Non Destructive Testing 2017

David Hallam: Senior Ageing Platforms Engineer, dstl (Ministry of Defence)

Dr David Hallam graduated with a MEng in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Hertfordshire which included a 1 year placement at HS Marston Aerospace Ltd. This was followed by the completion of a Dstl-sponsored Engineering Doctorate (EngD) at the University of Surrey investigating the high strain rate behaviour of ceramic materials for armour applications. David is now a Senior Engineer at Dstl, working to pull-through new NDE capabilities into service to support the structural integrity and safety of ageing military platforms.

Tim Barden: Scientist NDE, Rolls-Royce

Dr Tim Barden moved to Rolls-Royce having carried out a post-doctorial position at Bath University researching thermal methods for non-destructive evaluation. His role at Rolls-Royce primarily involves the development and introduction of new NDE technologies and he is the current Industrial Chair of the Research Centre in Non-Destructive Evaluation.

Richard Day: Senior NDT Manager, RWE npower

Richard Day has worked extensively within the NDT sector for 37 years, 33 years of which have been associated with the power generation industry. He is currently a Senior NDT Engineer with RWE Generation UK responsible for delivery of NDT solutions for coal, gas and renewable generation assets. In addition, he has responsibility for NDT apprenticeships at RWE, contributing to the development of the next generation of NDT personnel. He is a member of the British Institute of Non Destructive Testing (BINDT) and chairs the Certification Management Committee of the Institute.

Mark Dowell: Managing Director, IMechE Engineering Training Solutions

Simon Quinn: Director of Rifi, University of Southampton

Professor Simon Quinn has 20 years’ experience in structural integrity, since graduating from the University of Liverpool (BEng, PhD). Simon worked for Amec Foster Wheeler as a structural analyst (1998-2003), until he joined the University of Southampton. There he currently leads a consultancy team (Research Institute for Industry (RIfI)) that specialise in solving problems involving materials and structures. The majority of work is funded directly from industry, although Simon has also attracted funding from UK Government and EU sources. Simon’s technical focus is on the industrial application of full-field imaging techniques for experimental stress analysis and non-destructive testing.

Bernard McGrath: Operations Manager, MID & MCRL, Amec Foster Wheeler

Bernard McGrath is the Operations Manager of Amec Foster Wheeler’s Monitoring and Inspection Design team based near Warrington in the UK. He is responsible for a team of Development Engineers and Physicists who undertake Monitoring and Inspection research, development and design projects. The team also have expertise in the production of Inspection Qualification evidence and documents. Bernard has extensive experience of the assessment and application of NDT, particularly ultrasonics. He project managed the Programme for the Assessment of NDT in Industry (PANI) reliability projects on behalf of the UK’s Health & Safety Executive, which had a large Human Factors content. He has overseen the production of a number of NDT Guidance Documents and is a Fellow of the British Institute of NDT.

Bruce Drinkwater: Professor of Ultrasonics, University of Bristol

In 1996, after obtaining B.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from Imperial College, Bruce Drinkwater joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Bristol. He was promoted to Professor of Ultrasonics in 2007 and now leads the Ultrasonics and NDT research group. His current research interests include ultrasonic array imaging for NDT, defect characterisation as well as acoustic tweezers and tractor beams. Bruce’s NDT research has led to the successful commercialisation of an array wheel probe and the imaging techniques he helped develop are now widely used in industry. In 2015, Bruce co-invented the world’s first stable ultrasonic tractor beam.

Janice Barton: Professor of Experimental Mechanics, University of Southampton

Janice Dulieu-Barton is a Professor of Experimental Mechanics in the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. She received her PhD from the University of Manchester in 1993 where she started her research on the topic now known as ‘Thermoelastic stress analysis’. She has published around 300 papers with more than 100 in archival journals. Janice’s expertise is in imaging for data rich materials characterisations and assessments of structural performance, with a focus on lightweight structural design particularly composite structures. She has developed novel approaches in experimental mechanics, focusing on the development of infra-red imaging recently covering high speed data capture, new approaches to residual stress analysis and strain-based NDE. Janice is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, the Society for Experimental Mechanics and the British Society for Strain Measurement.

Robert Smith: Professor of NDT and High Value Manufacturing, University of Bristol

Robert Smith is Professor of NDT and High Value Manufacturing at the University of Bristol. He studied Physics at the University of Cambridge, Applied Acoustics at Kings College, London, and a PhD at the University of Nottingham. After 6 years at the National Physical Laboratory he moved to the NDE Group at RAE Farnborough (later DERA and QinetiQ) in 1989, and then to the University of Bristol in 2013 to commence an EPSRC Fellowship in Manufacturing. He has authored over 110 publications, five of which were awarded medals by the British Institute of NDT where he is a Fellow and President in 2015-16.

