TTI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Developer
- Founding Director
- Principal
- Director, TTI Ltd.
Dr. Alan Ractliffe is a founding director of TTI. He is a former academic, with almost 20 years experience in the Department of Naval Architecture at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, one of the largest of its kind in Europe.
His early specialisation in structural strength behaviour broadened into a wider range of interests in computer modelling of dynamic problems in the marine environment, including cable dynamics, pipe-laying, towing, and motions and forces on floating bodies. His experiences in these varied fields involved the application of basic principals and exploitation of research, leading to state-of-the-art software.
Dr. Ractliffe is the principal developer of TTI's Optimoor mooring analysis computer program. He has also conducted dynamic analyses of riser protection nets and towing systems.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant in Tension Technology International
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
Animesh Garg is currently an Associate Consultant in Tension Technology International where he has recently joined in to expand company's base within India.
Animesh enjoys over 9 years of experience in Oil/Gas industry spread over working within Maritime Projects and Commercial Freight Trading.
A sailor by heart, he started his career with an energy major sailing on Oil/LNG vessels where he developed strong leadership/man management skills along with sound technical shipboard cargo operation knowledge.
He also has a strong commercial acumen gained during a stint in freight trading.
More recently he was responsible for auditing technical standards within Maritime projects in pre FEED stage.
He enjoys command and expertise in compatibility assessments/ mooring analysis for floating assets and has completed more than 200 such reports to this day.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
Chris Berryman has been the Managing Director of subsidiary company TTI Testing Limited since 2014 and has been a consultant for Tension Technology International since 2005. In recent years Chris has become an expert user of TTI's market leading mooring analysis software Optimoor. Previously Chris worked as Design Manager for the Marine and Offshore Division of the Europe's leading rope manufacturer. He is a graduate physicist who trained in rope making and design completing over twenty-six years' service..
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
- Expert
Chris Burgoyne is an expert in parallel-lay ropes and the properties of aramid yarns. This experience developed from work on prestressed concrete and the desirability of using a high strength tendon that would not corrode. Chris studied and worked under Dr. Roger Hobbs at Imperial College. He is presently on the faculty of the Civil Engineering Department, Cambridge, University. He also is an associate with Tension Technology International.
Job Titles:
- Associate Senior Consultant, TTI Ltd.
David Byrne served as a deck officer with the British Merchant Navy, starting in 1964. Following a first degree, he spent several years in ship construction and port operations, subsequently undertaking a research degree in naval architecture. He then joined The British Ship Research Association (BSRA) as a Principal Research Officer in the Naval Architecture Department in 1979. He held various posts including Manager, Ship Performance Department and Senior Manager prior to the merger of BSRA with NMI Ltd to form BMT Ltd in April 1985. He then became Divisional Manager of Ship Operations and Engineering.
In 1987 he joined the MacGregor-Navire Group as Technical Manager of the UK Company and Principal Consultant of MacGregor-Navire Consultants Ltd. In 1990 he was appointed Managing Director of Transmarine Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the MacGregor-Navire Group. In 1992 he led a Management Buy-Out of Transmarine Ltd, which later became Burness Corlett -Three Quays (Newcastle) Ltd in 2006. In October 2007 he became the General Manager and Director of the Newcastle office of Noble Denton Consultants Ltd, a member of the worldwide Noble Denton Group, one of the largest maritime consultancies in the world, now part of DNVGL.
He left Noble Denton in 2011 but continues to provide independent consultancy services to the maritime and offshore industries through his company Flag C Ltd.
He is a member of the PIANC UK Committee, specialising in the technical and operational aspects of port and waterway design and operations.
He has been responsible for the design and construction of over 80 port facilities worldwide and is currently active in providing Port Marine Safety Risk Assessments, dredging/channel design studies, including the use of ship manoeuvring simulation to assess the risks of new berths or port approaches. Recent work of this type has included detailed assessments of LNG facilities and port and channel design for ultra-large container vessels as well as smaller ports.
He is a specialist in mooring design, both multi-leg catenary and alongside quays and jetties.
He has extensive experience of towage operations in ports and estuaries, planning, pre-tow surveys and marine warranty services for offshore barge/payloads and many oceanic dead ship tows.
He has been responsible for the design, supply and installation of all types of cargo access equipment for ships, in particular Ro Ro vessel equipment and hatch covers.
He has led many research and development projects and continues to carry out a wide variety of marine consulting activities for clients worldwide.
The provision of technical advice to the legal and insurance professions, including Expert Witness, continues to be a significant part of his work. Past instructions include anchoring/mooring, salvage, safe port cases and personal injury matters. He is known as a specialist in claims relating to the design and operation of hatch covers. He appeared as a specialist naval architect in the Re-opened Formal Inquiry into the loss of the DERBYSHIRE. He has appeared as an expert witness in the High Court, London, the Supreme Court, Hong Kong, and many Arbitrations. He was the Crown Representative for the New Zealand Government in a significant Mediation relating to a naval construction contract.
