Ali Abari – Special Sessions Chair
Ali Abari, PhD, P.Eng, API 510/571, CWB 2, is a senior engineer with Chevron Canada. Ali has over 12 years of experience as a materials and welding engineer working for the oil and gas industry. Ali’s experience and expertise include materials selection and design for corrosion control, damage mechanisms, failure analysis, and welding specifications. Ali has been attending and presenting at IPEIA conference since 2014.
Koteswara Veeranki – Special Sessions Vice-Chair
Kote Veeranki, Suncor Energy – Manager (Quality Assurance), has over 20 years experience in Non-Destructive Examination, Inspection, Quality Control and Assurance in Pressure Equipment Industry. My Experience includes upstream & downstream right from Oil Sands to Pipelines, wanted to give my best to serve as Special Committee Member and represent Owner User community.
Jim Yukes – Special Sessions Committee Member & ICF Task Force #4 Lead
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.
Ana Benz – Special Sessions Committee Member & Webinars Co-Lead
Ana Benz, the IRISNDT Chief Engineer, has worked for IRISNDT for 22 years as a Corrosion, Failure and Inspection Specialist. She performs inspections and organizes plant inspection projects using mainstream and advanced inspection technologies. Ana has worked extensively for the Chemical Process Industry, Petrochemical Plants, Fertilizer Plants, Oil and Gas and nickel refineries around the world. She graduated as a Materials Engineer in the University Simon Bolivar in Venezuela and then obtained a Master’s degree in Materials Engineering at the University of British Columbia many years ago. She has several CGSB NDT certificates and CWB Level 3 and API 510 certifications. Ana was a member of the NACE Edmonton Executive for 15 years and before that participated in various capacities for the Edmonton Chapter of the Canadian Welding Institute. She is very happy and proud to have had the opportunity of attending many IPEIA conferences since 1998.
Ayralee Martin – Special Sessions Committee Member
Ayralee has been in and out of the oil and gas industry for last 12 years or so, main focus was NDE and pre-fabrication of pressure equipment and woking in the engineered steel production industry. I am new this year 2023 to the IPEIA program.
Robin Antoniuk – Special Sessions Committee Member
Robin (Robin Antoniuk, ABSA, second year of service to IPEIA ) – Robin has been with ABSA since 1999, mostly within the Inspections Department. He currently serves as ABSA’s Assistant Chief Inspector. Robin is on multiple committees including the Steering Committee, Finance Committee and Program Committee.
Denny Stubel – Special Sessions Committee Member
Denny Stubel; Client Relations & Strategy Analyst, Technical Safety Authority of Saskatchewan (TSASK). Denny has been employed with TSASK for 10 years and manages their larger Key Accounts. Denny has established trusted working relationships with many companies and his role includes responsibilities such as inventory reconciliations, Quality Management System reviews, Overdue Accounts Receivables and Write-Off’s and also contributes to internal forecasting and budgeting. Years of Service to IPEIA: 4 years on the Program Committee, 6 years on the Steering Committee (Past Chair 2020), 1 year on the Public Relations Committee, 2 years on the Special Sessions Committee and now 1st year on the Membership Committee.
Ruth Barraez – Special Sessions Committee Member
Ruth Barraez is an Asset Integrity Specialist at IRISNDT. She earned her Materials Engineering Degree from Simon Bolivar University in Venezuela and has over 12 years of experience. Ruth’s expertise includes implementing Piping Integrity programs, Risk-Based Inspection, corrosion monitoring, and Integrity Operating Window (IOW) programs for fertilizer, oil, and gas plants. In addition to her professional achievements, Ruth has dedicated her time to the community and volunteered for ASM Calgary as a technical Program Organizer in previous years.
Lauren Mcaloney – Special Sessions Committee Member
Lauren McAloney, API 510, NBIC IS, IBPV, CBSG UT2/MT2, Acuren Group Inc. QA Specialist with over 15 years experience in the industry while working at various energy sectors throughout North America. Today, Lauren is an embedded inspector for a major oil & gas company in Cold Lake, AB, primarily focusing on piping and pressure equipment inspection analysis with a risk based approach.