Cathodic Protection, Training, Assessment and Certification Scheme

Cathodic Protection, Training, Assessment and Certification Scheme

All of ICorr’s 2023 courses were fully booked, and to “clear the waiting list,” we have already launched all 2024 CP training dates on the below website.

https://www.icorr.org/dante-categories/1146/cathodic-protection/

Candidates can now purchase their space on future courses directly. So far, the
new Dante online booking system has been a great success, and we are filling
2024 dates nicely and steadily.

Also, we have started using a secondary training site since September – IMechE in Sheffield—to manage the increased demand particularly for buried courses, and this has worked very well so far. A further centre for CP Marine courses is also being explored.

Institute of Corrosion Logo

President Handover

President Handover

Dear Members,

The Institute of Corrosion (ICorr) is very pleased to announce the successful election of Dr Yunnan Gao as its New President and Dr Anthony Setiadi as its New Vice President at its AGM held in Neville Hall, Newcastle on 13th November 2024.

Dr Yunnan Gao has been the Institutes’ Vice President and one of its Trustees since November 2022, in support of the immediate past president Stephen Tate on various ICorr matters over the past two years. Additionally, Yunnan has been an active ICorr Aberdeen branch committee member for the last 10 years when he has twice held the Chair position, helping to building up the Aberdeen branch from strength to strength. Yunnan has extensive working experience in energy sector both in the UK and overseas for 17 years.

Currently, Yunnan works for BP based in Sunbury, UK. After his PhD studies at Loughborough University, UK, he has worked for a number of energy and technical service companies including Atkins, DNV GL, LR, Repsol Sinopec, Saipem and Stork, in the areas of asset integrity and corrosion management. Yunnan is a UK Chartered Engineer (CEng), a UK Chartered Scientist (CSci), a fellow of ICorr (FICorr), a fellow of IOM3 (FIMMM) and an AMPP Certified Corrosion Specialist.

Photo. President Handover on 13/11/2024, Stephen Tate to Yunnan Gao at the ICorr AGM held at North-East Branch Newcastle, UK.

Photo. Our New ICorr Team, from Left to Right, ICorr New Vice President – Dr Anthony Setiadi, ICorr New President – Dr Yunnan Gao and ICorr New Immediate Past President – Stephen Tate

 Dr Anthony Setiadi has been involved in ICorr for the past 13 years, whereby he was one of the organisers for the first ever Young Engineers Programme (YEP) and has supported this initiative through its successful iterations over the past 15 years. He has also been involved in the London branch committee as well as developing and supporting Chartership registrations to Engineering Council for ICorr.

Anthony received his PhD on materials from Sheffield University, UK, and is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and Fellow of ICorr (FICorr), with experience in academia and industry covering various industries from nuclear, oil and gas and offshore wind. Currently, Anthony works as Chief Consultant for Wood Thilsted, a leading renewable energy consultancy, based in London, UK. His background and expertise are in materials and corrosion engineering for offshore and subsea environments.

We wish them both success in their new roles for the Institute and believe that together they will make a great partnership to lead the Institute from now on.

At this time, we would like to express our greatest gratitude towards our Immediate Past President – Stephen Tate, who recently retired from Oceaneering after 44 years in the Energy Sector. Stephen has led ICorr for the past two years where he has demonstrated excellent governance and leadership throughout and made a number of successes including recent involvement in setting up of the new ICorr UK branches in Southwest England & Wales and Central Scotland, as well as a renewal of the MoU with AMPP in the USA and sign off of the new MoU with CSCP (Chinese Society for Corrosion Protection) in China.

Stephen has set a very high bar for his successors to follow and with Stephen’s continued support as immediate past president and working together with the New ICorr President – Dr Yunnan Gao and New ICorr Vice President – Anthony Setiadi, the new team will endeavour to work wholeheartedly to continue the successes of ICorr and bring the utmost value and benefits to the ICorr corrosion community in the UK and overseas for the next two years and beyond.

ICorr Leadership Team’s contact details are as follows:

 Please feel free to contact us directly if you have any issues that you would like to discuss.

On behalf of the new ICorr Leadership Team, we thank you for your past support of the Institute and look forward to working with you over the next two years.

