Program Committee

Faustina Gaffney – Program Committee Chair

Faustina Gaffney is the Marketing Coordinator for Unified Valve Group for the past 7 years and and has over 15 years of Marketing experience in Oil and Gas. Faustina is currently the Technical Program Chair and has been a part of the Program Committee since 2017 and has held previous roles within IPEIA as Communication Liaisons for both the Technical Program Committee and the Education Committee.

Doug Brett – Program Committee Vice-Chair

Doug Brett, CET, ABSA IBPVI, TSASK Class 1, API 510/570/653. Doug has over 20 years of experience in the Oil and Gas Industry, from the wellhead, through the processing (conventional and SAGD), pipeline systems (gathering and transmission), right through to petrochemicals, including R&D activities and inspections/integrity management. Currently, he is the Asset Integrity Manager for SECURE Energy, overseeing both SECURE’s Pipeline and Static Equipment (Tanks/pressure equipment) integrity management programs, and is a member of the industry group, UCIA.

Bastian Zars– Program Committee Member

Bastian is an Asset Integrity Manager, trainer, and leader with over a decade of experience. He is supporting and advising clients on asset integrity and maintenance challenges such as inspection, integrity management, reliability and risk-based inspection. He is certified as PMI PMP, API 580, API 510, API 570 and API 1169

Landi Cheng – Program Committee Member

Landi is an integrity engineer with Inter Pipeline, with over 10 years of experience in pipeline and facility integrity. He oversees the integrity program for pressure equipments, piping, storage tanks, and PSVs for IPL’s Transportation Business Unit. He is certified in API 510, API 570, and API 580. He has been a member of IPEIA’s Program Committee since 2021.

Russ Davis – Program Committee Member

Russ is the National AIMS MI COE manager for Mistras Group. He is based in Houston TX. Mistras Group has been active in IPEIA for many years. Russ became a participant in the IPEIA conferences in 2014 and has presented at the last 3 conferences in Banff.

Michael Nugent – Program Committee Member

Mike is a graduate of Stevens Institute in NJ, USA where has been an Adjunct Professor for 20 years. In addition, he has over 35 years of in plant refinery, power and petrochemical experience as an owner user and service provider. Mike is a Fellow in ASNT and active in NACE and API. He has recently led an International consortium focused in detection, evaluation and remaining life assessment of High Temperature Damage Mechanisms and is VP of Industrial QA at a major Northeast US Testing and Inspection Laboratory.

Carlo Flores Gil – Program Committee Member

Carlo graduated from the Faculty of Metallurgical Engineering of the University of Lima in 1999. Upon migrating to Canada he spent several years working in the Inspection/NDE industry before going back into Integrity Engineering. Carlo is currently serving as a facility integrity engineer with Enbridge and is always interested in new technologies and their application. This is his first year in an IPEIA committee.

Jan Kriel – Program Committee Member

Jan Kriel, has over 25 years’ experience in Metallurgy, Failure investigations and integrity assessments in the oil and gas and utilities sector. Jan is currently the Mechanical Integrity Manager for TEAM’s Western Canadian operations and has extensive international experience. Jan has been committed to IPEIA for the last 8 years in roles including: Program Chair, Vice Chair, Executive and Steerco member roles and Exhibition Chair.

Jessie Wong – Program Committee Member

Jessie Wong has attended IPEIA since 2014 and has been active in the Program Committee since 2017. An engineer by training and self-taught artist, Jessie is someone who thrives on being underestimated. Her passion lies in supporting non-profit organizations and finding how to make a unique contribution. Jessie finds great pleasure in continuous improvement and improving efficiency, but at the end of the day, it really comes down to the people who keep her motivated and driven to grow her career. Jessie is precise, cautious, disciplined, painstaking, and conscientious in her work, yet always eager to try something new.

Steve Bauer – Program Committee Member

Steve is currently an Integrity In-service pressure equipment inspector with over twenty years of experience in the power generation and oil and gas industries. His professional journey began as a Pressure welder, then moved to diverse roles at leading companies such as TransAlta Generation Partnership and Cenovus Energy INC. In these positions, He was responsible for developing and implementing inspection programs for a wide range of pressure equipment. His expertise in the welding industry, non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques, and remaining life assessment of pressure equipment have been honed in these demanding, high-stakes environments. Steve is currently a Senior Integrity In-service inspector with Cenovus Energy INC and holds In-service Pressure Equipment Inspector and Welding Examiner certificates from ABSA, a National Board Commission, and several API, CGSB, and AMPP certifications.

