Featured Member - Anton Dooley

In the second of our 'Featured Member' interviews; Anton Dooley has kindly agreed to speak with us. Anton is currently a Senior/Lead Piping designer with Ausenco Sandwell in Vancouver. Anton is also the founder and owner of pipingdesigners.com - a website dedicated to Pipers and all things piping related. The website has had almost 8 million hits and is quickly becoming the website of choice for piping designers.

EPCM World: "Could you give us some insight into your professional background and experience in the industry?"

Anton: "My background is piping design. I started with Jacobs in Dublin in 1991 as a junior designer / drafter. Back then, CAD was only coming on the scene, so there was still an element of manual drafting involved.The industries served were predominantly Pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

After 5 years with Jacobs, I move to the contract scene, and moved around Ireland, Europe and Australia. This gave me the opportunity to see how piping was done in other countries and industries. I have since worked in many market segments including Oil and Gas, Mining, Chemicals, Renewable Resources and semiconductors.

One interesting project I recently worked on in Paris was for an FLNG – Floating Liquid Natural Gas Ship. This was basically an FPSO – Floating Production Storage Offloading vessel for natural Gas fields."

EPCM World: "What made you set up pipingdesigners.com and what have the benefits of such a forum been?"

Anton: "The pipingdesigners.com idea came about, around 10 years ago. Like most good ideas, it was the fruit of a discussion that took place in the pub.

The discussion centred around the fact that we all carried boxes of folders, binders, cut sheets and catalogues from job to job.... there must be a better way to share this information. I looked, and couldn’t find a site that piping designers could use to share information.

So, pipingdesigners.com was born.

The forum came a few years later, and has really proven to be a useful tool for pipers of all levels, and many contributors have proven themselves to be more than willing to pass their years of collective wisdom on to future generations of pipers.

The forum has also led to many pipers submitting Training articles and tools to pipingdesigners.com to share among their peers."

EPCM World: "What made you want to move to Vancouver? How long did the immigration process take?"

Anton: "Canada was always a place that I thought I could like, on many different levels.
On a personal level, it has the lifestyle, the economy, and with Vancouver, a climate that I was already used to.

In terms of family, it’s a great place to raise my young family.
On a professional level, there is a lot of heavy piping industry between Oil sands, mining and various other industries.

The immigration process was very easy for me, as the company I now work for, Ausenco, sponsored me to come over on a work permit, so they sorted out all the legal/visa requirements. The whole process, from when I accepted the role to arriving at my desk, took about 8 weeks."

EPCM World: "Have you noticed any significant differences in the North American work place versus elsewhere you’ve worked in the world?"

Anton: "Everywhere I have worked has been a little different, but by the same token, things are more or less the same.
The only major difference I have seen so far is that my current project is being done in Imperial units... That takes a lot of getting used to!"

EPCM World: "You’re quite the networker – are you open to invites on epcmworld.com from other members? What’s your advice for members who might be hesitant or shy or indeed new to online networking?"

Anton: "I’m always open to invites from industry colleagues and peers.

Networking, I think is a personal choice. Many people do not like to have their information “Out there” for all to see, and this is a position that must be respected.

My position on networking is that the internet has made global workplace a much smaller place. Contacts can be made, advice can be sought and answers given with ease.

I believe in getting myself out there and forming relationships with as many people in my industry as possible. I really don’t see the down side, and the up sides are limitless.

For anyone shy about networking, just remember it’s not all about making a big statement, collecting as many “friends” as possible or trying to be the biggest fish in your respective pond. It can be purely used a contact tool, or a way to keep up to date with what’s going on in your industry. The main thing is that you can tailor it to your own comfort level by limiting what you share, and who you share it with.

There is the “PET” rule.... don’t put anything out there that you don’t want your Parents, Employers or Teachers to see. It probably a rule that applies to life in general, but even more so with social media."

EPCM World: "Can you pass on any advice to our members (how to progress in the industry, key traits that should be developed, etc.)?"

Anton: "Getting in to piping can be tricky.

In Ireland and the UK, it tend to follow the route of getting your foot in the door with an engineering company as a junior and taking all the training they can give you, and absorbing as much information from those around you, then working your way up the ladder.

If you are given the opportunity to do site work, even if it’s to do the office filing or making the tea – take the opportunity, there is more to be learned in a month on a construction site than in a year in the office.

A key trait for anyone starting out has to be a willingness to learn, take instruction and have an ability to visualize how things will look in the field.

Attention to detail helps, but so does looking at the bigger picture.

There are courses you can take, SPED, the Society of Piping Engineers and Designers have excellent courses, both classroom and online based that lead to Certification as a professional piping designer.

You will hear people say, that software x, y or z is the best ….. Whatever software currently pays the bills is best! So, try to get exposure to as much software as possible, but always remember that your core skill is your ability to design and layout piping systems and equipment, the software is a tool, granted it’s a great tool, but it a tool nonetheless!

And remember, piping design is all about rules.

There is always a rule governing why we do thing like we do; but every rule, particularly in piping design, has an exception. These exceptions are as important as the rules, and only experience will teach you these.

Never forget, that in piping design, every day is a school day, so always be willing to learn something new from someone else, regardless of your seniority!"

EPCM World: "Thanks for your time Anton."