TPI April 2011

For your own interview, please contact the editor, rory@intras.co.uk

Name : Frans Martens Firm : Shell Global Solutions BV Title : Process Automation and Control Optimisation Engineer Location : Rijswijk, the Netherlands Work history : With Shell since 1982, worked on several locations in the Netherlands, Germany and Oman. Since 2001 working in Rijswijk in a variety of roles. What’s your favourite film? Classic romantic dramas like ‘Message in a Bottle’ with Kevin Costner or ‘Bridges of Madison County’ with Clint Eastwood are always going to make me cry. But also ‘Cast Away’ with Tom Hanks and ‘As Good as it Gets’ with Jack Nicholson are worth watching over and over again. What’s your favourite city to visit? It would be the Muscat area in the Sultanate of Oman. I lived there for eight years with my family and still it is a wonderful place to be. But of course Amsterdam is difficult to beat on many fronts. And it is a lot closer. If you were stranded on a deserted island, what two luxury items would you take? As a realist and rationalist I would assume there are no utilities or supplies available, other than the sun and the wind. Remember ‘Cast Away’. So I guess I would take a sailing boat and a pair of binoculars. And get the hell out of there. If a movie was being made about your life, which actor would play you and why? I guess it would be Kevin Costner, mostly because I like him as an actor but also because I can associate myself very well with the roles he plays. Who would you least like to be stuck in a lift with? There are many people I would not want to be stuck with. Mostly because I despise them or because they make me sick. A child murderer or a guy that would start shooting students at schools.

a large company like ours” “ I am able to influence

Frans Martens

Tell us about your the specialisation of your role in the company ? I am a Control & Automation engineer in a large oil and gas company for which I have been working for almost 30 years. Sounds like an awful long time but, looking back, it went by like nothing. I have been around in upstream as well as downstream parts of the business in a large number of roles. My current role involves being responsible for a large part of the technical aspects of the procurement of control valves. What’s the best thing about your job? It is that I am able to influence the way a large company like ours is sourcing and applying control valves. They are an essential part of our business and an important factor in the availability and productivity of our facilities. I have the feeling I can make a difference here. What’s the toughest thing about your job? I am facing every day the immense resistance to change a large company like ours has. It is very difficult to make a lasting change to the way we do our business. There are many ways to do things better, faster and cheaper but the processes in a large company are very tight and large wheels turn very slowly. Persistence and a loud voice often helps. What’s the most exciting project you’ve worked on and why? Most projects are at least interesting, some of them are also somewhat exciting but the most impact was made by my involvement in a number of large

turn-arounds of chemical plants and refineries. The detailed scope of the preparations, the logistical challenges, the time pressure and the unexpected problems that always turn up, especially near completion of the work are immense. Exciting is not sufficient to describe that. It almost feels like a rollercoaster. If you count intercontinental business- related travel as work then my longest day was around 36 hours. Missing a few flights, travelling the last distance by rental car, finding the hotel in the darkness of the night to check in. Wow, that was a long day. But luckily my normal days are never too extreme. If you weren’t involved in the tube industry what career would you have chosen? Looking back I might have preferred a somewhat more mobile and outdoor job, with less stress and work pressure. Who’s your hero and why? PresidentObama.Hehasmadeittothetop of the largest economy and world power. He is in a position tomake a lasting change to the world and its economy in terms of caring for the weak and promoting a sustainable development. What’s your favourite restaurant? Hmm, in my travels I spend an awful lot of evenings having dinner in goodrestaurants. With good company it really does not matter so much at what restaurant I eat, it will be a great experience anyway. What’s the longest you’ve worked without sleep?

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Tube ProducTs InTernaTIonal april 2011

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