Ask the Expert

Paul de Waal is Dutch and educated as a Measurement and Control /Electronics Engineer. After a start as Instrumentation Engineer at Delta Controls, often outsourced to Shell, he became Managing Director of Sierra Instruments b.v. for almost 25 years. In 2012 he moved to the UK and now works as Business Development Director at Vögtlin Instruments GmbH in Switzerland. Paul has been active is several ISO committees and has a wide network of international relations that he can call upon to support him. (Vögtlin is part of the TASI group). He has practical experience with about every flow meter principle available. Currently his professional focus is application support, product development and international sales promotions. His main interest and experience lies in non-fiscal gas mass flow measurement/control systems and calibration. Gas mass flow meters and controllers used in applications like consumption measurements and distribution, gas dosing, mixing, (leak) testing, flame control, furnace, glass, heat treatment, packaging and analysers. Application for this can be found in industries like Food, Bio technology, Surface technologies, Welding, Medical, Pharma, Energy (Solar, Fuel cells, combustion, etc), chemical, semiconductor, metal industry and many more..

Pascal van Putten, CEO at VPInstruments, has over 25 years of experience in energy monitoring for compressed air and industrial gases. With a background in engineering and a strong focus on sustainability, he founded VPInstruments to provide easy-to-use, reliable tools for measuring flow, pressure, power, dew point, and more. Under his leadership, the company has developed innovative products like the VPFlowScope flow meter series and the VPVision energy management system, now used in factories worldwide. Pascal believes that accurate measurement is the first step toward meaningful energy savings and carbon reduction. He regularly speaks at conferences and workshops, sharing insights on industrial energy efficiency. As part of this expert panel, Pascal looks forward to addressing your questions on compressed air monitoring and sustainable energy management.

Ryan Fitzgerald, Product Manager at Anderson-Negele, is an expert for the process management sensor portfolio which includes electromagnetic flow meters, Coriolis flow meters, temperature sensors and pressure sensors. He has spent the past years turning customer pain points into innovative sensing and measurement solutions. Given Anderson-Negele’s global 90+ year focus in the hygienic industry Ryan also has a vast knowledge of hygienic/sanitary design standards and requirements that apply to sensors primarily used in the Food & Beverage and Life Science industries. After completing a BS in Mechanical Engineering at Clarkson University Ryan joined the Team at Anderson-Negele in Fultonville NY. Ryan has developed technical product and application knowledge throughout his career through roles in design and application engineering. A passion for understanding and solving customer problems led Ryan to his current position as product manager at Anderson-Negele.

Jan Christensen has nearly 40 years of experience in precision flow and pressure control instrumentation. He began his career as a Canadian Service Specialist where he traveled out to the field and repaired valve instrumentation and control systems. Now with 35 years at Brooks Instrument, he assumes the role of Regional Manager. As a Regional Manager he is responsible for the northern part of the United States and Canada learning about the exciting projects our customers are working on and how Brooks Instrument can serve them. Jan has worked extensively in oil and gas, biotech, and semiconductor industries as a flow, technical, and application expert. He is a global traveler, fluent in Danish, German, and English, and has visited every continent except for Australia. Jan has a diploma in materials management from Seneca College and a diploma in electronics from Sheridan College. He also served in the Canadian Air Force for seven years where he learned about electronics specifically repairing radar.