Hefin Llewellyn-Evans

Hefin Llewellyn-Evans 

Technical Trainer (Functional Safety), TÜV SÜD Academy  

Tell us about yourself 

I’m an Electrical Engineer with over five years of hands-on experience in machinery and process functional safety. I’ve spent most of my career working at The Royal Mint, where I worked as a Project Engineer in the organisation’s Engineering Safety Systems and Compliance (ESSC) department. Whilst in this role I delivered a range of safety-critical projects and provided functional safety compliance support to all manufacturing departments across site. 

My academic background includes a BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and an MSc in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering, both from Swansea University. My academic degrees laid a solid foundation for the technical challenges I’ve taken on in industry. My academic qualifications gave me the technical grounding I needed to take on real-world industrial challenges and help me develop my competency in functional safety. 

I’m now working as a TÜV SÜD Academy Technical Trainer, focusing on functional safety, where I hope to help others improve their knowledge in this field. 

What are your main areas of expertise?

Throughout my career I have specialised in machinery safety and functional safety, including the application of standards such as: ISO 12100, ISO 13849, IEC 60204 and other machinery-based standards. I have had extensive exposure to safety biased projects, including project management and technical guidance throughout project life cycles. This includes initial risk assessments, reviewing/developing electrical drawings, system validation and final commissioning and handover. 

What most excites / interests you about your role? What have been the highlights so far? Are there any interesting projects coming up? 

I have a passion for real-world problem solving, which is inevitable when discussing safety and engineering. Working on legacy machinery and system that require functional safety upgrades has been especially rewarding where you can see the direct impact of your work in improving operator safety and equipment compliance. 

Another highlight of my career has been providing functional safety compliance support for the Royal Mint’s pioneering gold recovery process plant—a world‑first facility that recovers gold from e‑waste. A new state-of-the-art laboratory to support with product sampling needed to be built. I was able to dedicate my resource to this project to ensure that the machinery and equipment installed in lab was fully compliant with the relevant standards and provided safe working conditions for the technicians. 

What future trends do you see developing in your area of work? 

One of the technological trends I suspect will see greater research over the coming decade is the use of AI and machine learning in industrial control automation and functional safety. Half a century ago we saw the introduction of the first programmable industrial control system. How long until we see AI and machine learning being used in this application? 

What is your biggest challenge? 

One of the key challenges I’ve seen is getting an organisation to truly prioritise functional safety, rather than viewing it as a compliance checkbox. This goes with equipment manufacturers and users, from designers to decision-makers. In many organisations, safety is embedded in the culture and seen as ensuring long-term reliability and performance. But in others, it can be seen as an inconvenience. Shifting that mindset takes time and consistent communication. It’s about educating organisation on how functional safety is a critical investment for the protection of people, the environment, and an organisational asset. 

Additional Information

My MSc by Research involved developing a smart memory alloy actuated microgripper for RTD assembly automation. During this research, I was able to publish three papers:  

• An Experimental Study into Displacement of a Shape Memory Alloy Actuated Robotic Microgripper – March 2020 
• Microgripper Design and Evaluation for Automated µ-Wire Assembly: A Survey – June 2020 
• Design Process and Simulation Testing of a Shape Memory Alloy Actuated Robotic Microgripper – August 2019 

See Hefin’s Llewellyn-Evans' Research Gate profile

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