CONTENTSNews ............................................. 1-2
Asia-Pacific Regional Group ..............3
European Regional Group ............. 4-8
Pan-American Regional Group .... 9-10
Certification.....................................11
Calendar of Events ...........................12

The World Organisation for NDTVolume 7 Issue No 6

March 2007
CHAIRMAN’S MESSAGEA

Our next challenge is to sell our profession to the young

nother year has just passed and what a hectic year it has been for the International Committee
for Non-Destructive Testing. 2006 saw three successful regional conferences take place at which
ICNDT meetings were organised by the hosting countries. Our thanks go out from the Executive
Members, Policy and General Purpose Committees and the General Assembly for the time and effort
given by the AFNDT, EFNDT and APNDT to ensure the success of the International Committee for NonDestructive Testing.
2006 brought many changes and challenges for the international NDT community. The legalisationof our Committee and the related work to accomplish this has been ongoing and a mandate for the firstmeeting of a legalised organisation is still within the critical path of the 17th WCNDT in Shanghai, China,
August 2008.
One of the most notable challenges for ICNDT over the last year has been the approval of the revised
ISO 9712 Standard with respect to world harmonisation. The revised document, which contains manychanges – some say ‘radical’ changes – has impacted on the path to one harmonised standard. However, that is not to say that our visionof one world standard has come to a standstill. In fact, the changes provide us with opportunities for the international NDT community
to meet once again and table our views. Letters have been written by ICNDT, EFNDT and APNDT to the heads of ISO/TC 135 and
CEN/TC 138 indicating the importance of world harmonisation of non-destructive testing. However, we must move forward with what we
believe and promote the International Standard, ISO 9712, as it is one of our primary objectives of ICNDT.
Countries entering into the field of non-destructive testing certification have to some degree an advantage over already developed
programmes. The concept of starting fresh with no history or baggage to contend with provides a perfectly level playing field. The challenges
that countries face with established certification programmes is in the adjustment to make the programme align with requirements ofstandard. Thus, whether we are establishing a new programme or aligning an existing one, we have changes and challenges to meet. To
harmonise together will address these challenges and our vision will be met.
Recently, I had the opportunity to present a paper on ISO 9712 with respect to ‘assumptions’ in the development of the original standardand ‘assumptions’ that we should consider today. If we take a step backwards and look at how NDT has changed in the demand and the
supply of NDT practitioners, I believe that we have an opportunity to raise the bar for the NDT profession.
Non-destructive testing is no longer an added cost, an inconvenience or black art. We have built NDT into our quality assurance,
equipment reliability and public safety. Our downfall is not selling the profession to our youth. This is our next challenge!
Douglas J Marshall

ICNDT Chairman Doug Marshall visited Sri Lanka to aid in the establishment of a training and certification system in accordance with ISO 9712

The Official Journal of the International Committee for Non-Destructive TestingNew ICNDT Members

ICNDT Journal
Publisher:

The International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing (ICNDT)Secretariat: The Canadian Institute for NDE (CINDE), 135 Fennell Avenue,
Hamilton, Ontario L8N 3T2, Canada. Tel: +1 (905) 387-1655; Fax: +1 (905)574-6080; E-mail: s.bond@cinde.ca

Editor:

Giuseppe Nardoni, Italian Society for Non-Destructive Testing andMonitoring Diagnostics (AIPnD), via A Foresti, 5, 25127 Brescia, Italy. Tel:
+39 030 373 9173; Fax: +39 030 373 9176; E-mail: aipnd@numerica.it

Production Editors: David Gilbert, The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT).
Tel: +44 1604 630124; Fax: +44 1604 231489 E-mail: david.gilbert@
bindt.org
Sergio Ghia, AIPnD
E-mail: ghia@icndt.org
Production:

Your new ICNDTJournal is available
for downloading fromwww.icndt.org

Pauline Thomas, BINDT.

Published three times per year.
Editorial contributions are welcomed.
Articles should be sent to the Publisher at the above address.

Views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the International Committee for
Non-Destructive Testing.
No liability is accepted whatsoever for errors or omissions.
ICNDT Member Societies are authorised to distribute this newsletter and/or its contents, however
permission should be obtained for reproduction of individual articles and extracts.

The next ICNDT Journal will be published in June 2007
Material should be sent to the Publisher at the above address by 20 April

A warm welcome to:
Lithuania
SerbiaSudan

New Secretary of
ISO/TC 135

T

he Japanese Society for NonDestructive
Inspection(JSNDI)
has announced that Mr Takeo
Tsuchiya has been appointed Secretaryof ISO/TC 135. Mr Tsuchiya has been the
Secretary of SC 6 Leak detection methods
for more than twelve years. He will, for thetime being, serve as the Secretary both for
TC 135 and for SC 6. Contact information
for Mr Tsuchiya is as follows:
Toshiba Documents Corporation
Toshiba Fuchu Complex
1, Toshiba-machi
Fuchu-shiTokyo
183-8511 Japan
Tel: +81 42 333 6850
Fax: +81 42 340 8084
E-mail: t_tsuchiya@tdoc.toshiba.co.jp

