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Section News

Read Section News every month to see what types of programs and activities ASNT Sections have held recently or to catch up on what your Section has been doing. These postings for July will also be published in the August issue of Materials Evaluation.

Photographs

Charlotte (North Carolina) [ Photograph ]

The Charlotte Section's final meeting of the season was Member Appreciation Night, held on 4 May at Dave & Buster's in Concord, North Carolina. Eighteen members attended and enjoyed the dinner. During the meeting, the Section members reviewed the past season's meetings and discussed ideas for the upcoming season. The Section also elected new officers and board of director members for the 2009-2010 season. The new officers are Jeff Milligan (chair), Perry Anderson (vice chair), Tom McConomy (secretary) and Erik Lombardo (treasurer), and the board of director members are John Turner, Paul Zayicek, Bob Smilie, Jim Neidorfer and Gerald Russomanno. The Charlotte Section looks forward to another great season that will begin with its 12th Annual Shrimp Boil, at FlawTech, on 24 September. This event will be preceded that day by the 2nd Annual George Pherigo Golf Tournament, sponsored by the NDT students at Central Piedmont Community College.

Chicago (Illinois) [ Photograph ]

The Chicago Section welcomed Terry Tamutus, of Physical Acoustics Corporation, to its 13 April meeting to speak about new technology involving automated ultrasonic testing. Tamutus discussed the evolution of array transducers and how multiple transducers can be used to test many areas of interest in short amounts of time with high reliability. Several systems were examined that had increased speeds and returned much more data than the conventional "scrubbing" techniques in the field. These automated systems vary in size and capabilities using array technology. The data acquisition is a critical part of the testing; however, it is useless without proper signal generation. Tamutus generated much interest when he discussed some of the speeds and capabilities of these systems. He was greeted by 23 Chicago Section members and guests and was presented with gifts in appreciation of the time and effort he put into the presentation.

Cleveland (Ohio)

The 18 May meeting of the Cleveland Section was attended by 17 members and guests. The guest speaker for this event was Jack Fitzgerald, of Goodrich Landing Gear. Fitzgerald, a failure analysis engineer, discussed the ability to detect thermal damage in ferrous materials via the Barkhausen technique, a very curious methodology that has been in existence for many years. He discussed the ability of this technique to allow for consistent detection of thermal damage of ferrous materials, particularly of detection of overheated substrate through abusively ground chrome plating.

The 50/50 drawing winners for the evening were Bob Rainone and Carl Becker, Jr. This being the last meeting before the summer break, the group was reminded of the upcoming Golf Outing to be held on 21 August at Brandywine Golf Course.

Greater Houston (Texas) [ Photograph ]

The Greater Houston Section hosted 40 members and guests at its 13 May meeting at Brady's Landing restaurant. Section Chair John Iman welcomed everyone and recognized the meeting sponsors: DTM Enterprises, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies and Physical Acoustics. Meeting announcements included thanking Bob Dunn and Dwayne Witter for their roles in the Golf Outing and Vendors Night, respectively. Both were spectacular events. Bill Cotter reported on a successful Spring Educational on 2 May with 18 attendees for the all-day session devoted to visual testing. Iman also recognized Lloyd Graham, Ron Hayden and Keith Wilson for their part in a special NDT Career Day at Pasadena Memorial High School.

In other Section news, Bob Cameron was the Member of the Month for May. TechCorr hosted an open house and BBQ lunch at their new facility on 15 May. The ICPIIT-XI conference opened on 3 June at the Houston Marriott North at Greenspoint.

The speaker for the evening was Whitney Strickland, vice president and chief marketing officer of RepconStrickland. His topic was "Construction, Maintenance and Integrity Trends in the Downstream Oil and Gas Market," and his presentation was a sobering look at the impact of the global economic crisis on the Gulf Coast region. Graphs of rig counts and inventories all pointed to a troubled future, especially for the independent refiners. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. This was not good news, but he was able to help the Section understand the current state of the market. It was an excellent presentation and generated a lot of questions. Iman thanked Strickland on behalf of the Section.

Section Vice Chair Witter presented Iman with a certificate of recognition for serving as the Section chair for the 2008-2009 season. The Executive Committee presented Iman with a Section chair lapel pin earlier in the evening.