With our very best regards,

Yunnan, Stephen and Anthony

 

ISO 9001 Certification – A Very Significant Milestone in the ICorr Calendar

ISO 9001 Certification – A Very Significant Milestone in the ICorr Calendar

On 30th October 2023 along with our HQ Staff, the Institute of Corrosion was independently Audited for its Quality Management System in compliance with ISO 9001.

This was a very significant milestone in the ICorr Calendar for which we are indebted to HQ Staff – Becky Hurst and Trish Bridge, Chris Williams, our QMS Lead, also to Bill Hedges who instigated our new Document Share Point system and for auditing guidance to Kevin Harold, our Correx (ICATS Training Arm) Managing Director.

Our auditor, Gordon Newstead (LRQA) took time to learn about our processes, ICorr’s operations as a Charitable Institution and Correx’s role as our commercial Training provider and was very impressed with what he saw.

We learned a lot about ourselves and each other going through this review, and we have identified some further opportunities for improvements that we shall implement over the coming twelve months.

For more information on ISO certification, please refer to the BSI Website: www.bsigroup.com/en-GB/iso-9001-quality-management/.

ICorr Wales and South-West: Bristol Event

ICorr Wales and South-West: Bristol Event

The new Wales and South West of England regional branch held its first event in Bristol on September 19th. The event was held at Mott MacDonald with presentations from Dr Rene Brueckner of Mott MacDonald and Erik Fabre of Inductosense.

Rene Brueckner leads the Materials and Corrosion team at the Mott MacDonald Bristol office and has been involved in condition assessments of reinforced concrete and steel structures, design and monitoring of cathodic protection systems, durability assessments and forensic engineering.
Rene’s presentation titled “Selection of Cathodic Protection Systems for Reinforced Concrete Structures” offered an insight into the various systems which can be utilised for reinforced concrete structures. The presentation provided an overview of their advantages and disadvantages to inform the option selection process with a focus on sustainability and environmental impact.
The second presentation was by Erik Fabre who is the head of R&D projects at Inductosense.

Inductosense are a UK-Based technology developer, specialising in ultrasonic solutions for monitoring internal corrosion and erosion. Erik’s expertise focuses on ultrasonic testing and sensors, supporting multiple clients with technology projects and sensor deployments. The presentation, “A Pathway to Thickness Measurement Locations (TMLs) Digitalisation” provided an insight into an alternative approach to permanently installed sensors which due to their cost, are normally used for monitoring critical areas for corrosion rate estimation.

Inductosense have developed a technology that combines passive sensors and a different data collection method to enable a more cost-effective, consistent, and deployable solution. The talk discussed how the handheld data collector, robotics, and online solutions work together to address different applications with accessibility and inspection frequency.

The talks gained lots of interaction from the audience with many questions and plenty of further discussion. With 18 delegates in attendance along with the ICorr President, the first Bristol event was deemed a successful one!

The next branch event will take place in Southampton on October 24th and will be reported in the November/December issue. For further information or if you are interested in attending or presenting at future events, 
please contact swchair@icorr.org

You can also keep up to date on events by visiting our LinkedIn page;
https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12992293/ and https://www.icorr.org/events/
For past branch presentations, please visit: 
https://www.icorr.org/wales-and-south-west-branch/ and scroll down to Local Technical Programme where copies of past presentations may be found.

Photo: Delegates Networking.
Photo: Delegates Observing Rene Brueckner’s Presentation.
Photo: Delegates Observing Erik Fabre’s Presentation.

Engineering Council and NCEES (USA) Sign 
Historic Mutual Recognition Agreement

Engineering Council and NCEES (USA) Sign 
Historic Mutual Recognition Agreement

Prof. John Chudley,
Chair of the Engineering Council
www.engc.org.uk

The Engineering Council has signed a landmark Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) with the USA’s National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).

The agreement was signed in Chicago by Laura Sievers, President of the NCEES and John Chudley, Chair of the Engineering Council. This significant event marks the first international agreement of its kind with any international counterpart in the NCEES’s 104-year history. This agreement establishes a streamlined process for recognising professional engineering qualifications between the UK and the USA and ensuring that engineers can practice across borders with greater ease and without compromising on professional standards.

As engineers are licensed at the state level in the US, participation in this agreement is determined by individual state licensing boards. Today, 26 US states have already confirmed their intent to participate in the agreement, marking a significant step forward towards wider adoption.

UK Chartered Engineers and US Professional Engineers wishing to use the streamlined route provided by the agreement will need to hold the International Professional Engineer (IntPE) title. To find out how to obtain this in the UK, see the Engineering Council website, and in the US see NCEES.