Future ICNDT Committee Meetings
PANNDT - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Executive Committee & PGP Committee, October 2007
17th WCNDT - Shanghai, China - Executive Committee, PGP Committee, ICNDT General Assembly, August 2008
10th APCNDT- Moscow, Russia - Executive Committee, PGP Committee, ICNDT General Assembly, June 2010

A

Mutual cooperation agreement signed between Ukrainianand Bulgarian societiesn Agreement on professional
cooperation has been signed
between the Ukrainian Society for
Non-Destructive Testing and the BulgarianSociety for Non-Destructive Testing underwhich the parties have agreed, in particular,
to do the following:q exchange
theirperiodicals
andinformation materials;
q notify each other about conferences,seminars, exhibitions, meetings, and2exchange news on mutually interesting
problems;
q exchange
training
materials
forimprovement of the quality of training
NDT specialists in both countries;
q publish their materials in the
publications of the other Society under
preferential terms;
q ensure preferential terms for eachother for participation in conference,
seminars and training programmes;

q invite the other Party representatives
to participate in meetings which are ofmutual interest.
The
Agreement
wassigned
for
the
fifth
year
periodbyProfessor V Troitskiy, President of the
Ukrainian Society for Non-Destructive
Testing, and Professor M Mikhovkii,
President of the Bulgarian Society for NonDestructive Testing.

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

Regional Report

Contact:
L Dick – ljdick@ndt.co.nz
O-Y Kwon – okwon@inha.ac.kr

ASIA-PACIFIC

Report on 2006 APCNDTT

he 12th APCNDT Conference is now just a fond memory, ofgood times, old friends and now lots of new ones.
We certainly enjoyed hosting the Conference and wetrust that those who attended gained as much out of the event as
we did. The Conference delegate list shows some 29 countries inattendance and this in itself has us amazed.
The website continues to be alive for now, where you canfind a link to www.ndt.net where you can obtain the CD of theproceedings. We must once again thank Rolf for his amazing
support with this item.
We are again very thankful to all our sponsors, especially tothat of ‘SGS Group Ltd’ who stepped up to become our premiersponsor.
Our keynote speakers, Dr Baldev Raj of India and Dr Shiro
Kubo of Japan, gave excellent speeches on a world stage and we
thank them for making the effort to come all this way!
The
‘PreC o n f e r e n c e ’meetings of IAEA (2-4
November) followed
bythe
ICNDT’s
Policy and General
Purposes Committee
meeting, held on the
Sunday 5th, produced
some really excellent
opportunities for theworld leaders in the
NDT profession to
Dr Norikazu Ooka, Chairman 13th APCNDT
be here and provide
the wealth of knowledge to the developing countries and theconference as a whole.
At this conference the Asia Pacific Group grew in numbers,
with the addition of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan as full
members, plus the invitation to join as supporting members being
made to The Philippines, Mongolia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand
and Vietnam. This must now surely make the APCNDT the single
largest representative body within the ICNDT!
The APCNDT also formed a working group at the Conference
Meetings, to review how the group can assist our new developing

members
withinthe RCA Mutual
R e c o g n i t i o nAgreement. This WG
is chaired by myself(Mr Les Dick, NZ)
with Doug Marshall(Canada),Wayne
Holliday (USA) andB a l a s u b ra m a n i a m
Venkatraman (India).
The
Japanesedelegation, who will Les Dick (left) with keynote speaker
be hosting the 13th Dr Baldev Raj
APCNDT in 2009,
turned on an excellent information service on the next event andcertainly moved to attract delegates as best they could.
So visit the website: www.apcndt2009.com, where you will
also find any and all information, contact details and sponsorshippackages etc.

IAEA Ask the Experts Workshop Participants

Let’s all get involved in 2009 and make this yet another fantastic
moment for the APCNDT as a whole and thank you one and all
for making my time as APCNDT President the memorable time itwas.
Les Dick
Past President APCNDT

13th Asia-Pacific Conference on
Non-Destructive Testing 2009CALL FOR PAPERS
November 8 – 13, 2009
Yokohama, JapanAPCNDT
YOKOHAMA
The 13th Asia-Pacific Conferenceon Non-Destructive Testing

Japan, 2009

The Japanese Society for
Non-Destructive Inspection

Discover Fantastic Yokohama!

