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Under the surface with: Ian Moore

Introducing Ian Moore, 47, business development manager at James Fisher Nuclear’s NDT division.

Can you tell us about your job?

I work at the new JFNDT Deeside 2 facility covering the oil and gas, chemical, nuclear and general engineering sectors. It’s my job to generate business from new and existing clients.

What exactly is NDT and how long have you worked in the field?

NDT (which stands for non-destructive testing) is a branch of engineering that looks at flaws in materials and assesses them. It’s an industry with huge opportunities for career progression and I’ve been working in it for 28 years! I started out as an NDT technician and went on to management roles in health and safety, quality, technical and operations. In 2009 I joined James Fisher, where I held various positions in health and safety before becoming  corrosion mapping sales manager; that lead to my current position.

What do you like most about your job?

I like the diversity that comes from talking to different people (welders, plant owners, managing directors, quality and inspection people) and the challenge of working with other parts of the group to solve problems. Recently, we worked with our parent company, James Fisher Nuclear (JFN) on a project for Scotia Gas Networks (SGN) to devise a technique for inspecting underground regulator valves. These are known as “Orpheus valves” and their job is to reduce gas flow at a certain pressure. JFN designed and built the remote handling tooling, while JFNDT completed the inspection to identify corrosion that could lead to gas leaks. It’s a novel technique for a single-sized valve and it means there’s no excavation involved. So it’s a significant improvement on the established inspection method as it saves time – and money. Now we want to extend it to cover all sizes!

What’s your proudest achievement?

I project managed the corrosion mapping of 22 large pressure vessels on a deep water drilling unit based at the Astican shipyard in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria. The inspection area was huge – 1,600sqm – the logistics of getting equipment to the platform on time were complicated and we were using two different mapping techniques - AGR Video Tracking and Silverwing corrosion mapping systems. It was only me and four technicians, but I’m happy to say we completed on time and on budget. 

What are the key lessons you’ve learned?

To listen to what the customer wants. That way you stand a better chance of choosing the most suitable NDT technique to solve the problem.