TECHNICAL PROGRAM

---

MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Please note that speaker bios are both in French & English.
Language of abstract indicates the language of the live presentation.

A discussion panel focusing on The Next-Generation Reliability: Career Paths, Industry Change, and the Future of Vibration Analysis.

Join an open conversation with early-career professionals from across the reliability and vibration analysis community. Panelists from engineering, reliability, and condition monitoring will share their career paths, key lessons learned, and perspectives on where the industry is headed.

Matt Firth, Vibration Analyst & Predictive Maintenance Specialist, NB power Point Lepreau
Carter Goddard, Millwright Apprentice, NAIT Student
Laurie MacLachlan, General Manager, Primac‌
Jaret Marshall, Millwright, Vibration Analyst, and Business Owner, Vibratech Solutions
Mikayla Pattison, Machinery Asset Specialist, Spartan Controls‌

Matt Firth is a Red Seal Millwright with more than 25 years of experience in heavy industry, including 13 years specializing in Predictive Maintenance and Reliability. His career spans diverse sectors, including automotive assembly, pharmaceuticals, steel manufacturing, pulp and paper, and the nuclear industry. Currently, Matt applies his expertise at Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station in New Brunswick, Canada, supporting equipment reliability, condition monitoring, and maintenance optimization in a highly critical and safety-focused environment.

Matt also serves as President of the Atlantic Chapter of the Canadian Machinery Vibration Association (CMVA), promoting the advancement of Predictive Maintenance and Reliability practices. He holds certifications in Vibration Analysis Category III, Ultrasound Level II, Thermography Level II, MLT I, MLA I, and Motion Amplification Level I. Passionate about knowledge sharing and mentoring, Matt is committed to advancing innovative, data-driven maintenance strategies that improve equipment reliability and operational performance.

From Vibration to Resolution: Solving Fan Resonance Through Structural Modification

Resonance is a common but often challenging source of excessive vibration in rotating equipment. Correctly identifying resonance as the root cause is critical, as conventional corrective actions such as balancing or component replacement may not address the underlying problem.

This presentation examines two industrial fan case studies where excessive vibration was traced to structural resonance. The first fan operated at 1800 RPM, with vibration levels reaching 43.5 mm/s. The second operated at 1200 RPM, with vibration levels of 13.4 mm/s. In both cases, vibration analysis indicated that the fan operating speed was closely associated with a structural natural frequency.

Frequency Response Function (FRF) testing was performed to characterize the supporting structures and accurately identify their natural frequencies. Testing confirmed that both structures had natural frequencies below their respective operating speeds, resulting in significant dynamic amplification during operation.

Rather than treating the symptoms through balancing or equipment replacement, the corrective action focused on modifying the supporting structures to increase their stiffness and shift the natural frequencies away from the operating speeds. Following the structural modifications, vibration levels on the first fan were reduced from 43.5 mm/s to 3.66 mm/s, while the second fan decreased from 13.4 mm/s to 1.98 mm/s.

These case studies demonstrate the effectiveness of combining conventional vibration analysis with FRF testing to diagnose structural resonance and determine an appropriate corrective action. They also highlight how targeted structural modifications can provide a relatively simple, cost-effective, and permanent solution to severe vibration problems.

---

SHANNON LAU, Suncor Syncrude Mildred Lake

Shannon Lau, P.Eng. has been working in the oil and gas industry since 2008. She currently serves as the Rotating Reliability Engineering Advisor and Technical Authority for the Syncrude Mildred Lake site. Shannon holds a degree in Engineering Physics from the University of British Columbia and has worked with rotating equipment across both refining and power generation assets, with particular interests in machinery protection and monitoring systems. She holds a Vibration Analysis CAT II certification and serves as Chair of the Power Users Frame 5 Gas Turbine Steering Committee.

