The View from CNDE

The world is rapidly changing, as is evidenced by a myriad of events of the last year.  In many ways, this issue of the Center for NDE News is a reflection of that change.

There has been much debate about the future of technology in the context of investments and their impact on the economy.  However, there is little question about the impact of technology on many of our day-to-day activities.  The point is brought home by this issue of CNDE News, which is the first to be distributed electronically.  We have received very favorable response to the announcement of this change, and feel that it will realize our goals of increased efficiency, speed of delivery and easier distribution to interested parties not on the initial list.  A benefit that we did not initially anticipate is the ability to include more detailed articles and auxiliary information such as the animation in the article, “The Story of the Tapper.”  We welcome your suggestions regarding how best to continue our use of the electronic media, including the identification of any problems that we have not anticipated.

Recent tragic events have reinforced the idea that the world is continuously growing smaller and more closely linked.  The NDE community is in the midst of this change.  The strong and growing international makeup of the Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation is one example.  Last summer’s meeting, held at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, was attended by representatives from 28 countries and next summer’s meeting, to be held at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, can be expected to have a similar composition.  Articles are included reviewing the former and announcing the latter.  The need for close and collegial cooperation on many matters has never been clearer.  One step in this direction is the need for increased cooperation on educational and research matters.  A workshop aimed at developing a globally acceptable ultrasonic NDE engineering curricula, the second in a series sponsored by the World Federation of NDE Centers, is also announced.

Many of the problems that the NDE community is addressing have been around for some time, yet advances in technology are allowing innovative new approaches to be taken.  Examples may be found in articles describing a quantitative, image-based version of the familiar tap test for honeycomb structures; the re-examination of engineering issues associated with the fluorescent penetrant inspection technique in light of changes such as those driven by environmental considerations; and a new, model-based approach to the determination of case depth in hardened steel components.  A number of other new research directions are described in an article summarizing future projects in the Center for Aviation Systems Reliability.

National needs are placing an ever-increasing priority on health care, and the NDE community, with its arsenal of quantitative measurement techniques, has much to contribute.  An article describing one such effort, the application of 3D ultrasonic imaging techniques to evaluating atherosclerosis risk, is included in this issue.

We hope that you find this new electronic distribution of the Center for NDE News of value and look forward to your comments.  We also look forward to seeing you next summer in Bellingham, Washington, which appears to be a site very well suited to the needs of the QNDE community.  Conference information and forms can be found at http://www.cnde.iastate.edu/qnde/qnde.html.  Please check there for further information.

For further information, contact Bruce Thompson. 

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