Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Onur Ozutku, a distinguished professional in the field of inspection and testing. With a career that began in construction and installation, Mr. Ozutku has cultivated a deep understanding of the critical role that equipment inspection and testing play in ensuring safety and efficiency in various industries. His journey from decommissioning and reconstructing aged equipment to becoming a thought leader in inspection techniques offers invaluable insights for both seasoned professionals and aspiring engineers.
In this interview, Mr. Ozutku shares his experiences and the pivotal milestones that have shaped his career. He discusses the challenges faced by the inspection and testing industry, the importance of adhering to standards, and the impact of technological advancements like AI and machine learning on modern inspection processes. Furthermore, he provides practical advice on maintaining high-quality inspections, recounts a particularly challenging project, and offers a glimpse into his personal life and motivations.
Join us as we delve into the expertise and personal philosophies of Mr. Onur Ozutku, whose commitment to safety and lifelong learning continues to inspire and guide professionals in the field of inspection and testing.
Hello Mr. Onur Ozutku. Hope you’re having a fantastic day. Can you tell us about your background and how you got into the field of inspection and testing?
Hello, First of all, thank you very much for this interview, I hope the readers will enjoy it and guide them.
I started my career in construction and installation, by decommissioning and reconstruction equipment that had completed of its lifespan and could create a hazard and risk.
This perspective showed me how important equipment inspection and testing.
Inspection and testing provide us the disciplines to determine how long a piece of equipment has a lifespan or whether we can use that equipment.
No matter what line of business one works in, it is necessary to know that all work equipment must be inspected and to understand how important it is to carry out correct inspections.
The way to become a good engineer is to first understand the philosophy of this inspection. In fact, it is necessary to realize that testing and inspection are the one of the most important parameter that tell us whether the facilities or plants are safe or not.
… that’s great. Can you describe some of the key milestones in your professional journey?
In fact, I know that I will have a good but challenging professional life after ı am mechanical engineering in 2010.
Throughout my life, I have always wanted to difficult processes, not the easy ones. In this situation, it always forced me to improve. The most basic message that I told my teammates and now want to tell to the your readers is that ''we must make lifelong learning a part of our life culture''. Learning is the most powerful weapon to develop skills and get better success.
Coming to some interesting questions about your profession….
… what are some of the biggest challenges currently facing the inspection and testing industry?
The most important problem in the inspection and testing sector is the perception that technological devices alone will be sufficient without experienced and trained personnel.
Even if teams that are not experienced and knowledgeable have the highest level technological devices, they will not lead you to the right result.
It takes long time to train experienced personnel, and I think this is one of the biggest problem of the sector.
Sometimes equiments out of service for inspection or test need out of service, this process always turns into a war between money and safety.
Although this issue is not a problem in companies with a good safety culture, for some companies, out of service means losing money, so they prefer not to lose money to safety. This situation, sometimes can create problems.
… well, Mr. Onur, can you explain some of the most common methods used in inspection and testing?
The most commonly used inspection methods in the oil and gas industry are ultrasonic thickness measurement, radiographic inspection and acoustic emission.
These three methods have been known in the industry for a long time and provide correct results, leading us to the reach safe side.
Of course, as I said in the previous question, these methods alone can not give us correct results without experienced examination experts.
… with the advent of AI tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, do you think AI and machine learning will play a vital role in modern inspection and testing processes?
In fact, I believe that artificial intelligence tools will reach a very important point in the future and will be successful. I believe that inspections will be more perfect with well-desing software, especially since we know that the human factor is likely to make errors in some cases.
… can you discuss the importance of adhering to these standards and the potential consequences of non-compliance?
All inspections and tests, whether technical or organizational, must be done according to written rules. In this respect, we should not forget that complying with the standards is not a recommendation but it is a mandatory. Also, having the necessary technical knowledge while reading the standards is also an important point. As a result, the inspection and test performing not according to standards will be risky and danger.
… what are some best practices that you recommend for maintaining high quality in inspection and testing?
In fact, each inspection method provides very important results according to own technology and ability.
My recommendation in this regard is combined inspections. If ı need to explain this with an example, you can test a LPG tank hydrostatically with water or acoustic emission method. My advice here is to perform combined inspections such as doing both together. Acoustic emission should be done while testing water hydrostatically, Also other important inspection such as corrosion control of tank body and settlement test of supporting legs should be added inspection plan.
… can you provide an example of a particularly challenging inspection or testing project you’ve worked on?
Inspection and testing of submarine pipelines has been challenging, it can involve many risks, your chance to observe it can be done with a diver or underwater monitoring devices. Therefore, the inspection and testing of submarine equipment has always been challenging for me.
If you test a submarine pipeline with water, you cannot see leaks; if you test it with nitrogen or pneumatic, you can many risks such as floating to upside of pipeline.
Enough about work. Our audience is interested in knowing you. So, should we move to questions about your personal life?
… what keeps you motivated and passionate about your work in inspection and testing?
Thinking and knowing that the facility or plant and the teammates I work with can be safe in the future is the biggest source of motivation. In fact, by detecting a defect or abnomal, in addition to protect of equipment or tank, you save the lives of workers who may be affected by a possible failure. Engineers or inspectors should struggle is create safe plants.
… so, how does life look for you outside of work, Mr. Onur? How do you unwind yourself?
Spending time with my family outside of work life gives me great comfort and relaxing, family has always been at the top of my important list. Sports have always been in second thing because healthy life, Also nature walks have also been a part of my life.
… what resources or training would you recommend for someone looking to advance their skills in inspection and testing?
First of all, the first rule of being good at inspection or testing is to develop basic engineering skills, as advanced engineering subjects cannot be developed without basic engineering skills. If they good at about basic engineering skills, I recommend the documents and trainings of organizations such as API, ASME, NACE.
… this question is requested by our audience. You are very popular on LinkedIn. Your posts and videos get great traction. How do you manage your work and this side gig?
In fact, most of my posts on LinkedIn are a part of my job. I am currently the LPG terminal manager of a company that storing and handling LPG. So issues such as operations, inspection, startup, maintenance, repair, process safety and team management are part of my job, and you can notice that the subject of my posts is in these subjects. In addition to the lifelong learning philosophy, I added teaching and writing. I have to confess something, ı actually have the opportunity to improve myself further by answering the questions that send to my inbox after my posts.
… finally, what are your thoughts on OnestopNDT? Do you think our efforts to provide real, authentic and accurate content are helping the industry? Also, do you think our platform helps the community connect with like-minded people?
First of all, I congratulate you, you access correct and important sources and provide valuable information to your readers, you have been a very good learning platform especially for the junior engineers, I have been following your work since the day I met you. It is a wonderfull platform where people who want to learn and teach come together. I hope you will reach out to more industry employees and inform them in the future.