John Harris: Senior Engineer (Non Destructive Testing), Network Rail

John Harris started as an apprentice in the rail industry and became involved in NDT in 1986 testing traction & rolling stock. In 1989, he joined the Materials Group (British Railways Board) as an NDT instructor training all aspects of railway NDT. In 1999, John joined Serco to manage and operate the BR ultrasonic test unit and the introduction of trainborne ultrasonic inspection. In 2005, he became low speed train manager delivering 170,000 miles of inspection annually with a fleet of 9 trains.
In 2010, John became the Senior Engineer Track & Lineside–Network Rail’s SME in NDT responsible for standards, training, product acceptance and technology introduction.

Pierre Calmon: Research Director, Non Destructive Testing, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)

Pierre Calmon received in 1990 his PhD in Physics at the University of Paris XI, France. He joined the Non Destructive Evaluation Department of CEA (French Atomic Energy Commission) and worked on ultrasonic modelling and imaging. He was involved in the development of the CIVA NDT simulation platform, managing this project from 2000 to 2005. As Scientific director of the NDE department of CEA Tech, he is chairing the NDE reliability sub-commission at the International Institute of Welding, is vice-president of the e Scientific Committee of the active at French NDT Society (COFREND) and is involved in the European Network for Inspection Qualification.

Paul Jackson: Plant Integrity, TWI Ltd

Paul manages the company, Plant Integrity, which manufactures and sells the Teletest Focus Guided Wave NDT Product for detecting and monitoring corrosion structures such as pipelines. As part of this role, Paul is also responsible for the research and development of Guided Waves and the future direction of research, products and opportunities. Currently, Plant Integrity comprises of 36 people and a further 4 PhD Students involved in all aspects of Guided Wave inspection and monitoring activities. Paul has a MBA and a PhD in Material science and Metallurgy, he is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Keith Worden: Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of Sheffield

Keith Worden began academic life as a theoretical physicist, with a degree from York University and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Heriot-Watt University eventually followed.

A period of research at Manchester University led to an appointment at the University of Sheffield in 1995, where he has happily remained since.

Keith's research is concerned with applications of advanced signal processing and machine learning methods to structural dynamics. The primary application has been in the aerospace industry, although there is also interaction with ground transport and offshore industries.

Thomas Köhler: Managing Director, Vibrant GmbH

Thomas Köhler has been Managing Director of Vibrant GmbH since June 2012.

Between 1984 and 1992 Thomas Köhler worked as a Software Engineer for Motorola. In 1992 he started his own business in the Factory Automation Industry. Since 2005, Thomas has been working in the PCRT business delivering fully automated PCRT equipment to automotive customers in Europe. In December 2014 Thomas left the Automation business to concentrate his efforts in Vibrant GmbH. Vibrant is delivering specialized PCRT solutions to the turbine and power generation business worldwide. Vibrant GmbH is responsible for the PCRT business in Europe. The customer base is divided into MRO business and production testing of new components. In both cases PCRT is qualifying critical aircraft components for a specified life cycle, reducing the risk of premature failure.

Born on 6. February 1960, Thomas Köhler has obtained an engineering degree in electrical communications engineering.

Alan Smith: Consultant & Chairman, Alan Smith Integrity Assessment

Alan has over 25 years experience working at a post graduate level. He started work with the Underwater NDE centre at University College and joined TWI in 1995. He moved to Aberdeen in 2002 to work initially with Lloyd's Register. He has considerable experience in both engineering critical assessment and non destructive testing and has contributed to DNV OS F101. He is currently the chairman of the British Standard BS7910 working panel which considers how NDT is used with engineering critical assessment. He is now an independent consultant.

Bjorn Snijders: Principal R&D Engineer, TUV Rheinland Sonovation

After studying applied physics at the University of Technology Eindhoven and Fontys University of Applied Sciences, Bjorn Snijders joined the R&D department of the formerly AEA UK owned Dutch company Sonovation, nowadays TUV Rheinland Sonovation. After working on the development and application of Sampling Phased Arrays (TFM/FMC), his expertise and research interests broadened to novel ultrasonic imaging algorithms, electronics and devices, high performance computing for ultrasonic simulation and modeling, Human Machine Interfacing and the metal magnetic memory method. Current research topics are high temperature ultrasonics and pulsed eddy current applications.

Gary Luckett: Sales & Application Specialist - Advanced NDT , Olympus

Gary Luckett of Olympus, working within the NDT Industry for over 6 years in specialised advanced applications

Simon Brittle: Assistant Chief Engineer – PWR1 & PWR2, Rolls-Royce

Simon Brittle has worked for Rolls-Royce Submarines for 30 years, undertaking a range of engineering roles. He has worked at the waterfront, undertaking maintenance activities, and in project management posts. He has also led design teams and headed the engineering function within operating businesses. His work has taken him to Gibraltar and the USA. His current role is as Assistant Chief Engineer covering the full life cycle for the current class of Naval Pressurised Water Reactor Plant.

Simon is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and serves on the Structural Technologies and Materials Group Board. Simon's career has taught him that the link between design intent and what is achieved in operating businesses is key to success. Engineers need to understand the limitations of processes and specify appropriate and achievable requirements.

Simon is married with two children, is Chair of Trustees of a small charity, and enjoys cycling and playing the guitar.