He has written the well-known book ‘Hatch Cover Maintenance and Operation' which has now run to two editions,
Job Titles:
- Company Secretary
- Director
Responsible for day to day business activities and finances
Denise joined TTI through 'association' when Stephen joined back in the late 80's. She officially joined the management team in 2001 and is currently a Director of TTI and the Company Secretary.
Handling the day to day activities of the business and finances, Denise spends most of her time behind the scenes trying to herd our general activities! She is responsible for general administration, invoice queries, payments and accounts and cash flow management.
Job Titles:
- Project Engineer
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- International As a Consultant
Fanggang NING joined Tension Technology International as a consultant in November 2013. He gained his master degree in textile materials and design from Donghua University (former Textile University of China). then he worked as a R&D engineer in Engineer Research Centre of Ropenet Co.,LTD for two years, where he mainly took charge of the development of new products and the treating techniques. In order to further improve the knowledge of rope techniques, he returned to Donghua University as a PhD student and focused on the structural simulation of braided fibre rope and the bending properties. Among his PhD studies, he spent one year in the University of Manchester as an academic visitor. Since graduating from Donghua University, he has worked at Qingdao University as a researcher and focuses on advanced rope techniques.
Job Titles:
- Consultant, TTI Ltd.
- Director - TTI Testing Ltd
- International As a Consultant
Dr Isabel Ridge joined Tension Technology International as a consultant in October 2007. At University, Isabel studied Mechanical Engineering, and first started working with ropes in 1987 when she undertook her final year project to design and manufacture equipment for investigating the combined bending-tension fatigue loading of wire ropes. She was awarded the Institution of Mechanical Engineers project prize for this work. Following on with continued studies in this field, she completed her PhD thesis, ‘Bending-tension fatigue of wire rope' in 1992, for which she was later awarded the OIPEEC Prize for a contribution to rope research by a young researcher.
After completing her ‘formal' education at the University of Reading, Isabel remained working there in the Rope Research Group, on numerous rope related project and studies. One such project led to the award in 1994 of the Worshipful Company of Turners Design Prize Silver Medal for her design of ‘Equipment for the interactive fatigue testing of wire rope'. During the subsequent years, Isabel rose to the position of Principal Research Fellow and Manager of the Rope Research Group.
Isabel has developed a strong background in the field of ropes for offshore applications, particularly in the safety critical area of deep sea moorings for oil platforms. She has unparalleled experience of testing, condition assessment and prediction of service behaviour in this field. More recently, her research has developed a better understanding of the torsional properties of the various types of mooring components in use (both wire and fibre ropes as well as chain) and allowed prediction of the way in which they interact. This knowledge has led not only to improved installation procedures, but has allowed operators to avoid system configurations which would lead to poor service compromising system integrity.
Isabel left academia to work in industry in 2005 when she joined CASAR Wire Rope (Kirkel, Germany) as Head of Research and Development. During her time there, amongst other projects, she was chiefly responsible for developing a new generation of ‘composite' ropes which effectively combine high strength aramid fibres with steel strands. Such light-weight high-strength ropes are of great commercial value to various industries (such as offshore and deep mining) where long lengths of rope are employed and weight becomes a critical factor.
Education
The University of Reading, BSc. (Mechanical Engineering with Maths), 1988
The University of Reading, PhD. Thesis on ‘Bending-tension fatigue of wire rope', 1992
Experience
Department of Engineering, University of Reading
Research Assistant, 1991-1998 (including two periods as a temporary lecturer in 1994 and 1996-97)
Senior Research Fellow - Rope research management, 1998 - 2004
Principal Research Fellow - Rope research management, 2004 - 2005
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
James has nearly 30 years' experience in the marine industry, of which over 25 have been in the fibre rope industry. James joined Marlow Ropes in 1991, and during his time, was instrumental in growing the single point mooring [SPM] and engineered product portfolio of the marine and offshore division of this business and assisted in a number of industry firsts. These included pioneering the first use of Dyneema ropes for riser tethers and securing the first contracts awarded for permanent polyester deepwater mooring ropes in the mid 90's for Petrobras in Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico for BP's "Mad Dog" and the "Independence Hub" [2002 - 2006] projects for Enterprise Oil, the latter of which was concluded under Bridon following the acquisition of Marlow's marine and offshore assists.
Following the acquisition by Bridon, James was responsible for all fibre ropes sales including deepwater moorings, SPM's, heavy lift and the emerging renewables market focusing mainly on wave energy but also in tidal and wind. In addition, during this time he was also responsible for Bridon's fishing and grapnel wire rope markets. Moving to a business development role in December 2012, he has overseen the rapid growth of Dyneema heavy lift slings including supplying the largest capacity fibre rope slings with a minimum break load of 4000 tonnes and supplying the first Dyneema mooring inserts for drilling rigs in the North Sea. During the last 8 months he managed the supply of two polyester mooring projects for a Norwegian client including gaining factory manufacturing approval and full product certification in accordance with the latest revision of DNV's standard for Offshore Fibre Moorings, DNV-OS-E303.