Source: Engineering Council Press Release   Contact: Helen Potts, Engineering Council – hpotts@engc.org.uk   Tel: 020 3206 0568

Highlights of the MRA include:

  • Simplified Pathways for Certification: UK Chartered Engineers can now more easily obtain a US Professional Engineer license in participating states and US Professional Engineers can more easily achieve the CEng title in the UK.
  • Minimisation of Redundant Assessments: By recognising the equivalency of qualifications, the agreement removes the need for repeated assessments, thereby simplifying the certification process.
  • Increased Professional Mobility: The agreement opens new opportunities for engineers to work across the UK and the US, facilitating their professional growth and development.
  • Support for Key Industries: The agreement strengthens the engineering profession in both countries, supporting industries such as construction, automotive and aerospace.
  • Enhanced Trade in Engineering Services: By reducing restrictions on cross-border services provision, the agreement encourages the growth of international trade in engineering services.

 

ICorr North-West: AGM

ICorr North-West: AGM

Our North-West (NW) Branch held its AGM on 1st October 2024 from 16:30 at Luther King 
House, Brighton Grove, Manchester, a most interesting venue and an excellent conference facility.

The event included talks from Paul Lambert on 200 years of Cathodic Protection and Trish Conder on NDT in the renewable energies sector. An excellent buffet and social meet followed the presentations and formal business of the AGM.

Paul Lambert
Paul is Head of Materials and Corrosion Technology Team at Mott MacDonald, where he has worked for over thirty years. He is also a visiting professor at the Centre for Infrastructure Maintenance, MERI, Sheffield Hallam University. As Past President, he has a long-standing involvement with the Institute of Corrosion, where he currently provides support 
in professional review and 
assessment and is the current chair of the PAC committee. He has over 40 years’ experience in the performance, durability, corrosion, and protection of materials, including polymers. He has led on the research and development of investigation techniques and protective systems for plain, reinforced, and pre-stressed concrete and steel-framed structures, including cathodic protection and corrosion inhibitors. Additional roles include the preparation of expert evidence on coatings, road surfacing, concrete, corrosion, and stainless steels.

Dr Patricia Conder

Dr. Patricia Conder works as Principal Consultant at Inspection and NDT Consultancy, ESR Technology Ltd. Patricia has a multi-faceted background, having worked in a range of sectors, including electronics, chemicals, pulp, and paper, before entering the inspection and non-destructive testing field. Her current focus is the data science of inspection, from 
planning and reporting to 
evaluation of results combining to enable a greater insight into the underlying corrosion mechanisms. Patricia has an honours degree in physics from the University of Aberdeen and a PhD in materials science from the University of Birmingham.

Following the two excellent Technical Presentations, the Institute President – Stephen Tate thanked the North-West committee for all their hard work over the last 2 years in reactivating and growing the Branch. The Annual Branch AGM followed this, led by Greg Brown, who was unanimously elected as Branch Chair. The Chair presented a bottle of wine to long-serving and retiring committee member Brenda Peters, who will soon join the Trustees of the Institute of Corrosion as its new honorary secretary. Greg also thanked Kathleen Brook for all her work as University Liaison Officer during previous North-West Technical Sessions, including the recent highly successful Corrosion Awareness Day held in April at the University of Manchester. Kathy has now moved to Leeds to take up a new role there.

Upcoming Events

Following the AGM the branch will hold its annual Christmas dinner (date and venue to be concluded) before looking towards next year’s programme. The committee continues to grow, and if you would like to get involved or contribute towards an event, contact nwchair@icorr.org 
For further details of NW technical programme, please visit: North West Branch – Institute of Corrosion (icorr.org) and scroll down to Local Technical Programme where copies of past presentations may be found.


Photo (Right): The Reception 
Area at Luther King House.


Photo: Greg Brown – 
Northwest Branch Chair Introduces Proceedings.


Photo: Professor Paul Lambert of Sheffield Hallam University and 
Mott MacDonald.

Photo: Professor Paul Lambert Spoke Passionately on The Topic Of Protection Of Reinforced  Concrete With Many 
Case Studies Presented.


Photo: Dr Conder Discussed Various Case Studies Related to Deployment of Novel Ndt

Technologies With Particular Relevance To Emerging Net-Zero Energy Operations.