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

URL:http://www.apcndt2009.com
Email:apcndt2009@jsndi.or.jp

3Regional Report

Contact:
E Romero – informacion@aend.org
V Krstelj – vjera.krstelj@fsb.hr

EUROPEAEFNDT Society Workshop

t the meeting of the EFNDT General Assembly in Vienna
on 12th November 2005 it was proposed to hold a series
of workshops to help member societies share ideas about
the way they work – for example society administration, thecontent and organisation of conferences, seminars, publications,membership benefits and certification. Members considered allsocieties, new or long-established, can learn from the experienceof other societies.
The Board of Directors decided that the venue for its next
meeting, Budapest, would be an excellent place to hold the firstsociety workshop, which would be especially focused on societies
in the region around Hungary. Consequently, the neighbouring
societies were invited to send representatives to the Budapest
workshop.
The workshop took place on Sunday 21st May 2006, hosted by
MAROVISZ, the Hungarian Society for NDT (President Dr Peter
Trampus). Austria, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech
Republic attended along with six members of the EFNDT Board.
PowerPoint presentations – posted on the EFNDT website– were given by the societies of Hungary, Czech Republic andCroatia. All present were impressed by the enthusiasm andR

q Further consideration of how to integrate certification training
guidelines, question banks, training durations and teachingmaterials;
q How to give more recognition to the voluntary effort ofmembers;q A series of articles about NDT Societies in Insight;
q Stronger interface with Accreditation Bodies;
q Material to use to improve awareness of NDT in university
courses;q More Workshops of this type but with broader local attendance.
Workshops could be held in conjunction with regional or
national conferences.
The meeting was closed with thanks to Peter Trampus and
MAROVISZ – The Hungarian NDT Society – for their excellent
arrangements and hospitality in the beautiful city of Budapest.

AINDT signs mutual recognition with Russian NDT Society

ussia has been added to the list of countries with which
the AINDT has mutual recognition agreements. The others
are New Zealand and Japan. Tony Sonneveld signed the
Mutual Co-operation Agreement on behalf of Brett Butler, Federal
President of AINDT, on Monday 18 September 2006 in Moscow,
prior to attending the EFNDT conference in Berlin.
Thesigning
took place at theSpectrum
facility,
the home of theRussian Society for
NDT and Technical
Diagnostics.
The
RussianSociety
was represented by
Dr Vladimir Klyuev,
who has a long
involvement
with
NDT, interrupted in
the eighties for two
years while he chaired the Communist Party in a district covering
one twelfth of Moscow. As the photo shows, coincidentally,
Vladimir and Tony both wore a 9th WCNDT tie, which they received
at the World Conference on NDT, in Melbourne in 1979.
The mutual recognition agreement means that the two Institutes
agree to establish a strong cooperative relationship in the field of

4

professional approach of these NDT Societies and learned a lot
from each other.
The President facilitated a discussion of the ‘needs’ of thenewer societies and a list of action items was drawn up for the
EFNDT Task Groups, including:non-destructive testing including the exchange of information andknowledge in their respective areas, and publication of material
relating to NDT in each other’s journal. Members of each Instituteor Society are permitted to attend or participate in conferences,educational programmes or general meetings of each other andalso receive the other’s journal.

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

EUROPE

T

News from the Ukrainian Society for NDT

he 14th International Conference and Exhibition ‘Modern
Methods and Means of Non-Destructive Testing andTechnical Diagnostics’ was held in Yalta (Ukraine) from
16-20 October 2006. The Conference was organised with thesupport of Ukrainian, Russian and Byelorussian NDT Societies.
132 specialists from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus Republic,
Lithuania, Czech Republic and Germany participated in the
Conference. 10 plenary, 26 session and 21 poster presentations
were made in the Conference, the authors of which reported on the
results of their investigations and developments in a broad range
of NDT techniques, methods of diagnostics and prediction of theresidual life of structures; evaluation of the physico-mechanicalcharacteristics of materials and some other areas related to NDTand TD.
A Mozgovoj, Vice-Chairman of USNDT reported on the main
results of activity in 2006 and main goals of the Ukrainian NDTSociety in 2007. The year was highly saturated: organising andconducting the 5th National Conference ‘Non-Destructive Testing
and Technical Diagnostics’ and participation of a large delegationof Ukrainian specialists in the 9th European Conference on
NDT, regional seminars, numerous exhibitions and many otherinteresting events.

Participants of the Conference on NDT in Yalta (Ukraine)

Conference participants warmly greeted the foreign guests.
Interesting presentations about the most recent achievements oforganisations represented by them were made by:
q Prof M Krening (Germany) spoke about the new developmentsof Fraunhofer IZFP, which, in his opinion, are of indubitableinterest for the Ukrainian enterprises, and expressed his interestin cooperation also in other areas, namely conducting joint
research, sending over students and post-graduates for doing
research projects, and specialist exchange.
q A detailed report by R Gize (Germany) was devoted to theissues related to X-ray testing method and the success achievedby ‘GE Inspection Technologies’ Company, USA in this area.
q I Shimkunas, Director-General of Engineering Supervision
Body of Lithuania, shared the experience of conducting
NDT&E in EC environment, and as an organisation accredited
in the respective EC bodies, suggested his services to Ukrainian
enterprises making products under contracts with European
countries.
q N Medvedevskykh (Belarus) shared the experience of activityof their examination centre in the structure of the Slovak
Industrial Institute of Welding and NDT Personnel Certification
Body and insisted that Ukrainian Certification Centres follow
their example, as this is the fastest and the most cost-effective
method for our specialists to obtain certificates recognised inEurope.

