Kieran Kavanagh is group technology director of the newly formed Wood Group Kenny, a business unit within John Wood Group plc that combines MCS Kenny, JP Kenny, MSi Kenny and Wood Group Integrity Management (WGIM) to provide a cohesive specialist engineering and management capability, supported by an enhanced technology focus. He is a director of MCS Kenny and has worked in the offshore and marine industries for nearly 25 years, specializing in floating production riser, flexible pipe, subsea, and integrity management technology.

Kavanagh earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in offshore engineering from University College Cork, Ireland, following up his technical education with a degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Kavanagh joined global subsea engineering consultancy MCS in 1993, working initially as a project manager on technology projects associated with floating production risers.

He worked for several years in ship hydrodynamics, sea-keeping, and ship structural engineering with maritime classification society and independent risk management organization Lloyd’s Register in London. Kavanagh joined global subsea engineering consultancy, MCS, in 1993, working initially as a project manager on technology projects associated with floating production risers, flexible pipes, and integrity management.

Kavanagh was appointed general manager of MCS in Galway in 1997 and participated in the management buyout of MCS in 1999, relocating to establish the company’s Houston office in April 1999, where he was responsible as MCS president for the growth of the company’s business in the US.

While many innovative minds have moved in different directions to develop new floating production systems, Kavanagh has joined forces with like-minded experts to develop new codes of practice for floating production and drilling risers and flexible pipes. He has been a member of several joint API/ISO task groups responsible for developing new codes of practice, and he has managed the delivery of updated codes for floating production risers and drilling risers under associated JIPs managed by MCS.

Kavanagh is a member of the executive committee of the Petroleum Division of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and occasionally delivers courses on riser, subsea, and flexible pipe technology for the ASME, the Society of Underwater Technology (SUT) and for Clarion, a technical conferences and publications company. He also is active in the organization of OTC and has been a member of the organizing board for the Deep Offshore Technology (DOT) conference and the International Offshore Pipeline Forum (IOPF), where Kavanagh brings his expertise to guide content for international industry events.

In September 2009, he took a role as group technology director, with responsibility for establishing the technology leadership of Wood Group’s subsea engineering and integrity management companies, MCS Kenny, JP Kenny, MSi Kenny, and Wood Group Integrity Management and for the delivery of JIPs, internal technology development and technology studies on behalf of those companies aimed at providing solutions to the technology needs of its clients.

As an independent engineering business, Wood Group Kenny companies have worked on the deepest floating production projects in the world. “To me, this is a remarkable demonstration of confidence in the company’s credentials in this area,” Kavanagh said. “I believe it is essential that future deepwater developments build and innovate based on the experience and lessons learned from such projects, recognizing industry needs and being advocates for improvements that address evolving challenges in the engineering of future projects.”

The most demanding thing about floating production and subsea engineering technology is that it requires knowledge across multiple disciplines of structural, hydrodynamic, geotechnical, petroleum, naval architecture, subsea engineering and integrity management, Kavanagh said. “An integrated knowledge across these fields is essential to allow the riser or subsea engineer to understand both the risk and design challenge of what is being developed – an essential element in delivering safe and robust engineering design.”

Kavanagh believes one of the biggest challenges over the next several years will be to extend the industry’s engineering knowledge toward developing new more challenging reservoirs, whether for deep water, hostile environments, remote regions, or fluid conditions that extend the limits of existing technology.

“It is essential that we recognize where technology gaps and step changes in technology exist,” Kavanagh said, “so we can work to develop planned solutions outside the pressure of project delivery schedules, in sufficient time to safely and economically develop those resources and maximize the value of the engineering we deliver, while understanding and mitigating underlying risks.”