New Orleans (Louisiana)

The New Orleans Section held its 9th Annual Hands-On NDE Workshop on 21-22 May. This unique workshop allows participants from all industries the opportunity to test various types of anomalous specimens, such as welded plates, pipe welds, structural members, corrosion and downhole oil country tubular goods. Participants received instruction from ASNT NDT Level III instructors, instructors from various NDT companies, and equipment manufacturers and suppliers. Instructors were set up at individual tables (instructor stations) with their equipment and specimens. Participants then spent two days rotating through each station, receiving hands-on training on how to use the equipment and perform various NDT techniques. Individual guidance on the various types of equipment met the objective of the workshop, which is to improve each participant's overall testing skills.

Equipment at individual training stations included ultrasonic phased array and mono-probe equipment, in addition to various other UT instruments. For the first time the workshop also included eddy current, infrared, alternating current field measurement, visual testing and acoustic pulse reflectometry equipment, used by various major instrument manufacturers and suppliers. Over the years, the Workshop has been fortunate to have very small instructor to student ratios. The Workshop was again hosted by Source Production & Equipment Company, Inc. (SPEC), a manufacturer of radioisotope source equipment and materials, at their training center in St. Rose, Louisiana. However, next year the NDE Workshop will have a new home at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Center For NDE. The New Orleans Section will partner with the mechanical engineering department to promote NDT education.

Because so many instructors donate their time, the cost of the entire Workshop, which includes lunch and the evening Section meeting, is kept to a minimum. Non-members are requested to pay an additional fee for an annual ASNT membership, thus the Section gains many new members.

The Section is grateful to the Education Committee, Victor Hernandez, of SBM Atlantia, David Mandina, of Mandina's Inspection, Dwight Witter, of CAN-USA, Carlos Quintana, of Northrop Grumman and Charlie Speed, of Materials, Corrosion & Inspection Consultants, for organizing the event. The New Orleans Section is especially grateful to Tony Bustillo and Kevin Schehr, of SPEC, for hosting the event for the last nine years. The monies generated by this workshop promote future Section educational events and annual Section scholarships.

Speed, Section educational chair, who began the Workshop in 2000, believes that the 2010 event at the LSU Center For NDE will be bigger than ever. For more information on ASNT educational opportunities in the South Louisiana area, contact Speed at (504) 400-7878; e-mail charliefspeed@gmail.com; Web site www.asntneworleans.org.

Nigeria (Warri, Delta)

The newly established Nigeria Section held its annual election on 30 May in Effurun. The Section is located in the Warri, Delta area and is in Region 18. The newly elected Section chair is Aliu Ayotunde, who replaces Outgoing Chair Festus Mrakpor, who is now a director of the Section. Henry Chimezie was elected as secretary, and Mike Ugbaeide replaced Aire Joseph as treasurer. The ASNT Board of Directors had approved the Section's charter last year, and ASNT members in the area are invited and encouraged to affiliate with the new Section. Contact ASNT Member Services to join the Nigeria Section. For information on upcoming meeting dates, contact Section Secretary Chimezie at 234 8052161735 or e-mail him at henchn2yk@yahoo.co.uk.

Saudi Arabian (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) [ Photograph ]

The Saudi Arabian Section held its eleventh meeting of the 2008-2009 season on 25 May at the Dhahran Palace Hotel. The meeting was attended by 85 members and guests. The presenter for the evening was Mohammad A. Abu Four, Section treasurer, and the topic was "The Future of the NDT Technician." At the end of presentation, a prize distribution ceremony was held and some door prizes were given to winners by raffle. After the prize ceremony, the attendees retired to have an excellent buffet dinner served by the Dhahran Palace Hotel staff.

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Section news reports and photographs are published from submissions received from individual sections. For submission requirements, contact ASNT's Membership Department.

Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. ASNT is not responsible for the authenticity or accuracy of information herein. Published opinions and statements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ASNT. Products or services that are advertised or mentioned do not carry the endorsement or recommendation of ASNT.

IRRSP, NDT Handbook, The NDT Technician and www.asnt.org are trademarks of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. ACCP, ASNT, Level III Study Guide, Materials Evaluation, Nondestructive Testing Handbook, Research in Nondestructive Evaluation and RNDE are registered trademarks of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc.