Not Everything That Looks Like a Rub Is a Rub: A 68 MW Steam Turbine Generator Case Study

A 68 MW hydrogen-cooled steam turbine generator began exhibiting intermittent vibration excursions shortly after a major overhaul. While the events remained below alarm thresholds and attracted little operational concern, the vibration signatures appeared consistent with a Newkirk effect. Historical maintenance records revealed localized areas of minimal floating seal clearance, making a rub-induced thermal response a reasonable initial hypothesis. However, the machine remained in continuous service, limiting opportunities for inspection and diagnostic confirmation.

The investigation became more complex following an unrelated unit trip and subsequent restart that resulted in a vibration trip. Transient data fundamentally challenged the original diagnosis. The machine response during coastdown did not support a rub-induced thermal unbalance mechanism. Instead, the data pointed toward a more complex interaction involving rotor dynamics, bearing loading, and thermal effects.

As the investigation progressed, attention shifted from generator seals to the dynamic behavior of the low-pressure turbine bearing and the effects of thermal growth within the turbine-generator train. Further investigation identified a sticking turbine front standard slide, with step changes in movement observed during load reductions as the turbine casing contracted. This restricted thermal movement correlated with vibration excitation at the low-pressure turbine bearing. The investigation was further complicated by the machine’s 1970s-vintage design and the absence of a train rotordynamics study, limiting insight into the dynamic behavior of the hard-coupled turbine-generator train.

This presentation reviews the diagnostic process, competing hypotheses, and lessons learned while troubleshooting a critical machine that remains in operation and is not scheduled for a major outage until 2031. The case study demonstrates the challenges of diagnosing intermittent vibration events on unspared equipment with long maintenance intervals and emphasizes the value of combining vibration analysis, machine design knowledge, operating history, and field observations when evaluating potential failure mechanisms.

---

ERIC KAERT, Spartan Controls

Eric Kaert has a bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Alberta. Has worked 14 years at Spartan Controls currently as Business Development in the Industrial Software & Applications group focused on analytical data solutions.

Asset Intelligence: Automated technical interpretation of industrial data

See how combining automation expertise with data science and ML can gain new actionable insight from existing industrial data. Cohesive knowledge and support from sensors to digital infrastructure and analytics make unique in house solutions possible. SpartanPRO Asset Intelligence brings to the surface what is most important allowing teams to focus their time efficiently and effectively. Automatically and proactively have the asset health information and data to make better performance, reliability and optimization decisions. Example use cases for pumps, control valves and compressors will be covered.

---

LETICIA GOMES MATHIAS NETTO LIMA, The Constellation

Leticia Lima is an Offshore Reliability Engineer in the oil and gas industry, with a background in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and Electromechanical Technology. She holds a specialization in Equipment and Materials Inspection Engineering and has experience in equipment reliability, failure analysis and performance improvement. Her professional background includes reliability engineering methodologies, failure investigation, maintenance strategy and equipment performance analysis. She also has technical training in vibration analysis, infrared thermography, FMEA, RCM, root cause analysis and oil analysis. Her professional interests include reliability engineering, condition monitoring, failure analysis and the application of data and engineering methods to support asset performance and maintenance decision-making.

From Online Condition Monitoring to Predictive Maintenance Decisions:An offshore drilling case study
(Main author Vilderson Dias)

Offshore drilling operations require maintenance strategies capable of identifying equipment degradation early enough to support planned interventions and reduce unplanned downtime. This paper presents the implementation and evolution of an online condition monitoring approach for diesel engines and generators operating across an offshore fleet.

The initiative evolved from periodic condition assessments to continuous, real-time monitoring. The monitoring architecture integrates onboard sensors, data transmission and centralized condition monitoring platforms, enabling continuous visualization and analysis of equipment condition. Key variables include vibration, temperature, electrical and operational parameters, with additional condition indicators such as oil contamination and moisture incorporated into the monitoring strategy.

A structured workflow was established to transform raw monitoring data into maintenance decisions: measurement, data transmission, alarm generation, technical analysis, decision-making and execution. Technical specialists evaluate alarms and trends, issue condition-based recommendations and, when required, initiate maintenance actions through the company’s maintenance management system.
The application demonstrated measurable results. Eighteen diesel generator sets are monitored continuously, with nine equipment conditions identified before failure since 2024. In 2026, three of four documented detections originated from online monitoring. Five documented cases represent an estimated 1,128 corrective maintenance hours avoided.