Since leaving Bridon in May 2014, James has been employed as an associate consultant with Tension Technology International handling a wide range of projects including, failure investigations, wave energy system costs, project management, inspection, expediting and installation on a number of specialist fibre rope net projects. These have included overseeing installation in the shipyards, offshore commissioning and ongoing support.
In addition he has also taken on the day to day marketing for the business and looking after ad hoc projects as they come in.
James holds offshore certificates BOSIET (5700) & (5750 - with CA EBS), MIST and a valid offshore medical, and has travelled and worked on offshore installations worldwide.
Job Titles:
- Mechanical Engineer
- President, TTI LLC, USA
John Flory is a mechanical engineer who worked for over 20 years for Exxon Research and Engineering Co. He served as Exxon's specialist in offshore mooring systems for tankers. He has extensive experience in research, development, design and application of mooring systems and associated components, especially hawsers and hoses. Mr. Flory is a founding member of Tension Technology International (TTI). With TTI, he has performed research on rope terminations, conducted rope, yarn, and hose testing, and given training sessions on safe use of marine ropes. He has advised the U.S. Navy and various oil companies and has investigated many rope, mooring hawser, and cargo hose failures.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, TTI Ltd.
- Wealth of Expert
Kevin Black has a wealth of expert knowledge and experience gained over 35 years of working in and with world leading companies such as Rolls Royce, United Technologies Corporation, Pfizer, Statoil, Kellogg Brown & Root, BP, Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, INPEX to name a few.
Kevin has previously held Engineering and Technical management positions within a subsidiary of world leader United Technologies Corporation (UTC). He has a wealth of knowledge and experience, especially in the design, supply and installation of Riser/Conductor Protection Nets and has been involved in Asgard, Umoe, Heidrun, Snorre A, ACG, COP, Moho Nord and Ichthys projects.
Kevin is proficient in Optimoor mooring software and has conducted many studies and travelled extensively around the world giving training session.
Job Titles:
- Director, TTI Ltd.
- Offshore Engineer
Mr. Delaney is an offshore engineer with extensive experience in structures, naval architecture, and computing disciplines. He has worked on projects in the North Sea and worldwide, from concrete and steel fixed platforms in the early 80's to recent FPS and FPSO facilities. He is a specialist in the design and analysis of offshore mooring systems, and has contributed to many developments in the moorings analysis and assessment software used by the industry today. Recently he has been involved in R&D projects in deepwater technology and with offshore instrumentation, software and decision support systems.
Job Titles:
- Formerly Graduate Engineer
Job Titles:
- Electrical Engineer
- Chairman, TTI Ltd.
Mr. O'Hear is an electrical engineer with wide experience in the fibre, rope and cable industry. He was a pioneer in the application of Kevlar aramid fibre and Dyneema HMPE fibre in marine ropes and cables. His studies greatly improved the service life of steel- and fibre-reinforced electromechanical cables He has many years experience in designing high performance ropes and cables using Kevlar and other modern fibres.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
- Director of Avant Design Ltd
Nigel Briggs is the director of Avant Design Ltd (www.avantdesign.co.uk) which was formed at the beginning of 2009 to offer a complete design service, from conceptual ideas through prototype manufacture, product testing and production manufacture. He has gained over 29 years of experience from working with companies on the forefront of their respective fields, in such diverse technologies as vacuum engineering, nano-technology, industrial pump design, metal particle atomisation, high voltage power supply and distribution, military avionics and automotive design; working on development projects for Daewoo, General Motors, British Aerospace, General Dynamics and Sulzer Metco to name a few.
Nigel has held senior, project lead roles with his employers and has become well known for his dedication and enthusiasm for bringing new ideas, through into production reality. He has a specialist interest in computer aided design and has been closely involved with all his clients, when formalising and presenting their concepts through digital prototypes. Principally working with Autodesk Inventor he has been fully trained to provide an introduction, to all aspects of data management and configuration of 3-dimensional CAD modelling. He has been taking part on software development and testing with Autodesk products, providing a first-hand feedback into the future development of the software.
Emeritus Prof. Roger Hobbs was formerly a member of the faculty of Imperial College, London. He has specialised in numerical and experimental studies of wire and synthetic-fibre ropes and cables, chain and pipelines. As a member of Tension Technology International, Roger has developed rope modelling computer programs and conducted laboratory trials of ropes.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant / Quality Manager, TTI Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Interface Advisor I STASCO, London, 2017 to May 2019
Job Titles:
- Managing Director, TTI Ltd.
Job Titles:
- Associate Consultant, TTI Ltd.