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Tony Alfano is a principal engineer and head of the Risk Management team at DNV GL. He has an M.S. degree in mechanical engineer- ing and is a Profes- sional Engineer. A member of NACE International, Alfano has more than 10 years of experience supporting clients with risk management focused on pipeline facili- ties and networks, with an emphasis on tran- sitioning risk assessment tools into higher- value risk management programs through model and system development. Jeffrey L. Didas is a senior corrosion engi- neer with MATCOR, Inc. He has an ASEE degree in industrial electronics from Springfield Technical Community College and BSET degree in electrical/electronic engineering from Thomas A Edison State College. He has 42 years of experience in corrosion control for oil and gas pipelines, tanks, well casings, and other facilities and industries, both onshore and offshore. His expertise includes cathodic protection, coat- ings, and internal corrosion. A member of NACE for more than 40 years, Didas has served numerous committees at the associa- tion, area, section, and technical levels, including the NACE Board of Directors and NACE Foundation Board as treasurer. He holds several NACE certifications, including Corrosion Specialist, Cathodic Protection Specialist, and Coating Inspector. He received a NACE Distinguished Service Award and the 2014 R.A. Brannon Award. He is the vice president of NACE for 2017-2018. David H. Kroon, FNACE, is the chief technical officer at Aegion Corp. and former president of Corrpro Companies, Inc. He has a B.S. degree in chemistry from Yale University and is a Professional Engineer in 13 states. Kroon has more than 45 years of experience in corrosion preven- tion, including materials performance, protective coatings and linings, pipeline integrity, cathodic protection, and alternat- ing current/direct current interference miti- gation. Over his entire career, he has been actively engaged in solving corrosion prob- lems for the energy and water industries. A 44-year member of NACE, he is the recipient of the NACE 2016 R.A. Brannon Award. Meet the Panelists more frequent basis than manual readings. The risk is first recognizing that a reading is in alarm or an abnormal condition and reacting to this reading. The other risk is not visiting these rectifiers and critical bonds except once per year to perform an annual survey and physical rectifier/bond inspection. DK: For 15 years, we have been per- forming external corrosion direct assess- ment (ECDA) on hundreds of pipelines. The indirect inspection data and analysis are confirmed by direct examination of the pipe, which leads to calculated corrosion rates. The ECDA data collection and analy- sis procedures are rigorous and well docu- mented, leading to verifiable condition assessments. We are currently building an advanced external corrosion risk model that will provide operators with a quantita- tive assessment of the risk of external cor- rosion along their pipelines. We are also working to improve our ability to predict the rate of external, galvanic corrosion of steel pipelines based upon soil characteristics. NACE: Do you have any other comments? TA: Due to ever-changing physical and business envi- ronments, a successful risk management program must be dynamic. For those who are starting down the devel- opment of these systems, ensure the success of the development initiative is measured not just on the delivery of the system, but also on the process in place to keep the system current. This will ensure that the benefits achieved through the system will continue to pay dividends through the years ahead. JD: I was very lucky earlier in my career to work with Kent Muhlbauer and John Zurcher and learn about pipeline risk, codes, and standards from these two gen- tlemen. They really increased my knowl- edge and awareness of risk management and its integration into codes and stan- dards. They made my career in the oil and gas pipeline world a better place. DK: Risk-based decision-making is here to stay. Analytical models continue to evolve, requiring real world data inputs. We need to guard against overemphasizing the importance of the model without equally emphasizing the need to collect accurate, reproducible data sets for inputs to the model. Wherever we select a default attri- bute, we should challenge ourselves to develop a data collection process to better define the condition. This article was originally published in the March 2017 issue of Pipeline & Gas Journal. 33 NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 56, NO. 4 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE APRIL 2017 NACE International Roundtable