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

Exhibition of NDT means

An exhibition was organised as part of the Conference, withmore than 20 companies participating.
Despite the fact that the Conference dates were somewhat
shifted compared to the traditional ones, as well as the unexpected
cold spell, all the participants were of the common opinion that
the Conference turned out to be interesting, representative andhighly useful both in terms of science and business.
The 15th Conference will take place in Yalta from 1-5 October
2007.
The Scientific-Practical Seminar on ‘Modern Technologies of
NDT of Critical Industrial Objects’ was conducted as part of the
5th International Industrial Forum which was held in Kiev (Ukraine)at the site of the International Exhibition Center on 28 November –1 December 2006.
The Seminar wasorganised by the
Ukrainian Society
for NDT (USNDT).
13 papers were
presented on thefollowing subjects:
q Long-range
ultrasonic testingof
extended
objects
withlimited access to Participants of NDT Seminar on International
the surface.
Industrial Forum in Kiev (Ukraine)q Features of EMAtechnologies andequipment for
ultrasonic testingof welded joints.
q Application offilmfree digitaltechnologies
and equipmentin radiography.
q A dva n c e dmaterials
formagnetic
and Prof V Troitskiy made a presentation of theliquid penetrant advanced methods and technologies of NDTtesting.
q Metrological support of the means and advanced technologies
of NDT.
More than 80 specialists from Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan and Armenia, Great Britain and Germany participatedin the seminar.

5

EUROPEN

9th ECNDT, Berlin, 25-29 September 2006

early 1700 participants, approximately 300 additional
visitors to the exhibition, some 500 lectures in eightparallel sessions, more than 200 poster presentations and100 specialised exhibitors.
These numbers, coupled with an excellent organisation, speak
for themselves. With the 9th ECNDT in Berlin, DGZfP managed tostage an extraordinary event, which they prepared for intensively
for four years.
In his capacity as the ECNDT-Secretary, Dr Rainer Link, whochaired the ceremonious opening, welcomed the unexpectedly
large number of participants from all over the world. Approximately
650 conference participants came from Germany, some 850 fromother
Europeancountries and about
200 arrived fromoverseas.
Volkmar Strauch,
Permanent Secretary
for the Economy,
theEnvironment
and Gender IssuesoftheBerlinSenate,conveyed
the greetings ofthe patron of theconference,theLord Mayor of Berlin
Klaus Wowereit. He
praised the DGZfP
for their contribution
tostrengthening
the good reputationof the economic,
scientific and media
location of BerlinEstrel Hotel, venue for the 9th ECNDTAdlershof
throughtheir presence and work. Furthermore, he was convinced that thisconference, with all its many presentations and discussions, would
have a positive impact on the economic and scientific landscapeof Berlin.
Jörg Völker, DGZfP-Chairman and acting ECNDT-President,
was also happy about the large number of guests and welcomed,in particular, the presidents of 30 national NDT societies.
This ceremonious opening was an excellent forum, Jörg Völker
said, to honour NDT colleagues of outstanding merit. He awarded
the DGZfP Pin of Honour to Hans Aisenbrey and Dr Mike Farley.
Hans Aisenbrey received his for his work as a member of the Board
and, since the death of Prof Dierk Schnitger in October 1999, as

EFNDT General Assembly on 29 September 2006

6

Douglas Marshall conveyed the greetings of ICNDTthe Speaker of the Board. Dr Mike Farley, a brilliant engineer
with a great career in the industry, as Jörg Völker introduced
him, received the Pin for his extraordinary voluntary work in the
EFNDT and the ICNDT. Thanks to his influence, the cooperation
between the two bodies had improved more and more, the DGZfP
Chairman pointed out.
President Mike Farley conveyed the greetings of the EFNDT, theAssociation of national NDT societies from the whole of Europe‘from the West Coast to the Urals’, with 22 ordinary and sevenassociated members. Mike Farley called on all those who wanted
to learn more about the EFNDT to use the opportunity and visit the
EFNDT stall at the conference or the internet page www.efndt.org
After that, Mike Farley presented three EFNDT Awards. John
Thompson received one for his worldwide work in the area of staff
certification. Giuseppe Nardoni was honoured for his commitment
to the cooperation
between the NDTsocieties all over theworld, which he had
displayed for a long
period of time. The
third EFNDT Award
went to Roger Rochefor his many yearsof excellent workin the area of NDTAward winners left to right: John Thompson, standardisation.
ICNDT President
Giuseppe Nardoni, Mike Farley and Roger
DouglasMarshallRoche

