Inspection Trends

AWS Hosts Nine-Year Seminar at Headquarters

AWS held a nine-year recertification seminar for Certified Welding Inspectors (CWIs) from May 10 to 15 at AWS World Headquarters in Miami, Fla. Rick Suria, a Senior (CWI) and Certified Welding Educator, was the instructor. He is also the owner of Industrial Technology & Inspection LLC in Cape Coral, Fla.

Attendees of the seminar included the following: Christopher H. Weeks, Christopher T. Butkiewicz, Daniel J. Phagwa, David J. Gonzales, Erik Stone, Gregg W. Ganas, Jeffery K. Smith, Jeffrey L. La Cagnina, Jeffrey T. Iley, Jerry W. Cagle, Jesse R. Comeaux, Jose M. Perez, Kelvin J. Houston, Nathan N. Jacobson, Richard J. Baudoux, Roger M. Lugo, William A. Jolly, William F. Behnke, William Stoddard, and James Goodwin.

ASNT Launches Education Platform and Qualification Process for Training Organizations

ASNT, Columbus, Ohio, has announced new developments in its education and certification departments.

The organization upgraded its education platform at education.asnt.org. The learning management system provides users with a seamless enrollment process and enables them to complete various education offerings, including webinar series, certification prep courses, and ASNT NDT Classroom eLearning courses. This change means the organization’s different training products are now available in one place.

Starting in late summer 2024, ASNT certification services will launch a new accreditation process for nondestructive examination (NDE) training organizations in the United States to become Authorized Training Organizations (ATOs). This initiative aims to elevate the standards and quality of NDE training. ATO accreditation necessitates that training organizations conduct a comprehensive assessment of their programs, guaranteeing that their policies and procedures are well defined, standardized, documented, and effectively executed. By achieving recognition as an ASNT ATO, institutions demonstrate their commitment to delivering high-quality NDE training services and showcase a dedication and commitment to continuous quality improvement. It shows that the organization actively encourages feedback, continuously enhances its services, improves performance, and effectively manages risk.

American Securities to Sell Acuren

American Securities LLC, New York, N.Y., a U.S. private equity firm, entered into a definitive agreement to sell ASP Acuren Holdings Inc., the parent company of Acuren, Tomball, Tex., a provider of nondestructive examination, engineering and lab testing, and rope access technician solutions, to Admiral Acquisition Ltd, St. Peter Port, Guernsey. The transaction values the business at $1.85 billion.

During its four-and-a-half-year partnership with American Securities, Acuren delivered organic growth while completing 12 acquisitions to support long-term growth, strengthen service capabilities, expand its geographic footprint, and further improve operational efficiency.

Talman Pizzey, CEO of Acuren, said, “We have had a phenomenal partnership with American Securities, and their support has enabled Acuren to further its leading brand within inspection services. We are at an important and exciting inflection point of the company, and we are excited at the opportunity to continue growing our market-leading position with our new partners.”

Evident Serves as Exclusive Sponsor at the 20^th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing

Evident, Waltham, Mass., a developer of nondestructive examination (NDE) technologies, was the exclusive sponsor of the 20^th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (WCNDT). The conference, which took place from May 27 to 31 at the Songdo Convensia in Incheon, South Korea, provided insights into advanced NDE technologies and methodologies.

As an exclusive sponsor, the company received exclusive advertising inside and outside the conference center, exclusive placement of the company’s logo on the conference website and conference bags, and a permanent presence on the cover page of all conference publications and sponsor posters, among other benefits.

Evident’s Industrial Division President Karen Smith delivered the welcome address, and company experts presented on critical topics and challenges facing the NDE industry. The company also showcased its products and services, including automation solutions, phased array flaw detectors, thickness gauges, handheld x-ray fluorescent analyzers, and videoscopes.

GelSight Partners with PRAGMA on Integrated Solution for NDE

GelSight, Waltham, Mass., a tactile intelligence technology company, is collaborating with PRAGMA, a manufacturer of portable instruments and integrated systems for nondestructive examination (NDE) and an expert in NDE 4.0 technologies, to provide integrated solutions to the NDE market. The joint solution incorporates GelSight’s tactile sensing technology directly into the PragmaFlex instrument platform, which is embedded with Pragma3D software, to provide more in-depth data and analysis of surface characteristics for NDE.

GelSight’s technology uses 3D imaging to map surface finish and defects of any material at the micron level. Integrating the company’s tactile sensing technology directly with the 3D position encoding capabilities of the PragmaFlex platform provides users with a comprehensive view of the valuable information they need when inspecting parts and surfaces. The Pragma3D software then allows for data fusion with ultrasound, eddy current scans, optical 3D scans, CAD, and more.

“We are excited about how this new integrated solution will improve fully automated NDT workflows,” said GelSight’s CEO Youssef Benmokhtar. “By combining GelSight tactile sensors with the PragmaFlex platform, users now have access to micrometer-level measurement data that can be fused with data from different modalities for deeper surface inspection and analysis.”

Waygate Technologies and Rhinestahl CTS Join Forces

Waygate Technologies, Huerth, Germany, a Baker Hughes business and provider of nondestructive examination (NDE) solutions for industrial inspection, and Rhinestahl Customer Tooling Solutions (Rhinestahl CTS), Mason, Ohio, a provider of aircraft engine tooling and support services and equipment, have partnered to upgrade borescope inspections with two-way communication.

As a result of a recently signed joint technology development agreement, Rhinestahl’s FutureDriveNG+ turning tool is now capable of two-way communication with Waygate Technologies’ Mentor Visual iQ+ (MViQ+) video borescope. FutureDrive rotates the engine based on MVIQ+ borescope commands. This new technology automates image and measurement capture during rotation, saving key information, such as blade number, as part of metadata, thereby improving turn-around time and accuracy. 

“We continue to lead innovation with industry partners to assist and automate video borescope inspections,” said Mike Domke, general manager visual at Waygate Technologies. “Together, we are delivering more efficient and accurate solutions for engine inspections.”