Richard Hedderwick Email & Phone Number

Addo

• Project Portfolio Management: Project value assessment with scoring to select most valuable projects for annual project cycle using weighted strategic criteria.• Capital Project Management: End-to-end project oversight, from feasibility through design, execution, and closeout for projects across various industries.• Design: Combining inputs from operations and quality personnel, insights from operational data and sound engineering design principals to propose state-of-the-art… Show more • Project Portfolio Management: Project value assessment with scoring to select most valuable projects for annual project cycle using weighted strategic criteria.• Capital Project Management: End-to-end project oversight, from feasibility through design, execution, and closeout for projects across various industries.• Design: Combining inputs from operations and quality personnel, insights from operational data and sound engineering design principals to propose state-of-the-art, relevant solutions.• Budgeting & Financial Planning: Proven track record in capital budget preparation, financial forecasting, and cost management.• Technical Leadership: Expertise in managing multi-disciplinary teams and ensuring compliance with engineering standards.• Stakeholder Management: Strong communication and presentation skills, with experience leading high-level discussions with senior managers and executives.• Process Optimization: Developed and implemented strategies for improved efficiency, safety, and regulatory compliance in complex systems.• Vendor Negotiations & Contractor Management: Led contract negotiations and managed contractor relationships to ensure optimal project delivery.• Health, Safety & Environmental Standards: Established and maintained ISO 9001 and food safety standards on capital projects.• Mentoring & Team Development: Guided and mentored project managers and engineers in best practices for procurement, project delivery, and contractor management. Show less

Sasolburg

I headed up Sasol's Reactor Engineering group, which is part of the engineering section of the company's research and technology function. My team developed technologies in dry bottom, fixed bed coal gasifiers, slurry phase FT reactors, fluidized bed FT reactors, and a host of other reactors used in FCC plants, catalyst manufacturing plants and sulphur removal systems.I was the lead inventor of a patented explosives delivery system to pump explosive emulsions to the point of use in… Show more I headed up Sasol's Reactor Engineering group, which is part of the engineering section of the company's research and technology function. My team developed technologies in dry bottom, fixed bed coal gasifiers, slurry phase FT reactors, fluidized bed FT reactors, and a host of other reactors used in FCC plants, catalyst manufacturing plants and sulphur removal systems.I was the lead inventor of a patented explosives delivery system to pump explosive emulsions to the point of use in deep mines without them every being at the risk of excessive pressures or temperatures. I was below ground when the first trials were run, standing next to 5 tons of explosives - where I realised that I really do believe in the physics and solution of my analysis!I was mechanical engineer on a team evaluating the use of supersonic reactors for the formation of high value products. I programmed a compressible flow fluid dynamic model of the system to simulate it in action and spent time witnessing the demonstration of a an early version of the unit. Show less

Sasolburg

I was appointed to fill the role as the lead on the development of Sasol's first generation low cost heliostat for CSP power generation. I prepared the technical part of the necessary RFQ's and together with Sasol's commercial teams and IP teams, I drove the contracting in of the necessary technology vendors and consultants. This resulted in a significant cost reduction in heliostat costs when compared to the nominated commercially available benchmark.At the same time, I was solely… Show more I was appointed to fill the role as the lead on the development of Sasol's first generation low cost heliostat for CSP power generation. I prepared the technical part of the necessary RFQ's and together with Sasol's commercial teams and IP teams, I drove the contracting in of the necessary technology vendors and consultants. This resulted in a significant cost reduction in heliostat costs when compared to the nominated commercially available benchmark.At the same time, I was solely responsible for the development of a CSP plant modelling tool. To achieve this, I constructed a modelling code incorporating models of the solar resource, atmospheric attenuation, mirror shape optics, blocking and shading, statistical approximations of manufacturing tolerances etc. to determine the exact shape and intensity of the concentrated solar insolation. The code also included a model of the central receiver part of the CSP plant and did all the necessary reflection and radiation calculations and the convective and conductive heat transfer producing data on heat transfer coefficients, pressure drops, and all the losses at discrete locations on the receiver. This entire code was validated by other members of the team and found to be as accurate as 4 internationally available codes. These codes however were not able to produce the full spectrum of results and insights necessary which is why this project was taken up in the first place. This code became the platform for our design decisions and our internal debate on many heliostat tracking systems, heliostat layouts, focal length optimisations and aim point strategies. It also provided the means for us to evaluate various receiver pass configurations and tube layouts.I was solely responsible for the identification an alternative technology opportunity for power generation. I did the necessary lobbying and gained backing from the related business units in the Sasol organisation to take the project forward. Show less