The case demonstrates how continuous condition monitoring, integrated data and multidisciplinary technical assessment can strengthen predictive maintenance in offshore operations. Beyond detecting anomalies, the approach creates a structured flow from equipment condition to maintenance action, providing earlier intervention opportunities, improved decision-making and a historical basis for identifying recurring failure patterns.

---

JAYSON BARCELO, Primac Reliability Consultants

Jayson Barcelo is a Condition Monitoring Specialist with over 18 years of experience in the field of maintenance, projects, equipment reliability, predictive maintenance, and asset management. Throughout his career in the cement and manufacturing industries, he has led initiatives involving vibration analysis, lubrication excellence, root cause failure analysis, preventive and predictive maintenance, and equipment reliability improvement. Jayson holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and certifications as a Category II Vibration Analyst, Category I Ultrasound, Level II Machine Lubricant Analyst, and Level I Machinery Lubrication Technician. He has successfully implemented reliability programs, optimized maintenance strategies, and managed major capital and equipment replacement projects. Jayson is passionate about helping organizations improve asset performance to the highest standards, reduce maintenance costs, and build sustainable reliability cultures through condition monitoring and data-driven maintenance practices.

Ultrasonic Lubrication Program: Technical Case Study on a Forced Draft Fan Fixed End Bearing Reliability Improvement

The ultrasonic lubrication program implemented on a forced draft fan fixed end bearing in a petrochemical plant delivered significant reliability improvement through the application of condition-based lubrication principle. This initiative supports the objectives of ISO 55000, ISO 55001, and ISO 55002 by reducing asset risk, improving equipment performance, and enabling evidence-based maintenance decisions.

Historically, the fixed end bearing experienced chronic and multiple premature failures, requiring replacement approximately every six months resulting in costly maintenance and high reliability risk to operations. To address this issue, a structured ultrasonic lubrication program was implemented utilizing a bi-weekly frequency based on ultrasonic condition monitoring rather than traditional calendar-based intervals.

The program showed significant improvements in bearing operating condition. The ultrasonic dB RMS readings decreased from 56 to 33, representing an approximate 14 times ultrasonic signal reduction and 92.9% friction reduction. The bearing operating temperatures decreased by about 10–15°C, indicating improved lubrication film and reduced mechanically induced friction. The bearing life increased from an average of 4,380 operating hours to 17,424 hours, which is equivalent to quadruple the bearing life expectancy.

Additional benefits included a 50–60% reduction in grease consumption, reduced labor requirements associated with routinary lubrication activities, and improved overall maintenance utilization. Reliability analysis estimated that approximately 0.90 bearing failures were avoided during the monitoring period.

Financial analysis showed an estimated cost avoidance of approximately $191,348 against an annual program cost of $3,845, resulting in a return on investment (ROI) of approximately 4,876.5% and a payback period of 0.44 months.

The field results demonstrated that ultrasonic lubrication is a repeatable, scalable, and low-risk maintenance strategy capable of significantly improving equipment reliability while reducing operational costs.

---

TRACY DUNCAN (author Isaiah Mathew), TransAlta

Tracy Duncan is a Performance and Reliability engineer at TransAlta with 20 year’s experience in wind and solar energy. She holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and is a CAT III vibration analyst. Isaiah Mathew is an Advanced Monitoring engineer at TransAlta with 7 years’ experience in renewable energy. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineer and is a CAT II vibration analyst.

Good Vibes: An Overview of Condition Monitoring for Wind Energy

TransAlta operates over 1000 wind turbines with online condition monitoring equipment on many. In this presentation we discuss typical configurations for wind, CMS, classic “catches” and use cases, trends in wind turbine, drivetrains and emerging monitoring technologies.

---

ELDON GRAHAM, Primac Reliability Consultants

Eldon Graham, PEng, currently works as an engineer for Primac Reliability. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering from and University of Alberta and a Masters of Science in Mechanical Engineering from University of Calgary. He holds certifications as a CAT III vibration analyst and Ultrasound Level II.

