Hugh J Roper
I am finally retired but still work with the Technical Associations that I am a member of.
I started with the Wheelabrator Corp in 1972 and held several positions. In 1985 I resigned and was involved with a Surface Finishing Company. In 1989 I was convinced to return to a Wheelabrator Company - PanAbrasives - in Canada from which I recently retired in February 2008
Present Position
Retired TECHNICAL ADVISOR
Education and Experience
Graduated in 1954 as an Engineering Drafting Technician both Civil and Mechanical. and have completed extensive upgrades in Engineering Technology. I am a qualified NACE Level 3 Coating Inspector Technician. I am also qualified as an SSPC Coating Specialist.
I have worked for Wheelabrator Corp. Canada in both Accounting and Engineering capacities from 1972 - 1985.
I operated a Metal Laundry business from March 1985 to November1989.
In 1989 I was made an offer I could not refuse and accepted a position with Wheelabrator Allevard Enterprises Canadian Operation as a Technical Sales Representative.
Territory Responsibilities
I was responsible for Technical Services for all of North America including USA, Canada, Mexico and special assignments in South and Central America.
Work Description
I work with our sales people to help them open new accounts, or resolve our customers’ technical application problems and suggest or develop new applications and methods for the utilization of our Steel Abrasives in their processes. I also have access to a well equipped Technical Center, where we can develop new production processes, or test suggested improvements without interrupting our customer’s manufacturing production. Wheelabrator Allevard Enterprises are the largest manufacturer of Cast Steel Abrasives in the world with manufacturing plants in many Countries around the world, and as such we have a number of technical people with broad Technical Experience who network together and are in a position to supply the latest technical innovation, knowledge, and assistance on how to utilize Cast Steel Abrasives in most processes, to enhance our customer’s process and reduce his operating costs. I constantly work on writing and upgrading our in-house Technical Manuals for numerous equipment operational procedures. and sales applications, along with answering questions from our internal technical people and others located around the world on how we setup and operate different Surface Preparation Applications with many Abrasives..
I currently represent the company as an active private member of several Technical Societies and participate as a voting member on a number of specific Technical, and Standards Committees for ASTM - American Society for Testing and Materials.
SSPC - The Society for Protective Coatings,
NACE - International, National Association of Corrosion Engineers,
NAPCA - The National Association of Pipe Coaters.
I am an active private voting member of several joint SSPC / NACE Technical Specification and Standards Committees that write the Standards and supply latest State of the Art Recommended Practices for using the materials or the processes. Some of the committees that I serve on are listed below
Several Surface Preparation Committees for specific applications e.g. Steel, Concrete, Aluminum. Pipe Coating, Ship Building, Off Shore Structures, etc..
-The Committee for Blasting Abrasives.
-The Committee for Air Blast Training.
-The Committee for New Visual Standards for Abrasive Blasting.
-The Committee for Metallizing.
There are several other committees that are not so active in setting Abrasive Blasting Standards that I also advise.
I am have completed several long term research project to establish the relationship of Peak Count and Profile on Coating Adhesion and Long Term Performance. The findings of these studies have been published in the JPCL Journal in 06 and 07 for which I received the Outstanding Publication Award for 2007 and 2008 as well as the Technical Achievement Award for 2008.
