Steering Committee 2023

Mr Astad has worked at Equinor since 2010. His position is now Senior Engineer Materials Technology. Through his experience at Equinor has worked with stainless steels in different areas; material selection for subsea and topside projects, M-650 qualification of manufacturers of special materials, induction bending specifications and follow-ups to construction and welding activities on sites both onshore and offshore.

Mr. Sunday Okoro is a materials and corrosion specialist within the materials and mechanics department, at GRUNDFOS – a premium pump manufacturer with headquarters located in Bjerringbro, Denmark.

Mr. Sayee Raghunathan is an experienced, commercially focused technocrat, with specialization in the manufacturing and the energy sectors, as well as having experience across the entire product lifecycle and technology readiness spectrum. He is currently employed as a welding and metallurgical engineering consultant for Saudi Aramco, in Saudi Arabia. This role involves, amongst other things, materials selection consultations and run-repair-replace evaluations for assets and operating facilities and high-level studies and investigations. He is a non-executive director of the American Welding Society (AWS). At AWS, he is also the Chair of the Product Development Committee (PDC) and a member of four other committees including the Marketing Council and Membership Committee. Before Saudi Aramco, he worked as an Associate Director at TWI, Cambridge, UK and as a visiting professor for the Dalton Institute of Manchester University. He was awarded the 2012 Lidstone Medal and is a Fellow of eight UK professional institutes including the Welding Institute, Nuclear Institute, Energy Institute, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Institute of Corrosion and IOM3. He also actively volunteers for education, professional development and technology advancement causes.