including SIL calculation review, SIF documentation, delivery of beneficial SIL training classes, and gap analysis to verify as-is conditions versus Code requirements of ISA S84 and RAGAGEP, and risk analyses. • Established Corporate Standard for I&C on P&IDs (Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams) with significant improvement in accuracy, safety, and project execution. • Project leader and manager for SRU (Sulfur Recovery Unit) Control System Replacement. Managed completed design and successful installation and commissioning to install Delta V SIS, collaborating heavily with process owners and Operations.
Lead / Principal Engineer for instrumentation, controls and lighting design for complex multi-million dollar projects and national / international business development pursuits. Major achievements included: • Designed all indoor and outdoor lighting (using Visual software for calculations) for greenfield and brownfield facilities. All lighting is LED based, and designs exceed California Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency (among the strictest in the United States) by up to 40%. Designed and specified lighting control systems for Title 24 compliance, including occupancy sensors and daylight harvesting. • Named as “Lead Verifier”, Instrumentation, Automation, and SCADA for AECOM USA (over 360 offices), for technical expertise for new prospects and projects nationwide. • Developed 170 page control philosophy for $45 million technically demanding gas compressor replacement project. • Specified and selected pressure transmitters, thermowells (with wake frequency calculations), dew point analyzers, point and path gas detectors, and pneumatic and gas powered single and double acting actuators, and developed detailed installation details. Carried through entire procurement process, for purchase orders totaling over $500,000. Applications include gas compression, water (dam replacement), and utilities. • Fire detection and annunciation design (device placement and logic development) per NFPA 72. • Solid business development background including drafting and selling $140,000 proposal for safety analysis; instrumentation / electrical technical input to $180,000 proposal for 150 mile pipeline SCADA system; $300,000 gas metering station; and $250,000 pumping upgrade proposal. Prepared and delivered presentations to clients. • Mentored six engineers.
Lead Instrument / Electrical Engineer for projects supporting three 35 year old methanol plants. Major achievements included: • Recipient of the Methanex worldwide “President’s Award”, awarded for ongoing ability to add value over the long term and critical to the growth of the company, 2015. • Technically and financially directed 52 I&E projects, valued up to $3.5 million, keeping projects on time and under budget. • Technical oversight, design review and mentoring / training engineers in lighting design (all LED based) for indoor (including electrically hazardous areas) and outdoor applications. Directed designs to minimize light pollution (for “dark skies” compliance) and maximize energy efficiency. • Delivered 30 training courses on cavitation, arc flash, lighting design, alarm rationalization, project planning, estimating, and scheduling to diverse audiences site-wide. • Managed / mentored 20 engineers (junior to senior), including summer students. • Technical leader of 35 km (21 mile) pipeline leak detection system to meet statutory requirement for operation. Took control of the project mid-stream when scope was undefined, reestablishing schedule, deliverables, and direction. • Specified, selected, coordinated and oversaw electrical design, factory acceptance testing and commissioning for gas chromatograph replacement project (Yokogawa) to accurately detect ethanol in methanol. Detection tightness allowed annual revenue increase up to $7.3 million. • Principal engineer for several fire detection and annunciation design (layouts, cause and effect diagrams, and isometrics) for Ampac control panels and FM-200 suppression systems; many projects were fast-track. • Developed and executed “Like for Like” method to replace equipment without need for a full project, saving the company over $250,000 per year.
Lead Instrument and Controls Engineer for the $5 billion MOX project, a facility to convert 34 tons of weapons grade plutonium into nuclear fuel for commercial reactors. Major achievements included: • Internally promoted to Lead Engineer; technically managed 13 I&C engineers and multi-million dollar budget and applications. • Highest ranked group member in all annual performance reviews. • Named by senior management to represent project as single point of contact to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, to address technical questions and issues. • Technically managed over $50 million of contracts for nuclear and non-nuclear safety applications. Solid direction of vendors and quality assurance, including performance of numerous factory acceptance tests, averting Non Compliance Reports (NCRs). • Technically reviewed over 400 submittals, including (but not limited to) bills of materials, wiring and dimensional diagrams, and commercial grade dedication methods. • Developed and implemented procedure to evaluate embedded software in nuclear safety applications per EPRI-106439. Saved considerable costs and lost hours to circumvent complex designs and provide quality assurance. Delivered numerous training classes. • Project technical specialist for Electromagnetic / Radio Frequency Interference (EMI / RFI). Issued project specification, technically reviewed submittals, and attended tests to ensure nuclear safety equipment (items relied on for safety (IROFS)) were protected. • Developed specification for consumables in contact with austenitic (300 series) stainless steels, to prevent stress corrosion cracking and embrittlement and improve process safety. Updated and reviewed numerous specifications and submittals for compliance. • Developed 14 specifications for nuclear (compliant to ASME NQA-1) and non-nuclear safety instruments and valves.