Steve Cruickshank,
Senior Separation Technician

1. What is your current position in OSSO?

I’ve been with OSSO for almost 8 years, starting here in 2016 as a Senior Separation Technician. My role predominantly focuses on oil, water and solids separation, overseeing the entire process from initial client discussion, troubleshooting - including separation testing - through to project execution.

The variety of work is what’s kept me engaged for this long. Onshore or offshore, two projects are never the same, and understanding the fluid composition and working out the best solution to successfully separate the fluids I find fascinating. I find myself very fortunate to have a career that’s enabled me to travel the world – where there’s an oil and gas industry I have been there!

2. Explain your career growth and journey to date.

I started out on an apprenticeship scheme with Richard Irvine where I spent four years training as a Heating Engineer. Apprenticeship schemes are an incredible way to gain hands on experience with real world training, and something I’d certainly recommend to individuals starting out in the trades industries. From there I moved to Bremwood Engineering, repairing marine equipment and it was here I was first introduced to disc stack centrifuges.

After that I changed direction towards oil and gas, working on centrifuges, slops treatment and fluid purification methods. I honed my skills and knowledge in this area working with the likes of Alfa Laval and MI Swaco for a number of years, becoming a technical authority in production waste management and separation. After 30+ years I think it’s fair to say there’s not much about separation methods I don’t know!

3. What do you enjoy about your role and working for OSSO?

The work, the people and the close-knit culture. I genuinely enjoy my work, particularly the variety of it – no two projects are the same. There is also a great team spirit within OSSO, it could be down the fact we are not a huge company, which I like, where everyone knows everyone and there’s a real sense of pride and partnership across all the areas of the business. Someone is always willing to help.

4. What technology/product/cultural piece are you particularly proud of at OSSO?

Two products stand out for me – our SES043 Oily Water Separator and AutoCul. I am particularly proud the significant time and investment invested in upgrading the SES043 to be hazardous area compliant – all the way through from rebuild and recertification. It was a lengthy process and not without its challenges – but we did it and I’m proud we managed the whole process in-house.

In addition to this I’d say our AutoCul is a product to be proud of. Again, we built this product in-house. From our understanding of the challenges that can occur with mud temperature consistency while drilling, we developed a unique system that automatically fluctuates flow to maintain a consistent drilling fluid temperature while effectively removing the burden of manual control. It really is a great piece of technology.

5. What advice would you give to those just starting out in their careers?

My advice is always the same, if you work hard and stick in rewards and opportunities will come your way. That’s one I’ve told my son!