Lephalale

I was the technical information conduit on the multi billion Rand steam condenser project for the Medupi Power Station. The particular design deviated significantly from our company standards requiring special attention to detail and a constant motivational effort on my part. The compliance to South African regulations, EN designs codes, ASME, AD Merkblätter, plant owner, EPC and our own specifications provided a constant challenge that we navigated with much consultation and communication… Show more I was the technical information conduit on the multi billion Rand steam condenser project for the Medupi Power Station. The particular design deviated significantly from our company standards requiring special attention to detail and a constant motivational effort on my part. The compliance to South African regulations, EN designs codes, ASME, AD Merkblätter, plant owner, EPC and our own specifications provided a constant challenge that we navigated with much consultation and communication from all parties.I provided technical input into all the sub contracts, and managed each contractor or vendor through their respective design and manufacturing kick off phases. I was responsible for the integration and interface management between the various parties. The coherence and overall presentation of design data (some 15 000 submissions) was my responsibility and I redesigned and commissioned a new much simpler, much faster document control and submission system to facilitate this process.I automated the team's email tracking system to comply with the project communication protocol using MS Outlook and VBA and in so doing, I improved the level of compliance and greatly reduced the required time used for communication. All communication between parties in our design team and to and from the client was controlled and managed via this system.I was part of the stressed, but dynamic team who successfully avoided major penalties, mistakes and claims for the 5 years that I stayed at GEA, essentially the full engineering period. Show less

I headed the engineering team on plant modifications and maintenance. I was responsible for de-bottlenecking projects from feasibility investigation, planning, budgeting, implementation to commissioning in the pasteurising and packaging plants. I also set in place rules of governance related to the modification of the plant control system to curb ad hoc changes to the system by engineers and technicians. This brought about many plant trips in the beginning while technicians were forced to… Show more I headed the engineering team on plant modifications and maintenance. I was responsible for de-bottlenecking projects from feasibility investigation, planning, budgeting, implementation to commissioning in the pasteurising and packaging plants. I also set in place rules of governance related to the modification of the plant control system to curb ad hoc changes to the system by engineers and technicians. This brought about many plant trips in the beginning while technicians were forced to follow the protocol, but after some weeks, the root causes of the plant faults become clearer and were dealt with so that the plant became one of Clover’s most reliable in the long term. Show less

Reading, United Kingdom

I took a year off from GEA to support my wife on an overseas assignment and I spent the year at this company preparing costs for products that were not found on the catalogue. I ended the year by writing a system to do functional design, mechanical design, drawing and cost calculation of the filters. I maintained the system for about 8 years after leaving the company.

Johannesburg

Below are some noteworthy points from this period:- Lead steady-state and transient modelling software development on 2-year consultation project for the PBMR prototype design- Was part of the team that designed or specified a specific fin tube type for the PBMR PCU pre-cooler and inter-cooler and conducted performance tests to evaluate thermal and hydraulic performance characteristics as well as mechanical integrity to validate GEA's equipment design- Responsible for thermal design… Show more Below are some noteworthy points from this period:- Lead steady-state and transient modelling software development on 2-year consultation project for the PBMR prototype design- Was part of the team that designed or specified a specific fin tube type for the PBMR PCU pre-cooler and inter-cooler and conducted performance tests to evaluate thermal and hydraulic performance characteristics as well as mechanical integrity to validate GEA's equipment design- Responsible for thermal design reviews on projects for all heat exchangers supplied by GEA to clients including petro-chemical plants and power stations- Performed on-site performance evaluation of heat exchangers including cooling towers and ACCs and related equipment- Wrote articles for engineering magazines which were used by GEA for marketing purposes- Presented annual industrial heat exchanger course to post graduate engineering students Show less

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Below are some noteworthy points from this period:- Responsible for developing and refining of thermal design software, modelling relevant effects for applications for nuclear power stations, petrochemical refineries and steel mills- Developed optimization software on consulting basis for major clients for conceptual evaluation of plant design- Developed software to generate layout drawings for various products for inclusion into tenders- Thermal design for air-cooled heat… Show more Below are some noteworthy points from this period:- Responsible for developing and refining of thermal design software, modelling relevant effects for applications for nuclear power stations, petrochemical refineries and steel mills- Developed optimization software on consulting basis for major clients for conceptual evaluation of plant design- Developed software to generate layout drawings for various products for inclusion into tenders- Thermal design for air-cooled heat exchangers, shell and tube heat exchangers, plate heat exchangers and cooling towers- Responsible for interpretation and implementation of client requirements and specifications, for thermal design and optimization of heat exchangers- Insured compliance of products to design codes including, ASME VIII div 1, API 661, TEMA and CTI- Represented GEA in bid clarification- and contract meetings- Was selected to participate in testing of commercial heat exchanger software by HTRI (Texas) for a number of years Show less

Masters, Mechanical Engineering (Thermal Engineering)

I did the usual mechanical engineering subjects for the four year B Eng course. As part of my M.Sc, I did 8 advanced subjects.

Matric (University Acceptance)

Mathematics Science Biology Geography English (first language) Afrikaans (first language)