View of the exhibition

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

EUROPE

Gala Dinner at the Estrel

was the next speaker. He expressed his appreciation for thework of the NDT community in Europe and acknowledged that itprovided valuable impulses for the four other ICNDT regions timeand again, thus determining the pace.
The festive presentation, delivered by Dr Christian-Heinrich
Wunderlich of the Saxon-Anhalt Office for Monument Preservation
and Archaeology, told the audience about how the ‘Sky Disc ofNebre’ was trackeddownbyillegaltreasure hunters andhow it ended up in
its rightful place. And
the keynote speech,
delivered by Dr Jens
Telgkamp,
AirbusHamburg,
focusedon the ‘Developmentof aircraft structures
under the aspect of
NDT’; both speeches
Douglas J Marshall, ICNDT Chairman, formed a splendid
ending to the opening
Sharon Bond, ICNDT Secretariat
ceremony.
Some 100 specialised exhibitors had set up their stalls on anarea of more than 1500 square metres and were all very happy
with the course of the exhibition.
Apart from the specialised exhibitors, 22 NDT societies aswell as the EFNDT and ICNDT had set up information stands. At
the suggestion of Prof Vjera Krstelj from Croatia and under his
leadership, a jury, consisting of Prof Vladimir Klyuev (Russia),
Gérard Hennaut (Belgium), Anthony Sonneveld (Australia) and Jörg
Völker selected four information stalls, who received a certificate
at the closing ceremony for the best design. This was Denmark, asa representative of the smaller countries, Spain for the mediumsized countries and Italy for the larger countries. The ASNT stall
was selected as a representative of the participants from overseas.
The organisation of the gala evening, staged in two large halls of

Giuseppe Nardoni received the EFNDTAward for his contribution to the cooperationof the NDT societies

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

the Estrel Congress
Centre,wasalogistic masterpiece.
Some 1500 people
were placed attheir booked tables
within half an hour
and were able torelax and enjoy thefestiveambience
and the attractive
programme, a show
in the style of the Permanent Secretary Volkmar Strauch
1920s in Berlin.
(right) conveyed the greetings of the patron,
On the evening of the Lord Mayor of Berlin. With him are Jörg
the last but one day Völker (left), DGZfP Chairman and actingof the congress, the ECNDT President and Rainer Link, ECNDT
programme featured Secretarya festive concert withsacred music at the Berliner Cathedral.

Concert at the Berliner Cathedral

In his closing address, Jörg Völker, in his capacity of the
President of the Congress, struck a positive balance. He believedthat this week in Berlin, with all the presentations and discussions
and many consultations of various international bodies as well as
the forging of many new contacts amongst one another, would add
a new dimension to the NDT community in the whole world.
EFNDT President Mike Farley said in his closing remarks that
his already high expectations had actually been exceeded andsummed up his impressions in one single world: ‘perfect’.
Dr Rainer Link received an especially prestigious distinction
when Tony Wooldridge, President of the British NDT Society(BINDT), bestowed on him the honorary BINDT membership.

Tony Wooldridge presented to Dr Rainer
Link the certificate of honorary BINDT
membership

Hans Aisenbrey (left) and Mike Farley (right)
received the DGZfP Pin of Honour from Jörg
Völker7

EUROPE

Czech Society for NDT in co-operation with DGZfP and EFNDT organizes on one place a multiple NDT/NDE event entitled

European NDT Days in Prague 07
November 5–9, 2007•

TOP HOTEL PRAHA, Prague, Czech Republic

4th Int. workshop, meeting of NDT experts

International conference“NDT IN PROGRESS”“NDE FOR SAFETY”

November 5–7, 2007

November 7–9, 2007

37th annual CNDT int. conference“NDT EXPO”

November 7–9, 2007

exhibition of NDT technique and services
November 6–8, 2007

“DEFEKTOSKOPIE 2007”

Four NDT Events in One Week in the Middle of Europe
NDE for Safety – The conference aim is to support the expanding role of NDE methods in manufacturing, power, construction, maintenance, and other industries, as well as in research and development. Non traditional possibilities of NDT/NDE
utilisation will be discussed too.
NDT in Progress – The basic aim of this traditional workshop is the meeting of NDT world experts and discussion of the latest
state-of-the-art of the NDT research and development in selected areas. The workshop is organized commonly by Czech
and German NDT Societies.
Defektoskopie 2007 – 37th int. conference will be organized as an annual meeting of the Czech Society for NDT.
NDT Expo – The exhibition of NDT/NDE instruments and services for participants of all events of European NDT Days in
Prague 07.

For more info see: http://www.cndt.cz/endtd07/

Contact:
Organized by
Czech Society for NDT

Dr. Pavel Mazal
CNDT, Brno
University of Technology
Technicka 2
CZ 616 69 Brno
Czech Republic
E-mail: cndt@cndt.cz

Main sponsor
Helling GmbH

8

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

Regional Report

Contact:
J Conte – abende@abende.org.br
W Holliday – wholliday@asnt.org

PAN-AMERICA

ASNT’s 2006 Fall Conference and Quality Testing Show
in Houston, Texas, USA – 23-27 OctoberW

