Exova Expands Oil and Gas Team

Exova (UK) has expanded its Oil and Gas team as it looks to service the increased demand from its North Sea clients for metallurgy testing.

Samantha Withers has been appointed as the new operations manager at its Aberdeen laboratory and Ahmed Jawwad Ali has moved from Exova Abu Dhabi to Aberdeen, to control the metallurgy testing.

Exova recently invested over £100,000 to enhance its services at the laboratory with the addition of fracture mechanics testing services and an enhanced metallurgy capability.

Samantha, who will oversee the operations in Aberdeen, has worked for Exova for eight years, previously as operations manager in Exova’s Bridgwater laboratory.

Commenting on her role, she said: “The Aberdeen laboratory is the flagship base for Exova Oil and Gas so I am really pleased to take on this role. This sector is one of the most important for Exova, with laboratories in nearly every major industry centre around the globe, and it is my role to make sure we consolidate our position as one of the leading Oil and Gas testing organisations in the world.”

Ahmed’s appointment enhances Exova’s failure investigation capability within the business. He has worked for Exova for four years and was most recently metallurgist at Exova Abu Dhabi. In his new role, Ahmed will carry out all metallurgical-based failure analysis on components that fail prematurely in service.

The Exova Aberdeen laboratory, which is UKAS accredited, provides a range of corrosion, mechanical and metallurgical tests for metals and metal products as well as being home to a welding centre of excellence.

The welding centre offers an expansive range of services including welding engineering, support on welding processes, materials and mechanical testing, welder testing and third party certification.

The laboratory also offers elevated tensile testing, crack tip open displacement testing and scanning electron microscope testing, an essential tool for investigating failure and forensic analysis.