ISU SCIENTIST WINS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Pioneer in Nondestructive Evaluation Recognized by Society of Optical Engineers

 SAN DIEGO, CA — Donald Thompson, scientific adviser for the Institute for Physical Research and Technology at Iowa State University, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Nondestructive Evaluation from the Society of Optical Engineers, known as SPIE.  Thompson was presented the honor during SPIE’s Smart Structures/NDE 2003 conference.

Thompson helped pioneer the field of nondestructive evaluation, the practice of testing a material’s ability to non-destructively perform its intended function and prevent failure.  Throughout his career, Thompson worked to develop a scientific basis for NDE and raise it to an engineering and scientific discipline.  He was the founding director of ISU’s left for Nondestructive Evaluation, which has become a world leader in NDE research, education and its application to industry.  Thompson, a retired Anson Marston Distinguished Professor of Engineering, also helped develop a minor program in NDE at ISU, the first program of its kind.  In 1998, Thompson was instrumental in starting the World Federation of Nondestructive Evaluation lefts, which seeks to improve NDE technology and its uniform application on a worldwide scale.

Thompson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and was recently named a foreign associate of the Indian National Academy of Engineering.  He is also a fellow of the American Physical Society, International Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Rockwell International Science left.  Originally from and now living in Clear Lake, Iowa, Thompson earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Iowa.  He joined Iowa State University in 1979 after working at the AF Cambridge Research left, the Oak Ridge National Laboratories and Rockwell International.