Personal statement

Prior to starting my academic career, I worked in industry for over 20 years, latterly in the pipeline industry for 7 years as an integrity consultant for GE Oil and Gas. In this role, I was responsible for providing fitness-for-purpose, remaining life and corrosion assessments for onshore and offshore pipelines. I have also worked as a materials engineer in the petrochemical and power generation industries involved with the operation, maintenance and design of chemical and power plant.

My primary research interest, developed since my move to academia from industry, is in the use of pipeline infrastructure to deliver pathways to Net Zero – primarily in the transportation of carbon dioxide (CO₂) for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) schemes and hydrogen as a replacement for oil and gas in the energy mix. In this area my research topics have included:

• material and specification requirements for CO₂ and H₂ pipelines,
• techniques for conducting Quantitative Risk Assessments, including pipeline failure frequency and consequence analysis
• hydraulic network design and developing system flexibility,
• techno-economics and wider economy impacts.

My wider research interests include the modelling of structural damage and corrosion on structures, particularly relating to onshore and offshore energy infrastructure.