Paul Otway, Senior Subsea Engineer
Paul has extensive experience in subsea pipeline design and integrity projects for global operators. His particular focus is the management of pipeline ILI campaigns including technical definition of pigging campaigns, pig selection/design, review and HAZOP of procedures and offshore management of pigging operations. Paul won the Subsea UK Young Emerging Talent award in 2013 for his ILI work.
1. Why did you decide to do a webinar with Business Review Webinars?
At Jee we are not just an engineering consultancy, we are also a training company. We are passionate about sharing lessons learned and using our 25 years of engineering experience to train the industry. It’s a privilege to be able to pass on some of our knowledge to our loyal customer base as well as those less familiar with Jee.
2. What is your favourite thing about presenting and why?
My favourite thing about presenting is the opportunity to share knowledge and opinions on subjects that interest me and gaining feedback from those present. In my day-to-day working life, presentations are usually an opportunity to share project plans or technical ideas with other interested parties. I prefer to use presenting as the basis for enabling a thoughtful and productive discussion rather than simply a lecture by me to others. PowerPoint and other presentation software are powerful tools and very useful for providing structure to a presentation, but all too often they are relied upon to include all the detail as well. The visual presentation should not be a distraction to the audience, and the focus should always be on what is being said rather than what is on the screen. I find this allows a more open environment and others feel more comfortable to interrupt and ask questions. Presenting online will be a new experience for me with new challenges as it does not facilitate that multi-way discussion throughout the presentation.
3. What do you wish other people knew about Jee?
That we have engineering capabilities spanning the whole life-of-field! All too often our clients use us for a particular service or discipline, and because of the high standard of technical service they receive, they presume this is our specialist field. In reality our capabilities and dedicated discipline divisions could give them the confidence they have with Jee on all their projects.
4. What do you most enjoy about your role?
One aspect I really relish about my role is that it allows me to get very actively involved and invested in long-term projects, building relationships over time with those I work with, including clients, colleagues and 3rd parties. Some of the projects I have undertaken have been very high-profile within the client company, and have included significant technical challenges. I feel fortunate to have had these opportunities and been entrusted with such responsibilities so early in my career as it has allowed (and forced) me to develop and learn rapidly as well as being able to specialise early in an area and technology that is evolving and developing all the time.
5. Where would you recommend visiting in the world and why?
Based on places I have been (rather than places I want to go) I would highly recommend Rio de Janeiro. I visited Rio for two weeks in 2007 as a student and had an amazing stay. The city and the landscape around are absolutely stunning and it is an incredibly vibrant city which I found to be very welcoming to tourists. There are so many things to do and see in Rio (Cristo Redentor statue, Sugar Loaf mountain, Ipanema and Copacabana beaches). I even managed to get to a Rio football derby between Botofogo and Fluminense at the Maracana, and that is where you see the real Brazilian passions come out. While there is an undeniable edginess about the city with such wealth and poverty situated literally side by side on many streets, at no point did I feel unsafe or vulnerable. So long as you have a little common sense there is little to worry about and the people are generally incredibly friendly – however if you do insist on wearing a Rolex and having a £2000 camera on show you may well make yourself a target. With the World Cup in Brazil this year and the Olympics in Rio in 2016, I can think of at least two great excuses to visit Rio!
To listen to Paul Otway discuss the topic ‘In-Line Inspection: Ensuring Fitness for Purpose of Subsea Pipelines’ register for the webinar here