ith nearly 1600 participants from around the globe, aprofessional programme featuring 112 papers presented
in 28 sessions, 4 short courses and 122 exhibiting
companies, ASNT’s 2006 Fall Conference and Quality Testing
Show had more overall attendance than any ASNT conference
since 1999. The 2006 event provided the forum for networking,learning, and exchanging NDT applications and techniques.
The conference took place in Houston, Texas which is hometo the largest ASNT Section. Members of the Houston Section
hosted a special session for career counsellors from area schools
to provide information and support for introducing young people
to non-destructive testing as a career choice. The unique event
welcomed representatives from 16 school districts.
A short course, ‘ASME Section IX – Welding Procedure,
Welder and Welding Operator Qualification’, taught by Benito
Juarez, began the conference. Two more short courses took
place during the week: ‘Eddy Current Modelling: Foundations
and Applications’, taught by Harold Sabbagh, and ‘National
Board Inspection Code, Inspections, Repairs and Alterations
Requirements’, facilitated by Robert Schueler. The week’s final
short course was a post conference seminar taught by Hussein
Sadek, entitled ‘Electromagnetic Testing Technologies’.
Frank Iddings presented the Lester Honor Lecture Keynote
Address, ‘The ASNT Silver Bullet’. Iddings focused on the various
contributions made by people to ASNT and to NDT in general.
He discussed the need for active members and volunteers in theSociety and thanked all members who help ASNT be the vitalorganisation it is. His well received presentation marked the
beginning of a strong professional programme.
The professional
programme sessions
focused on topics
including
digitalr a d i o g r a p hy,
aerospace testing,ground penetratingradar,
magnetic
particle and liquid
penetrant
testing,
manufacturing,
personnel
andtraining
issues,petrochemical
The Quality Testing Show 2006 included applications, laser
122 NDT product and service providers methods, ultrasonics
demonstrating the latest in equipment and and many others.
applications
Among the notable
eventswastheworkshop on NDT of aerospace ceramics and ceramic composites.
Much credit for the outstanding programme goes to ASNT National
Conference General Chair and Professional Programme Chair
Claudia Kropas-Hughes.
With 122 vendors, the Quality Testing Show displayed awide array of technologies with knowledgeable vendors on handtackling a variety of questions. And, a special thank you to ASNT’sconference programme sponsors, Eastman Kodak Company,
Olympus Industrial America, Olympus NDT and KJTD (USA)Company.
The tradeshow was also the location of a poster competition
held by ASNT to encourage participation by students enrolled
in NDT programmes. The first place winner was Kyle Smith,of Southeast Community College, for ‘ET Fastener Hole Crack
Detection’. Smith received a plaque and a cash prize. Second and

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

ASNT President 2006-2007 Marvin Trimm addresses the banquet
audience

third place went to Blake Hansen and Preston Hardin, respectively,
both of whom are also with Southeast Community College. They
received plaques and cash awards as well.
During ASNT’s Annual Business Meeting, the membership
was appraised of the current state of the Society’s activities
and accomplishments. It was reported that ASNT membership
includes over 9000 individual members and more than 430
Corporate Partners – the largest number of Corporate Partners in
the Society’s history. Membership is active around the world, with70 domestic sections and 14 located outside the United States.
ASNT is increasingly international in composition, with 29% of
total membership residing outside the US.
A highlight of the week was the Annual Awards Banquet which
was the occasion recognising outstanding contributions made bymembers of the NDT community either to the science of NDT or
to the Society itself. Award recipients were granted the Society’s
highest honours. The banquet programme was topped off by theceremonial changing of the presidential collar with the installationof 2006-2007 ASNT President Marvin Trimm.

The 2006 class of ASNT Fellows: (from left to right) Michael McDaniel,
Eric Lindgren, Roger Chen, George Henke (receiving the honour for
Douglas Henry), Michael Daehling, John Ellegood and Emery Roberts(Douglas Henry and Donald Roth were unable to attend)9

PAN-AMERICA

T

he 4th Pan-American Conference for Non-Destructive
Testing will be held at the Panamericano Buenos Aires Hoteland Resort on 22-26 October 2007.
Abstracts are welcome until 15 March 2007. On 1 April the
Scientific Committee will issue the list of papers accepted. The
final submission date will be 1 June 2007.
Fifty-three abstracts have been received up to the present timefrom countries such as Brazil, the Czech Republic, Germany,
Korea, the US, apart from Argentina.

Daniel L Balageas – Scientific Advisor Emeritus – ONERA – Cedex,
France‘Infrared thermography: a multifaceted technique for nondestructive evaluation’.
There will be an exhibition floor where companies will show
their products and services. Visitors will be able to access the mostrecent technologies, make new contacts, meet industry colleagues,

Papers may dwell on any of the following:
q Personnel training and certification
q Art and cultural heritage preservation
q Service companies
q NDT in labs and R&D centres
q Power generation
q Car industry
q Oil and gas industry
q Paper and pulp industry
q Electronics
q Railway industry
q Manufacturing industries
q Naval industry
q Nuclear industry
q Petrochemical industry
q Space industry
q Steel industry
q Building and civil construction
q Plant maintenance and inspection
q Smart materials and structuresq Aircraft engines, fuselage and helicopter
propeller blades
q Welding

Guest Speakers
Yoseph Bar-Cohen – NASA – Jet Propulsion
Laboratory‘Human-like robotic inspectors – science fiction and engineering
reality’.
Iris Altpeter – Non-Destructive Essays Fraunhofer Institute –Germany‘Detection of material ageing by using micromagnetic methods’.
Laura Obrutsky – Researcher on induced current – Atomic Energyof Canada – Canada‘Steam generator inspection: faster, cheaper and better. Are we
there yet?’.
Massimiliano Pieraccini – University of Florence – Italy‘Survey and testing through interferometric radar: applications tocultural heritage and public utilities’,
Sergio Damasceno Soares – Tecnologia de Materiais, Equipamentos
e Corrosão
Centro de Pesquisas da PETROBRAS – CENPES‘PETROBRAS Technological System – from wheel to gas station’.

