Fellow Award
The section also had another reason for celebration, David Griffin was made a Fellow of ASNT and becomes only the fifth NATL member to collect such a prestigious honour, a good night for the North Atlantic Section. Then it's all over and you have another long plane journey, praying none of the connections are delayed and then coping with another 8 hour time change, only this time in reverse.
Meetings
The initial days are dominated by meetings, which the section attends, it's an early start for section operation council and regional council meetings. The first main event is the AGM, where ASNT outline the business results and the strategy for the forthcoming years. This year's AGM was dominated by numbers, as it is the 69th year of Materials Evaluation, 45th year of SNTC-1A, 35th year of ASNT NDT Level 3 scheme and 10 years of TNT, the NDT technician magazine. The society reported good financial health with a current membership of 11,828, and the meeting was brought to a close.
The conference and exhibition was opened by Ricky Morgan, who cut a large ribbon with a pair of extra large scissors. Ricky had attended the BINDT conference in Telford in September and attended an NATL meeting held on site, but this was closer to home for him as he's a California boy from LA.
The Show Starts
Once the exhibition was open, it allowed all attendees to browse the latest NDT innovations at close quarters and discuss any technical issues with the manufacturers present. There was approximately 125 exhibitors in the main exhibition hall, with products that ranged from a 2mm diameter compression probe, yes 2mm and they demonstrated that it works !!! (we NDT men are doubting about such claims), to large scanning systems, digital radiography systems, LED Black lights, environmentally friendly chemicals, inspection access systems and much more. The conference is well attended by the British contingent, with BINDT being represented and familiar faces being scattered over the exhibition hall.
Over 100 technical presentations are delivered during the conference covering subjects ranging from NDT related disciplines / inspection methods to modes of failure, composites, bridge NDT, Phased Array, pipeline inspections, thermography and health monitoring of employees, giving a varied and diverse range with something of interest for everyone.
Three short courses, which were sold out, were also offered to the members all as part of CPD.
Awards
The NATL was represented by the Chairman, Stede Marsh, the Vice Chair, Jim Knowles and Dave Griffin, who was present to collect a special award from ASNT.
Due to the number / quality of awards the North Atlantic section were due to collect, security was required.
Bronze Award
The annual awards banquet is held on the Wednesday night and as noted above it was a special night for the NATL section. The section collected a Bronze award, which is a fantastic achievement and shows the tremendous amount of effort the directors dedicate to NATL
