An instrumentation and control engineer who also ships software
I am Ali Telek, founder of First Out. I have spent more than twelve years keeping the instrumentation, control and safety systems of a world-scale petrochemical plant running, and for the last several years I have also built the software that helps its engineers work with their data. First Out AI is the calculator I wanted on my own desk.
- Engineer
- Ali Telek
- Discipline
- Instrumentation, control and functional safety; industrial software in Python
- Certificate
- TÜV Rheinland Functional Safety Engineer (SIS), ID 27549/23, valid to 09.2028
- Experience
- 12+ years in a world-scale petrochemical plant; electrical, instrumentation and automation maintenance
- Standards
- IEC 61511, IEC 61508, ISA-101, API 670
- Base
- Türkiye, UTC+3; remote work worldwide
- Languages
- English, Turkish
- Status
- Independent engineer, not affiliated with any manufacturer; engagements screened for conflicts of interest
Career
Instrumentation & control technical lead and maintenance manager
Responsible for the instrumentation, control and safety systems of a world-scale petrochemical plant: maintenance strategy, turnaround work, modifications, FAT and SAT of new systems, and the team that carries them out.
Electrical maintenance
Also leading the plant's electrical maintenance department.
Industrial AI and data
Designing and building the plant's analytics portal, local language model assistants and computer vision services, in production Python.
Electrical and electronics engineering
Degree in electrical and electronics engineering.
Certification
Functional Safety Engineer (TÜV Rheinland), Safety Instrumented Systems (IEC 61508 and IEC 61511). Certificate ID 27549/23, valid until 09.2028.
Verify the certificate on Certipedia, TÜV Rheinland's public register.
How I work
Every deliverable names its inputs and their sources, so a reviewer can follow the work without asking. Assumptions are written down and approved before they are used.
Scope and price are fixed before work starts. If the scope changes, the change is agreed in writing first.
I take on a small number of engagements at a time, so each one gets direct attention from start to finish.
Independence and confidentiality
I am an independent engineer and not affiliated with any system manufacturer. Product names on this site describe experience only.
Every enquiry is screened for conflicts of interest. Client documents stay within the engagement, and published case studies are anonymised.
Location and languages
Based in Türkiye (UTC+3) and available for remote work worldwide. English and Turkish.
Systems and stack
Hands-on experience. Names are the manufacturers' trademarks.
Safety and control systems
- Triconex safety instrumented systems
- Honeywell Safety Manager SC
- Foxboro DCS
- SIMATIC PCS 7
- SIMATIC S7-1500 and S7-300, TIA Portal
- HIMA safety PLCs
- Bently Nevada 3500, API 670 machinery protection
- ISA-101 high-performance HMI
Functional safety methods
- Risk graph, risk matrix, LOPA
- PFDavg and PFH calculation
- Hardware fault tolerance, safe failure fraction
- Safety requirements specification
- Proof test planning
- HAZOP, cause & effect
Software and data
- Python, Flask, SQL
- Historian and DCS integration, OPC
- SAP PM web services
- LIMS reporting automation
- Local language models, retrieval-augmented generation
- YOLO computer vision, statistical modelling