Mechanical Integrity Snapshot: Asia-Pac

An Interview with Andy Saunders-Tack, Managing Director, Asia-Pac at Becht 

Below is an outline of a recent interview published in Inspectioneering. You can see the whole interview in its entirety at: MI Snapshot: Asia-Pacific – An Interview with Andy Saunders-Tack (inspectioneering.com). The article focuses on Andy’s journey, expertise, and insights into asset integrity and reliability, as well as nuances related to their application in Asia-Pacific.

Inspectioneering: You have had an impressive 30-year career in oil and gas, chemicals, and power generation. Can you share some pivotal moments or experiences that shaped your journey and led you to specialize in integrity management, materials, and corrosion?

Andy: “I can probably trace that back to my university days! After completing a bachelor’s degree in metallurgy and materials at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, I was approached by both Cambridge and Birmingham Universities to consider staying on for a PhD in the area of Fracture Mechanics. I chose Birmingham, ultimately because the project they presented interested me most and involved working with Rolls Royce in their aero engine division.

I was fortunate to have some great mentors at this time who gladly shared their knowledge and experience and challenged me to explore new and exciting scientific territory. For my thesis defense (called a viva in the United Kingdom), I remember having a 5-hour “chat” with Dr. Julia King (now Baroness Brown of Cambridge DBE FREng FRS) from the University of Cambridge, who was clearly on a mission to inspire me to stay in the field of “practical” fracture mechanics. Once down the road of investigating and predicting how things fail with the support of those mentors, my career course was largely set.”

Other interview questions included:

• The Asia-Pacific region has been a significant part of your career. Could you highlight some unique challenges or opportunities you have encountered in this region compared to other parts of the world within the process industries, particularly in terms of asset integrity and reliability?
• What role does regulatory pressure play in driving initiatives related to asset integrity and reliability in this region? Are there notable differences in regulatory frameworks between Asia-Pacific and other regions?
• Sustainability is always a concern for organizations. What, in your opinion, are the key factors of creating and maintaining sustainable asset integrity and reliability programs?
• Collaboration and breaking down silos are also crucial. Can you share strategies or insights from your experience on how to engage different parts of an organization effectively to promote asset integrity and reliability initiatives?
• Do you see any differences in the priorities and risk tolerances of operators in the Asia-Pacific region when it comes to making decisions with regard to asset integrity investments?
• Over the past decade, what have been some of the most exciting developments or innovations in this field that you’ve witnessed?

Inspectioneering: As we wrap up this conversation, what do you anticipate as the future trends and advancements for the next 10 years, both globally and within the Asia-Pacific region? How should organizations prepare for these changes?

Andy: “The elephant in the room here is surely energy transition. I recently chaired a session at a regional conference on the “Achievability of the Road to Net Zero” and it was immediately apparent that there is a glaring gap between public expectation, industry reality, and government policy and lawmaker drivers. In the next ten years, there will be some key moments of truth on this journey and they will almost certainly seismically impact how the world functions economically and sociopolitically. The only thing I am confident in predicting is that the role of technology, engineers, and SMEs will be pivotal in driving the change the world needs to see.”