10

get updated and see demos. As companies have already booked
the foreseen area ‘Salon Los Jardines’, only special places areavailable close to the lecturer room ‘Salon Panamericano’.
The Conference is organised by the Pan-American Committee
for Non-Destructive Testing, which gathers NDT organisations
from all over the Americas, in cooperation with the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Society
for Optical Engineering (SPIE). Three events will take place inparallel: The 6th Regional Congress of Non-Destructive andStructural Testing (CORENDE), the meeting of the ISO TC-135(Technical Committee No 135 of the International Standardization
Organization – NDT) and the meeting of the Policy and General
Purposes Committee of the International Committee for NonDestructive Testing (PGP – ICNDT). Efforts will continue the week
after that, with a Standarization MERCOSUR Meeting to be held
29- 30 October.
More information: http://www.aaende.org.ar/aaende_end/index_
ing.asp

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

CERTIFICATIONThe Performance-based Initiative: Will Your Experience Count?
by Stephen P Black*A

new concept is about to surface as a proposed ISO andAmerican National Standard that may affect you andcertification in a profound way. As responsible practitioners,
we are on a continuous search for better results.
This quest has proven to be difficult for the industry, as humanfactors can offset the gains made by technological advances. Each
newly introduced certification scheme has promised a safer world
through improved probability of detection (POD). Despite themany attempts at improved performance, results indicate that ourcurrent capability is typically no better than 58%.
In the world of certification, separating the competent from theincompetent can never be based on blind speculation. The successof any new programme is always dependent on the effectivenessof the criteria used. New programmes should use psychometrics
to validate the targeted expectations of the examination. Without
corroborative evidence, a new programme may add cost without
adding value to the testing process.
Performance-based testing is based on the premise that theexamination that leads to qualification and certification simulatesa real-world environment.
The applicant uses proven hardware to do critical parts of thetesting job and performance is measured by the success rate infinding a multitude of discontinuities.
No self-respecting NDT practitioner could argue against
increased probability of detection. It would be overly hasty,
however, to link increased POD with performance-based testing.
One of the primary features of the newly proposed performancebased testing draft is that it is a stand-alone document. Of primaryconcern is the user’s right to eliminate past experience as aprerequisite for NDT qualification and certification. The theory
goes that if individuals with or without experience pass a valid
performance-based examination with a multitude of samples,
they will then be qualified to perform NDT within the parameters
tested, regardless of anomalies that may occur. In my view, thisshift in philosophy is premature and dangerous in scope.
It is easy to fall in love with the next idea when it is sold on
the basis that it is the one that will deliver us from mediocrity
to increased POD. As technically-minded people, we seem to bewilling to accept the upside without first considering the possible
risks to our profession. For nearly 40 years, experience has been a
primary consideration in our profession and most others. Can wereally afford to regard experience as non-essential?
While performance-based testing has been successful insome highly controlled environments, it has also had its share ofdisappointments in others. One example of this was a two-part
test prepared for calculus as taught at the University of California,
Santa Barbara. In this study, the objective was to test for skills
in solving multiple-level tasks and to provide for pre-calculus
assessment. The performance-based test developed was a fourcategory examination testing algebra, function, proportion andgeometry. Qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted
to find relationships between test scores and subsequent gradesin algebra and calculus. The performance-based test had an
acceptable correlation level, but what is notable here is that themultiple-choice test had a higher correlation than the performancebased one. This example only underscores the fact that some
performance-based testing initiatives don’t turn out with resultsthat validate the advertised benefits.
It is my opinion that the performance-based initiative has
been mobilised by delineating many untested assumptions while
ignoring potential weaknesses and limitations. A closer look at the
proposed initiative discloses the following concerns.
q Quantifiable detection results must be based on critical
discontinuity sizes definable by a sound engineering practice