Juan Arraez – Program Committee Member

Juan is a bilingual, self-motivated Integrity & Corrosion Subject Matter Expert (SME) by passion and profession with 17+ years of learning and experience in the Oil & Gas (O&G) Industry. Registered Professional Engineer with an MBA. Capabilities include corrosion and integrity assessment of pressure vessels, piping systems, and pipelines, non-destructive examination, welding, project management, and leadership. Working experience with oil and gas operators, engineering companies, and consulting services companies

Shawn Santo – Program Committee Member

Ryan Jones – Program Committee Member

Ryan Jones, P.Eng is the VP of Engineering Services for MISTRAS Group. Ryan is based in Calgary, AB and has been in the industry for 25 years providing consulting services in the area of asset integrity management including design, risk management, asset evaluation, fitness for service, NDE technologies, and repair strategies. Ryan uses his breadth and depth of experience to support clients when facing some of their most complex asset integrity challenges. He earned his Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering at The University of British Columbia, Canada and his Masters of Business and Administration at Case Western Reserve University. He has his professional engineering licenses in several Canadian Provinces.

Wesley Weber – Program Committee Member

Wes has been in the Nondestructive testing industry since 1989 and has worked in every US state, most Canadian provinces, and the UK. Holding Level 3 NDT certifications in Australia, Canada, Japan, the USA, and the UK. NDT Level 3 methods currently certified or expired are MT, PT, UT, PAUT, TOFD, and Guided Wave. Industry experience in oil and gas, pulp and paper, power generation, pipelines/integrity, bridge & building, new construction and maintenance. He recently moved from Houston, Texas, two years ago to join CNRL, leading a large team of NDT professionals at the Albian Sands and Horizon Oil Sands upgraders. Wes is currently completing his MBA at Athabasca University.

Ahmad RK Rana – Program Committee Member

Greg Ball – Program Committee Member

Greg Ball is the Academic Chair of Welding Technology and Non-Destructive Testing programs at SAIT. Greg has over 15 years’ experience as an educator and academic leader, developing curriculum, and teaching technical communication in Mechanical Engineering Technology. Passionate about applied learning, curriculum development, and technology development, Greg enjoys creating high-quality educational experiences and connecting students with Industry.

Nick Walther – Program Committee Member

Nick Walther, TT, RSE is a certified B-pressure Redseal Welder, CWB Level 1 Welding inspector and Welding Engineering Technologist with diverse industry experience. Currently employed by Big Rock NDT & Inspection as an in-service inspector where he gains experience with integrity assessments of piping, structural steel and pressure vessels. He was awarded ‘Best Student Poster’ at IPEIA 2023 for his research on ‘Carbon Content Effect on Hydrogen Induced Cracking’.

Cindy Wietzel – Program Committee Member

Cindy Wietzel, CET, API 510, API 570, B. Ed. and Materials Engineering Technologist. Previously Cindy worked at Syncrude (now Suncor) as a Pressure Equipment Integrity Inspector in the Coker Units, the Sour Water Unit and the LC Finer, transitioning into the Failure Analysis Lab at this same company. The last 14 years Cindy has been teaching the next generation of Inspectors in the Materials Engineering Technology Program at NAIT. With experience instructing in the Introductory Physical Metallurgy Course, the Non-Metallics Course, the Failure Analysis Course the Welding Metallurgy Course, the Destructive Testing Course and leading the Students in their Capstone Projects. Cindy attended her first IPEIA Conference in 2023, she was so impressed by what she saw there that she wanted to get involved and contribute.

Kallie Heniuk – Program Committee Member

Kallie Heniuk, P.Eng., has worked as a failure analyst and materials engineer with IRISNDT since 2019 and supports the petrochemical, oil and gas, pipeline, and fertilizer industries on various metallic and non-metallic failure analyses, pressure equipment repairs, and boiler tube studies. She has experience with high temperature damage mechanisms including those encountered in high temperature pyrolysis applications. This is her first year in the IPEIA Program committee and she is prepared to bring her passion for materials, asset integrity, inspection, and technological advancements to the table. Outside of the engineering realm, Kallie is active with non-profit organizations that focus on education and conservation.