We still work to advance the science of NDT

At the last General Assembly of the Academia NDT International, this relatively young but prestigious international body, an era in the life of Academia has been terminated: the Academia members elected a new President. The mission of the Academia, however, has not been changed. To remind the readers, our overall objective is to continue to fulfil the Academia’s mission, which is fostering research, development and education in the field of NDT by engaging NDT professionals in a combined effort, thus attaining the goal of always seeking progress.
As specific goals, the followings can be formulated: providing a forum for exchange of ideas that brings together the most eminent scientists and experts, promoting excellence in science and practice, facilitating solutions to the problems facing mankind, attracting the attention of authorities, governments, agencies and public organisations to the role, importance and benefits of NDT, supporting NDT societies and regional groups by transferring knowledge of the scientific and technological NDT achievements. Taking everything into account we can say that NDT is serving the society, contributing to improvement of the quality of life and making the world safer.

We all know that the birth, the continuous development and the achievement of an international recognition are strongly associated with Giuseppe Nardoni, the founding President of Academia. He has represented both the spirit and the engine of the Academia. Without his faith, enthusiasm and commitment we would not be able to achieve the position that the Academia is in today. Without partners, however, the results could have not been achieved, and in this context, I have to mention Vjera Krstelj, Baldev Raj, Vladimir Kljujev and Gerd Dobmann. Of course, many others took part in construction of the Academia “building”.

Here, I have to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Nardoni for his efforts, and many thanks, of course, to his vice-presidents, as well as to the members of the Academia Council in the past period. From now on, as the title of this article emphasises, it the Academia will continue to fulfil its mission: working to advance the science of NDT. During the term of my Presidency, I will try to continue to strengthen the Academia “building”.

Among so-called institutional subjects the focus will be on aggregation of the senior scientists and the young researchers. Following the slogan “from theory to application” the Academia goal will be to create a special entrepreneur section. Also, establishing a research laboratory network is in the agenda. Although the Academia has been organised along the science, we recognised the necessity of establishing a Scientific Council within the structure of Academia. The objectives of the Scientific Council will primarily be but not limited to the following: identifying key scientific questions and research tendencies in the field of NDT, organising international research days in the large international NDT conferences and, similarly to the past, striving to ensure the participation of Nobel Prize Laureates, organising (online) workshops in selected items such as frontiers of NDT, publishing a review book on the scientific aspects of NDT development, tentatively for each world conference.

A major part of the Academia’s scientific programme is the promotion of NDT in university curricula with special regard to NDT integrity engineering. Among the Academia’s marketing goals we will need to maintain our traditionally good cooperation with the international groups of NDT like the International Committee for NDT and the regional NDT groups. One not-so-easy task will be to lay down and manage the economic foundation of the Academia to ensure a smooth and efficient operation. To this end, the motivation, involvement and support of industrial players to whom NDT is crucial are required. Improving the visibility of Academia via effective external communication is paramount. In this context, we intend to issue quarterly the electronic Academia Newsletter (Lectio Materia), to maintain the Academia website, to publish position papers (commitments) on key issues and to send them to targeted academic/industrial sectors. To strengthen our internal communication, visits to laboratories to familiarise members with research achievements and practical solutions are foreseen. Also, the Council/General Assembly meetings will be organised in conjunction with site visits technical tours.

Professor Peter Trampus,
President