Courtesy of the Knoxville News-Sentinel:
Today, he is recognized internationally as a top resource to nuclear power plant operators seeking to keep their plants operating longer, more efficiently and safely.
“In the nuclear industry, there are only 100 plants in the U.S. and about 435 nuclear plants in the whole world, so it’s a difficult industry to build a business around,” O’Hagan says.
When Analysis and Measurement Services Corp., a leading supplier of equipment, training and services for the nuclear industry, recruited O’Hagan in 2009 to lend his international engineering and management experience to its efforts, he saw an opportunity to contribute to a company already poised for growth, as well as offer solutions for the world’s growing energy demands.
O’Hagan, who holds a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee, began working for AMS as an applications engineer and today serves as marketing manager and business executive for the company, which develops technologies for and tests the instrumentation and control systems of nuclear power plants.
“This extraordinary growth is solely due to Ryan’s exceptional level of intelligence, natural leadership ability, loyalty and hard work,” Dr. H.M. Hashemian, AMS president and CEO, wrote in nominating him. “To date, Ryan has conducted, managed and/or participated in nearly $10 million in research and development projects granted to AMS by various agencies of the U.S. government to advance the state-of-the-art in nuclear plant instrumentation and control.”
O’Hagan says he identifies new customers for AMS and ensures that veteran clients receive the professional and technically competent customer service they’ve come to expect.
“They know if they need us at any time, we will do whatever it takes within the realm of possibilities to service them,” he says. “I bring new customers on board and ensure those customers are getting the quality of services that is the expectation at AMS.”
O’Hagan, who was part of a team recognized in October by the American Nuclear Society with a Robert L. Long Training Excellence Award, says he enjoys facilitating long-term collaborations with new customers that result in successful partnerships.
“Those are really rewarding when you’re developing something new and you really are working on identifying the technologies and the services that you can provide to a new prospective client and work out all the complexities of that and find something beneficial to them and also builds value for the company,” he says.
O’Hagan also does his part to raise awareness about the role of nuclear power in meeting the world’s growing energy demands.
“Nuclear power is a very critical and important part of the future energy mix in the U.S. and the world moving forward,” he says. “We contribute directly to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear power plants and nuclear power being part of that mix.”
