Rick Sugden
Mr. Rick Sugden has a BS in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Mathematics. He holds NACE certification as Cathodic Protection Level 2 and has received training from ASME in Defect Assessment, In-Line Inspections, and Integrity Management. He is actively involved in API Pipeline Information Exchanges, Pipeline Integrity Groups, Forums, and technical training.
Mr. Sugden is a Principal Engineer with over ten years of Integrity Management experience working for small, mid-sized, and large operators. He joined Kiefner and Associates, Inc. in 2022. He has extensive hands-on experience with hydrostatic testing and in-line inspections of natural gas, hazardous liquids, and HVL pipelines of both legacy and modern design. He has been vice chair and chair of the API Pipeline Integrity Group and has contributed significantly to developing Recommended Practices for the pipeline industry since 2014.
Mr. Sugden has extensive experience executing operator integrity management plans (IMP’s) and integrity assessments while demonstrating compliance with regulations and safety expectations. Mr. Sugden also has experience in corrosion control and greenhouse gas emission regulations, supports operators in evaluating their processes and procedures for regulation compliance, and presents regularly at industry conferences on these topics.