Compilation of Motion Amplification and Vibration

The Motion Amplification camera developed by RDI Technologies has revolutionized the industrial reliability field in the last decade. While vibration analysis remains the primary condition monitoring tool, it has limitations which poses challenges to even experienced analysts. By presenting a video showing the exaggerated motion of a machine asset, Motion Amplification can communicate a clear and concise picture of the underlying vibration problem. For complex structures and piping assemblies, vibration analysis is often limited in cost, planning, and time required to setup and wire a large number of sensors. With Motion Amplification, every pixel in the video is effectively turned into a sensor and the visualization of the motion of large structures can be accomplished in a much shorter period. The benefits of motion amplification camera can even be seen with simpler, more traditional vibration problems. Machine problems whose vibration signatures only show turning speed vibration can be notoriously difficult to diagnose with just vibration analysis alone. A Motion amplification video can provide an analyst with the means to quickly visualize the problem or even rule out possible issues. While the Motion Amplification camera can help offset limitations of vibration analysis, the camera itself also has its own disadvantages. As with any camera, the shooting environment including the lighting, having a clear line of sight and stable shooting location all plays a significant role in acquiring clear pictures. Primac Reliability has utilized the two technologies and, in many instances, have found their best work in compliment with each other. This presentation is a compilation of interesting case studies showcasing both motion amplification and corresponding vibration data.

---

DR IAN MELHADO, Primac Reliability Consultants

Le Dr Ian Melhado a obtenu son doctorat en médecine expérimentale à la University of British Columbia en 1999, grâce au soutien de la bourse Roman Mathew Babicki destinée aux doctorants en recherche sur le cancer. Après son doctorat, le Dr Melhado a travaillé comme chercheur principal chez Kinetek Pharmaceuticals, où il s’est spécialisé dans la protéomique et la bio-informatique afin de développer de nouveaux médicaments anticancéreux. Durant cette période, il a mis au point et fait breveter un algorithme inédit de séquençage des protéines exploitant des données de spectrométrie de masse. Après avoir quitté Kinetek, le Dr Melhado a rejoint le Centre de recherche sur le génome de l’Université de Hong Kong ; il y a dirigé une équipe de 40 chercheurs participant aux travaux du Consortium international HapMap, responsable du projet HapMap. Il a alors collaboré avec le professeur Pak Sham pour concevoir de nouveaux algorithmes de regroupement (clustering) et de graphes, intégrés par la suite au logiciel CLUSTAG, un outil destiné à la sélection de SNP marqueurs (tag SNPs) à partir des données HapMap. Le Dr Melhado a poursuivi sa carrière à l’Université de Hong Kong en rejoignant la Faculté de médecine en tant que professeur-chercheur adjoint ; il y a apporté une contribution significative aux domaines de la génétique moléculaire et de la biologie du développement, publiant plusieurs articles dans des revues scientifiques évaluées par des pairs. En 2020, le Dr Melhado a rejoint Primac Reliability Inc., où il continue de développer et de mettre en œuvre des algorithmes fondés sur l’intelligence artificielle pour la surveillance de l’état des systèmes, en s’inspirant explicitement des systèmes biologiques.

Superhearing* – We started by looking at machine vibration. We ended up learning to listen to it.

Superhearing — teaching software to listen to machines before they fail. Long before a bearing seizes or a gear strips, a machine’s vibration changes in a characteristic way. The hard part of condition monitoring was never collecting that vibration — it is interpreting it. A developing fault is buried beneath the normal vibration of a healthy machine, can mimic normal variation, and the judgment of what it means has lived inside a human expert’s head, one measurement at a time.

We set out to give software a sense of hearing — and hearing is more than a microphone. The cochlea is a fixed transducer: it splits sound into frequency bands and never learns or changes. Everything that makes sound meaningful happens higher up, in the auditory cortex, which learns from experience which patterns matter; memory, temporal reasoning, and understanding live further still, in the association cortex. We mapped this hierarchy directly onto a machine-learning system.

