News

Aaron McCarville, a CNDE graduate student, was selected to receive the Sellers Scholarship for 2025. This prestigious and competitive award is selected based on the student’s academic achievements and merits.

Name: Aaron McCarville

Research areas of interest: Microwave NDE, Microwave SAR Imaging, Microwave Engineering

Anticipated graduation date: December 2025

Who or what inspired you to pursue your studies in NDE?  During the fall of my first year at ISU, I happened to meet the director of CNDE, Dr. Zoughi, at a lunch event for transfer students. After hearing of my background in the military as a calibration technician and my interest in RF engineering, he encouraged me to work at the Microwave NDT lab as an undergraduate research assistant. My experiences in that role inspired me to pursue a master’s degree with a focus on Microwave NDE. Additionally, my Co-op at Skyworks Inc. helped me realize that I was truly passionate about microwave engineering in general.

Briefly describe something you have learned or discovered during your time at CNDE that surprised you.  The numerous opportunities available to students in terms of scholarships as well as post-graduation employment were surprising to learn. In my case, I have received two scholarships that have made graduate school very affordable.

What are your future career plans?  My plan, post-graduation, is to pursue an NDE-related microwave engineering role, preferably at an aerospace or defense firm. I have also entertained the idea of starting my own engineering firm that specializes in the design of microwave imaging systems for NDE applications.

CNDE hosted its Spring 2025 Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) Meeting on April 8-10.

As usual, CNDE hosted a Pizza with Students event, during which our board members connected with students interested in working in the NDE community after graduation.

Every spring, R.B. Thompson & O.D.& O.U. Trapp Fellowship recipients present a poster to the board members and visitors, showcasing their research.

CNDE researchers presented updates on four research projects that commenced in August 2024.  Team members for the MAPOD project also provided updates on this ongoing project.  Board members reviewed the project presentations and gave feedback on each project.

Also presented were ten proposals from CNDE researchers on various topics selected by our members for potential funding.

IAB members from ASNT, AFRL, Boeing, GE Aerospace, General Motors (GM), Honeywell Aerospace, IHI Corp., John Deere,  Northrop Grumman, Pratt & Whitney, and Rolls-Royce were in attendance, as well as invited guests.

Poster Event

Pizza with Student Event

Group Photo

The ASNT Local Iowa Section hosted a virtual guest speaker during their April 2025 meeting.  Steven Fuller Jr. from NDT Systems presented to 17 professional and student attendees, seven of whom gathered in-person on Iowa State’s campus to enjoy complimentary pizza and soda while participating.  Virtual attendees joined from Okoboji, Waterloo, IA, Springfield, IL, and as far away as Albuquerque, NM.  The topic of the evening was Laser Shearography’s background, equipment, and applications.  Steve began with manipulation of speckle patterns, excitation techniques, and indication formation and appearance.  His talk finished with comparing sensitivity and false call rates, and several applications from aerospace and wind power industries.

CNDE participated in this year’s 2025 State Science & Technology Fair of Iowa on March 27 and 28.  This two-day fair, organized by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, was for students in grades 6 – 12 and provided a space to showcase their research projects.  Students also got the chance to meet with professionals in all areas of science and technology.

CNDE welcomed 36 students to visit our labs and meet with our researchers.  The tour topics included Ultrasonics, Microwave, Eddy Current, and X-ray Radiography.  This was a great opportunity to introduce students to NDE at a young age.

CNDE also sponsored several cash prize awards for top NDE-related research projects.  Two NDE Minor students graciously volunteered their time to judge these projects and accompany fair students on the CNDE tour.

Ultrasonic Lab Tour

Microwave Lab Tour 

Eddy Current Lab Tour 

Radiography Lab Tour 

Group Photo

Dr. Laurence J. Jacobs, Senior Vice Provost for Education and Learning at the Georgia Institute of Technology and a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, presented a CNDE webinar in December 2024 titled “Generation of Higher Harmonics and their Application of Material Characterization.”   The February 2025 issue of Materials Evaluation included an article on page 16 regarding Dr. Jacobs’ webinar. To read more about it, click here, or to watch the webinar, click here.

Farzaneh Ahmadi, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received her doctoral degree during the December 2024 commencement ceremony. She successfully defended her dissertation, titled “Millimeter-Wave Evaluation of Polymer and Metal-Based Additive Manufacturing Processes, in November 2024.

Throughout her academic journey, Dr. Ahmadi earned the prestigious Research Excellence Award from the ECpE Department.  This award’s recipients exemplify academic excellence and the ability to conduct impactful and meticulously documented research.

As part of her nomination, Dr. Ahmadi submitted two notable research contributions:

• “Microwave Nondestructive Evaluation of Moisture Content of Polymeric Filaments Used in Additive Manufacturing”
• “Millimeter-Wave Near-Field Evaluations of Polylactic Acid (PLA) Filament Used in Polymer-Based Additive Manufacturing (AM)”

Dr. Ahmadi started her professional career as a Staff Antenna Engineer at Rivian Automotive, LLC, focusing on RF and antenna design for Electric Vehicles.”

The ASNT Iowa Section hosted Rick Lopez, NDT Compentcy Lead at John Deere and a CNDE board member at their October meeting. Mr. Lopez gave a presentation to the group titled “Heavy Off-Road Industrial NDT Application.”  To read the article, click here.

Name:  John C. Aldrin

How long have you been at CNDE or collaborating with?   My earliest collaborations involved working with Bruce Thompson on model-assisted probability of detection (MAPOD) evaluation working group, going back to 2001.  Bruce was a great leader, while also so gracious with his time and experience.  I got to really appreciate how CNDE is such a special organization within the NDE research community.  Over the years, I have collaborated with Steve Holland on vibrothermography research, and more recently in 2023, with the encouragement of Reza Zoughi, I  became an Affiliated Research Scientist to help reinvigorate work at CNDE on MAPOD.  I feel honored to be part of this organization and help to continue the legacy of Bruce and Don Thompson.

Area(s) of expertise:   My core areas of expertise or nondestructive evaluation modeling and simulation, data analysis, algorithms / artificial intelligence (AI) for indication classification and material characterization, and reliability assessment.

Who or what inspired you to pursue your career in NDE? I have been interested in acoustics and vibration, going back to a co-op engineering position at Whirlpool Corporation in the early 1990s.  When I decided to leave Whirlpool and pursue a Ph.D., I contacted Jan Achenbach at Northwestern back in 1997.  I didn’t realize how important his work was at the time; I just knew he did ultrasonics research, basically “high frequency acoustics”.  Thankfully, he had a great project that I really enjoyed, and I have had a series of wonderful opportunities since to continue work in NDE field.

Briefly describe one of your technical contributions to the NDE field.   As part of my graduate work at Northwestern University, I led the development of automated defect analysis algorithms incorporating neural networks for interpreting data from complex weep hole ultrasonic inspections.  These algorithms were the first application of machine learning in NDE to be fully validated with a comprehensive POD study, demonstrating enhanced performance relative to human data review.  Since this effort, I have been involved with a number of transition program of algorithms/AI to support NDT data review.

What advice would you give a researcher just starting out in the NDE field?  Be open to getting out of your comfort zone, whether it is working outside your favorite research topic, NDE technique or material system.  Nondestructive evaluation is a widely varying field with research topics shifting frequently.  I’ve worked on NDE for metallics, polymer matrix composites, ceramic matrix composites, and even concrete.  You can gain a great deal of insight by stepping outside your comfort zone and expanding your perspective, which can lead to novel technical solutions.