OUR PEOPLE
Academic Credentials
- M.B.A., Potchefstroom University, South Africa, 2001
- Ph.D., Metallurgy, University of Connecticut, 1990
- M.Eng., Metallurgical, University of Pretoria, South Africa, 1986
- B.Eng. (Hons), Metallurgical, University of Pretoria, South Africa, 1984
- B.Eng., Chemical Engineering, University of Pretoria, South Africa, 1982
- B.Sc., Chemistry, Mathematics, University of Pretoria, South Africa, 1979
Licenses & Certifications
- International Professional Engineer (Chemical), IPEA, #200560006
- Professional Engineer Metallurgical, South Africa, #900384
- Professional Engineer Metallurgical, Texas, #121769
- AMPP Certified Corrosion Specialist
- AMPP Certified Materials Selection/Design Specialist
Professional Affiliations
- South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 1986 (Fellow)
- AMPP (Formerly NACE International) 1987 (Fellow)
- ASM, 1987 (Life Member)
- NFPA, 2001 (Member)
- ASTM (Voting Member)
Languages
- Afrikaans
Dr. Ockert J. Van Der Schijff is a Principal Engineer in Ä¢¹½tv's Materials and Corrosion Engineering practice. He is a chemical and metallurgical engineer with more than 4 decades of experience in the materials engineering field.
Dr. Van Der Schijff specializes in aqueous corrosion of materials in industrial applications and materials failure analysis in utility, manufacturing, and chemical processing environments. He has managed and participated in a wide variety of forensic investigations, failure analyses, and condition assessments on individual above-ground and buried components such as piping, valves, pumps, tanks, presses, fire protection systems, reactors, bearings, medical devices, and manufacturing machinery to determine the root cause for in-service failures.
Dr. Van Der Schijf is a recognized industry-expert on corrosion and microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) of fire protection systems and the use of nitrogen as a supervisory gas in dry and preaction fire protection systems. He also provides consulting services in the fields of corrosion of metals, microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), medical device corrosion and failure, materials selection, alloy development, and AC and DC electrochemical techniques for investigation of corrosion mechanisms of metal alloys.
Since 2001, Dr. Van Der Schijff has served as an expert witness on a number of diverse litigation cases dealing with corrosion of river going barges, corrosion failure of home heating furnaces, internal corrosion of wet, dry, and pre-action fire protection systems, corrosion of buried fuel and gas piping, corrosion resulting from defective drywall, caustic cracking of refinery components, stress corrosion cracking of dairy processing equipment, pinhole leaks in domestic copper piping, premature corrosion and/or failure of brass, copper, and stainless steel plumbing components, fracture of downhole oil well tubing, materials selection and corrosion of abattoir equipment, and corrosion of combined cycle heat recovery steam generators (HRSG's).
Prior to joining Ä¢¹½tv, Dr. Van Der Schijff founded CorrConsult, LLC, a consultancy providing consulting and litigation support services in the areas of corrosion engineering, metallurgy, forensic science, and failure analysis. Earlier, he was employed at Altran Corporation for a period of 9 years from 1995 through 2003. In his position as Principal Engineer, he was responsible for business development, project management, failure analysis, and contract research in the materials science disciplines.
From 1984 to 1996 Dr. Van Der Schijff was an Associate Professor in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at the Potchefstroom University in South Africa. In addition to teaching undergraduate courses in materials science, corrosion, pyrometallurgy and thermodynamics, he conducted research in the field of corrosion. During this time, he also consulted widely to industry in the fields of chemical engineering, materials science, metallurgical engineering, corrosion and wear.
Previously, Dr. Van Der Schijff was employed by the Council for Mineral Technology (MINTEK) in South Africa as a contract researcher where he conducted research into the plasma smelting of directly reduced iron. This led to a Master's Degree in Metallurgical Engineering from The University of Pretoria in 1986. Dr. Van Der Schijff completed a Ph.D. in metallurgy at the University of Connecticut in 1990 where he worked in the Institute of Materials Science under the advisorship of Prof. Owen Devereux. In 2001, he was awarded an MBA from the Potchefstroom Business School at North-West University.
Dr. Van Der Schijff has been a registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa since 1990. Since 2005, he has been a registered International Professional Engineer under the International Professional Engineers Agreement (IPEA)(Registration #: #200560006). Dr. Van Der Schijff is also a licensed Professional Engineer (License #: 121769) in the State of Texas. He is an AMPP (formerly NACE) Certified Materials Selection/Design Specialist and Certified Corrosion Specialist (AMPP Certification #: 10186).
Dr. Van Der Schijff has more than 35 papers and conference presentations to his credit. In addition, he has published more than 240 technical reports dealing with various aspects of materials, failures, and corrosion.