Prodigy plays the auditory cortex: it learns, from vibration alone and with minimal labelling, what a single measurement means. Rather than flagging that a signal “looks different,” it distinguishes a bearing defect from a gear fault, from unbalance and from misalignment — and grades how severe each is. Zeus-Agent plays the association cortex — memory and temporal reasoning — and inside it, a graph neural network models the machine train as a connected system, so that a fault echoing through the couplings from a motor to a gearbox to a load is traced back to its source, rather than blamed on the point where it happened to be heard.

This meant abandoning a purely DSP-driven approach in favour of a learned one — not another anomaly detector, and not an LLM. The result is a sense that listens continuously and tells a human, in plain language, when a machine is about to fail, what kind of failure is developing, and where in the machine it is coming from.

---

MAXIME CASAVANT, Hydro-Québec

Maxime Casavant is a Mechanical Engineer with 16 years of experience in hydroelectric generating equipment. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sherbrooke, is a registered member of the Ordre des ingénieurs du Québec (OIQ), and is a CAT II Certified Vibration Analyst (CMVA). After spending six years in generator mechanical design with Voith Hydro, he joined Hydro-Québec in 2017, where he specializes in the maintenance, diagnostics, and performance optimization of turbine-generator units. His areas of expertise include rotating machinery, vibration analysis, machinery reliability, root-cause investigations, and hydroelectric equipment refurbishment projects.

Upper Guide Bearing Housing Vibration of a 350 MW Hydro Generator

Following the return to service of a hydro generator after a major refurbishment, vibrations at the generator guide bearing, which were already higher than before the refurbishment, increased significantly over the years, eventually leading to two trips caused by very high vibration levels. A mechanical inspection revealed a substantial amount of red powder (fretting corrosion, an indication of severe and abnormal structural vibration) at the seating surfaces of the upper bracket (housing), where the loads carried by the guide bearing are transferred to the foundations. A vibration analysis was conducted, and the recommended corrective action was to perform a dynamic balancing of the rotor.

This presentation will describe the main components of a hydro generator, the issues observed, the various instruments used, the interventions considered, the preparation and execution of the dynamic balancing, the results obtained, and a discussion and conclusion.

---

HUSSAM TAWFIK, Next Structural Integrity

Hussam Tawfik, Ph.D., P.Eng., is a Senior Mechanical Engineer and Technical Lead specializing in structural integrity, finite element analysis, vibration assessment, and fitness-for-service evaluation. His work includes vibration-induced fatigue mitigation, Pressure Boundary components assessment, piping and support analysis, composite structures, and life-extension assessments for Nuclear and Oil & Gas industrial applications. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Calgary and a Master’s degree from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. He has presented and published work in structural integrity, composite structures, and advanced engineering analysis.

NSI Clamp-On Bracing: A Cost-Effective In-House Vibration-induced Fatigue Mitigation Solution for Small-Bore Connections

Small-bore connections are highly vulnerable to vibration-induced fatigue when local dynamic amplification creates excessive relative motion at fittings and branch connections. This presentation introduces the NSI Clamp-On Bracing, a cost-effective, in-house developed solution designed to reduce fatigue risk without welding to the process pipe.

Field measurements identified dominant vibration near 140, 280, and 420 Hz, with significant amplification of the attached assembly. The solution was validated using FFT analysis, modal assessment, field vibration measurements, and finite element time-history analysis.

Following installation, relative vibration was reduced by approximately 72% axially and 45% horizontally, while selected assembly-to-pipe response ratios at key frequencies improved by up to 81%, demonstrating reduced dynamic amplification, improved dynamic coupling, and minimized relative motion.
Structural adequacy was also confirmed through applicable code-based stress and fatigue checks, including piping acceptance to ASME B31.1 and conservative fatigue evaluation using ASME Section VIII, Division 2 fatigue criteria. Brace welds, bolting, and the critical connection remained within the defined acceptance limits.

This case study demonstrates how targeted dynamic coupling and relative-motion reduction can effectively mitigate small-bore vibration-induced fatigue using a practical, demountable, and field-friendly bracing solution.

---