Theo Abels – Advisory Committee Chair
Theo Abels, P.Eng, Principal of Blu 5 Engineering, Qualified as a Mechanical Engineer in 1984 and has focused on materials and corrosion since then. Presently provides leadership in asset and integrity management programs in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Sharing knowledge and experience with the next wave of integrity professionals is his goal.
Alison Weeks – Advisory Committee Vice-Chair
Alison has over twelve years of experience in the oil & gas industry with a strong foundation in inspections and integrity management. She holds professional certifications from ASET, NACE and API. Alison manages the Senior Management Representative for Signalta Resources Limited Owner-User Program as well as Signalta’s Pipeline Integrity Program. She has been involved with IPEIA for the past 9 Years, sitting on both the Steering Committee and Public Relations Committee.
Jim Yukes – Advisory Committee Member
Jim Yukes, AVH Engineering Inc, has over 25 years business development experience including Non-Destructive Examination, facilities and pipeline integrity services in Western Canada and internationally. Jim has been committed for over 5 years to IPEIA including Program, PR and Steering Committees.
Izak Roux – Advisory Committee Member
Izak J Roux DBA P. Eng. Izak was chair of IPEIA 2018. Prior to this he has been vice chair and program chair since 2015. Izak is also an active member of ASME and he is a member of two pressure vessel technical committees as well as of the Canadian CSA B51 Boiler, pressure vessels and piping standard technical committee. In Alberta he serves as chair of the Safety Codes Council’s Pressure Equipment Sub-council and the Edmonton Transit Advisory Board since 2015.
Heather Fairfield – Advisory Committee Member
Heather Fairfield, IHS Market, is an account executive for technical information related to the pressure vessel, pipe and welding industry. Heather is a Member emeritus of IPEIA, past chair of public relations committee and has been an IPEIA member for 12 years.
Nick Marx – Advisory Committee Member
Nick Marx, IMRL attended the 1st IPEIA Conference 26 years ago. He is a huge supporter of IPEIA and has only missed 2 conferences. He started volunteering his time to IPEIA in 2003 on the Program Committee and continued to evolve his roles. He started on the Steering Committee in 2007 as the Chair of Public Relations and was the Chair of the 2017 IPEIA Conference. Nick continues to provide his guidance and support on various committees and where is needed. IRML has been a bronze sponsor 5 years.
Hennie Prinsloo – Advisory Committee Member
Hennie was a major shareholder and president of RAE Engineering and Inspection until he sold the company to a group of the staff in 2008. Hennie has fully retired from the consulting field since 2021. Hennie joined the steering committee in 1994 and stepped down after the 2014 conference. He was vice-president for a year (2012) and chair for two years (2013 and 2014). He is currently an ad-hoc member of the Advisory Committee.
Bobby Wright – Advisory Committee Member
Bobby has 40 years’ experience in refining and petro-chemical engineering consulting, focusing on fixed equipment integrity as an SME. He works very closely with maintenance, inspection, process and operations to help improve plant reliability, safety and profitability.
Bobby is a Professional Engineer in the state of Texas, holds a BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering and has been involved with IPEIA since 2004. He joined the Program Committee in 2006/2007 and is currently assisting with the PR Committee with Heather.
Norm Blatz – Advisory Committee Member
Norm has over 30 years of industry experience across multiple industry sectors both as an owner-user and as a consultant. Norm’s focus has been on Pressure Equipment Integrity Management with a particular emphasis on work processes and RBI where he enjoys assisting in the development of the next generation of PEIM professionals. Norm has been active in IPEIA for many years as a delegate, Program Committee member, and has been on the Advisory Committee since 2019.
Dr. Ken Lau – Advisory Committee Member
Dr. Lau began his career in pressure equipment in 1968 when he entered University of Manchester with a scholarship from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (UK), for his postgraduate study. He obtained his M.Sc., and Ph.D., through research in pressure vessel design and stress analysis. After time spent working in England, and Singapore, and Alberta, Dr. Lau joined the Alberta Boilers Branch in 1978. He became Assistant Chief Inspector in 1982 and in 1990; he was appointed Chief Inspector under the Boilers and Pressure Vessels Act. With the proclamation of Safety Codes Act in 1992, he was appointed as the Administrator of pressure equipment safety discipline. Since the formation of ABSA in 1995, he served the dual role of Chief Inspector of ABSA and Administrator of pressure equipment safety for the Province of Alberta until his retirement from full time employment in September 2014. Having been actively involved in pressure equipment safety and having served in a variety of positions in different CSA, ASME and ISO pressure equipment standards development committees, Dr. Lau has received a number of awards for his work in pressure equipment safety, including Member Emeritus status of IPEIA in 2014; National Board Safety Metal of 2009, the highest honour bestowed by the National Board, becoming the 21st recipient of the Medal in the history of the National Board; and CSA Award of Merit “in recognition of his outstanding leadership and expertise in the advancement of pressure equipment standards” in 2004. He was elected Fellow of ASME in 2005 and he received the ASME Dedicated Service Award for standards development in 2011.