Southeast Nuclear Utilities Valve and Systems Forum Speakers

Jeff Klatt serves as both a Senior Asset Manager and Senior Field Service Engineer. Jeff has been employed with REM Services since 1995. His responsibilities include diagnosing control valve performance issues, providing solutions for process and/or product related problems, specialized training, commissioning services, consulting services to plant reliability groups, and a full scale asset management program. Prior to employment with REM Services, Jeff was the Manufacturing and Field Service Manger for the Fisher Service Company in Columbia, SC. During his five years with the Fisher Service Company, he earned an ASNT Level III certification in LPT and established a N.D.E program for safety related products.

Jeff also worked from 1976-1990 for Fisher Controls, International in Marshalltown, Iowa. He began his career in the Nuclear Division as an Order Specialist managing large nuclear projects from order entry to shipment. He also served as a NDE specialist and Liaison Engineer providing troubleshooting services to the control valve, instrument, and regulator assembly lines. Jeff worked with design engineering to improve product designs. Jeff was also promoted to Manager of Supplier Quality and worked with 700+ worldwide suppliers to maintain quality standards of all purchased products.

Michael Miller joined R.E. Mason Company on April 12, 2010.  Michael is responsible for assisting customers in overcoming machinery health issues concerning rotating equipment. Prior to joining REM, he worked for the Machinery Health Management (MHM) of Emerson Process Management since early 2000. Before coming on board with MHM, he worked over 17 years for Duke Energy.  While at Duke Energy, Michael held various positions in the testing and diagnostic groups. Michael is a graduate of the University of Georgia with a BS in Education. Michael also holds an AS in Electro-Mechanical Engineering Technology from Aiken Technical College.

Bill Fitzgerald is a Graduate of Iowa State University where he earned a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering and Master’s in Engineering Mechanics. He has worked with the Fisher group of products, within Emerson Process Management, for the past 34 years, most of which has been spent working in the Power Industry. He earned an Executive MBA degree from SMU in Dallas in the spring of 1998 and is currently the Vice President of the Nuclear Business Unit for Fisher Controls. He has written many articles and made countless presentations on control valves and control valve maintenance, and in 1994, he completed his first book entitled “Control Valves for the Chemical Process Industries”. He holds a number of patents, one of which is for the Flowscanner device, which permits remote diagnostics to be carried out on control valves. He currently makes his home in Marshalltown, Iowa.

Greg Merrifield, GO® Switch Business Manager for TopWorx™, is a driving force for both Commercial and Nuclear Proximity Limit Position Sensors and an expert in severe area position sensor applications in Nuclear and Fossil Power Plants. Greg’s experience with existing plant retrofits from “lever-arm type mechanical switches” is extensive and second to none.

Greg recently directed the successful testing of GO Switch Nuclear Proximity Position Sensors to exceed current and existing nuclear plant requirements as well as “New Gen” plant designs, such as Westinghouse AP1000 and Areva’s EPR designs. Since lever-arm-type mechanical switches have displayed various service and application issues on vintage/existing plants and the New Gen accident conditions are much more severe, GO Switch is the preferred position sensor for AP1000 designs.

Erik Ascoli is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holding a BS in Electrical Engineering. Erik's experience includes being an Operator at the M.I.T. research reactor for 3 years, acting as a general industry independent consultant in Central America for 24 years and since 1998 as a Senior Control Engineer Consultant with Fisher Controls, Emerson Process Management.