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007

or fracture mechanics, or as established by code precedent.
Touting the likelihood of improved POD rates without first
identifying critical discontinuity size makes performance-based
testing a façade at best.
q Requirements for grading performance-based exams must be
carefully considered. The primary reason why most national
examinations are structured as multiple-choice is to objectively
approach the grading process. Performance-based exams areoften scored on a subjective rather than objective basis, resulting
in inconsistent pass/fail criteria. The many changing variables
within a performance-based exam makes the psychometricapproach difficult to apply. Without psychometrics, exam
validation is in doubt.
q Creating a test environment that simulates all possible failure
mechanisms is formidably difficult when eliminating the needfor real-world experience. Any performance-based exam that
effectively reduces the need for experience may likely becost-prohibitive in an open-market economy. Varying levelsof confidence based on specific industry-sector tolerance for
accuracy may require as many as 200 discontinuities andanywhere from 20 to 60 samples from a variety of productforms. If there is an increase in detection capability, there will
be a substantial cost increase to the end-user. Funding for sucha venture could run in the millions of dollars for each industry
sector. In a free-market economy, any new product must havethe advantage of cost or benefit to sustain market acceptance. If
the questions of cost and benefit are not addressed in advance,
programme failure is assured.
q Allowable examination time and the volume of material
analysed must be consistent with industrial productivity norms
to constitute a real performance-based environment. NDTfield testing production demands don’t always match up withcurrent performance-based examinations already in practice.
The benefits of performance-based testing become highly
suspect when this occurs. In conclusion, common sense tells
us that a performance-based programme that is devoid of anexperience prerequisite has the likelihood of making POD
results worse, not better, unless it is an add-on to programmes
like ISO 9712, ACCP or the CWI. If we are truly interested inincreased POD, experience should be incorporated into thedraft until real evidence confirms alternative approaches.
q Realistic industry-established exam times and pre-establisheddiscontinuity sizes must be innate parts of any performancebased examination. With the many programmes already
implemented throughout the world, it would be irresponsible
to the NDT community and the public to introduce yet anothernew certification option based on a false premise. Prudent
action would dictate that before any future programmes
emerge, a psychometric based validation process should
be independently administered and satisfactorily proven.
Additionally, a cost/benefit analysis must be done if industry is
to be properly served.
Each of us has a responsibility to be vigilant and vocal whenvarious certification proposals begin to evolve. I encourage eachof you to become active in your Society, sections and committees.
Whether you are for or against the new performance-based testing
initiative, your active review and input is vital to your career andthe public that you protect.

*Quad City Testing Laboratory, Inc, 21112 Scott Park Road,
Davenport, IA 52804, USA. Tel: +(563) 391-8500; Fax: +(563)391-0112; E-mail: sblack@netscape.com

11

CALENDAR OF NDT EVENTS
Month

Date

Venue

March
2007

26-30

Orlando, Florida
USA

16th ASNT Annual Research
Symposium

Contactwww.asnt.org

April
2007

2-4

Stuttgart
Germany

4th International Conference:
Emerging Technologies in
Non-Destructive Testing andTechnology Transfer and Business
Partnership Event (ETNDT 4)

May
2007

14-16

Fürth
Germany

2007 Annual Conference of theGerman Society for NDT (DGZfP)

sk@dgzfp.de
www.dgzfp/de

11-14

Harrogate
UK

Second World Congress on
Engineering Asset Management andFourth International Conference on
Condition Monitoring

daniel.grove@bindt.org
www.wceam-cm2007.org

20-23

Houston, Texas
USA

International Chemical andPetroleum Industry Inspection
Technology (ICPIIT) X Conference

jgiunta@asnt.org
www.asnt.org/events/events.htm

25-27

Lyon
FranceInternational Symposium on Digital
Industrial Radiology and Computed
Tomography

valerie.kaftandjian@insa-lyon.fr
www.dir2007.com

17-20

Glasgow
ScotlandNDT 2007 Conference andMaterials Testing 2007 Exhibition

conf@bindt.org
www.bindt.org

26-27

BerlinGermany

5th International Conference on
Certification and Standardisation
in NDTtagungen@dgzfp.de
www.certification2007.info

1-5

Yalta
Ukraine15th International Conference
and Exhibition ‘Modern Methods
and Means of NDT and Technical
Diagnostics’

office@conference.kiev.ua
www.conference.kiev.ua

11-14

ChariaCrete

4th International Conference of theHellenic Society for NDT

hsnt@hsnt.gr
www.hsnt.gr

22-26

Buenos Aires
Argentina

4th Pan-American Conferenceon Non-Destructive Testing(PANNDT)

info@aaende.org.ar
www.aaende.org.ar

5-9

PragueCzech Republic

4th Workshop ‘NDT in Progress’,
International Conference ‘NDE for
Safety’, ‘Defektoskopie 2007’ andNDT Expo

www.cndt.cz/endtd07/

12-16

Las Vegas
USA

ASNT Fall Conference and Quality
Testing Show

www.asnt.org

27-30

Kiev
Ukraine

Exhibition ‘Patterns, Standards andInstruments’silova@iec-expo.com.ua
www.tech-expo.com.ua/eng/pz

August2008

26-30

ShanghaiChina

17th World Conference on NDT

chsndt@public2.sta.net.cn
chsndt2008@163.com
www.17wcndt.com

November
2009

8-13

YokohamaJapan

13th Asia-Pacific Conference on
Non-Destructive Testing 2009

apcndt2009@jsndi.or.jp
www.apcndt2009.com

Durban, South Africa

18th World Conference on NDTamanda.vdwesthuizen@andtc.com

June
2007

September
2007

October
2007

November
2007

2012

12

Event

mbourlau@vub.ac.bewww.etech-ndt.eu.org

ICNDT Journal Vol 7 No 6 March 2007