ASNT exists to create a safer world by promoting the profession and technologies of nondestructive testing.


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	Section News Read Section News every month to see what types of programs and activities ASNT Sections have held recently or to catch up on what your Section has been doing. These postings for July will also be published in the August issue of Materials Evaluation. Photographs Charlotte (North Carolina) [ Photograph ] The Charlotte Section's final meeting of the season was Member Appreciation Night, held on 4 May at Dave & Buster's in Concord, North Carolina. Eighteen members attended and enjoyed the dinner. During the meeting, the Section members reviewed the past season's meetings and discussed ideas for the upcoming season. The Section also elected new officers and board of director members for the 2009-2010 season. The new officers are Jeff Milligan (chair), Perry Anderson (vice chair), Tom McConomy (secretary) and Erik Lombardo (treasurer), and the board of director members are John Turner, Paul Zayicek, Bob Smilie, Jim Neidorfer and Gerald Russomanno. The Charlotte Section looks forward to another great season that will begin with its 12th Annual Shrimp Boil, at FlawTech, on 24 September. This event will be preceded that day by the 2nd Annual George Pherigo Golf Tournament, sponsored by the NDT students at Central Piedmont Community College. Chicago (Illinois) [ Photograph ] The Chicago Section welcomed Terry Tamutus, of Physical Acoustics Corporation, to its 13 April meeting to speak about new technology involving automated ultrasonic testing. Tamutus discussed the evolution of array transducers and how multiple transducers can be used to test many areas of interest in short amounts of time with high reliability. Several systems were examined that had increased speeds and returned much more data than the conventional "scrubbing" techniques in the field. These automated systems vary in size and capabilities using array technology. The data acquisition is a critical part of the testing; however, it is useless without proper signal generation. Tamutus generated much interest when he discussed some of the speeds and capabilities of these systems. He was greeted by 23 Chicago Section members and guests and was presented with gifts in appreciation of the time and effort he put into the presentation. Cleveland (Ohio) The 18 May meeting of the Cleveland Section was attended by 17 members and guests. The guest speaker for this event was Jack Fitzgerald, of Goodrich Landing Gear. Fitzgerald, a failure analysis engineer, discussed the ability to detect thermal damage in ferrous materials via the Barkhausen technique, a very curious methodology that has been in existence for many years. He discussed the ability of this technique to allow for consistent detection of thermal damage of ferrous materials, particularly of detection of overheated substrate through abusively ground chrome plating. The 50/50 drawing winners for the evening were Bob Rainone and Carl Becker, Jr. This being the last meeting before the summer break, the group was reminded of the upcoming Golf Outing to be held on 21 August at Brandywine Golf Course. Greater Houston (Texas) [ Photograph ] The Greater Houston Section hosted 40 members and guests at its 13 May meeting at Brady's Landing restaurant. Section Chair John Iman welcomed everyone and recognized the meeting sponsors: DTM Enterprises, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies and Physical Acoustics. Meeting announcements included thanking Bob Dunn and Dwayne Witter for their roles in the Golf Outing and Vendors Night, respectively. Both were spectacular events. Bill Cotter reported on a successful Spring Educational on 2 May with 18 attendees for the all-day session devoted to visual testing. Iman also recognized Lloyd Graham, Ron Hayden and Keith Wilson for their part in a special NDT Career Day at Pasadena Memorial High School. In other Section news, Bob Cameron was the Member of the Month for May. TechCorr hosted an open house and BBQ lunch at their new facility on 15 May. The ICPIIT-XI conference opened on 3 June at the Houston Marriott North at Greenspoint. The speaker for the evening was Whitney Strickland, vice president and chief marketing officer of RepconStrickland. His topic was "Construction, Maintenance and Integrity Trends in the Downstream Oil and Gas Market," and his presentation was a sobering look at the impact of the global economic crisis on the Gulf Coast region. Graphs of rig counts and inventories all pointed to a troubled future, especially for the independent refiners. You could have heard a pin drop in the room. This was not good news, but he was able to help the Section understand the current state of the market. It was an excellent presentation and generated a lot of questions. Iman thanked Strickland on behalf of the Section. Section Vice Chair Witter presented Iman with a certificate of recognition for serving as the Section chair for the 2008-2009 season. The Executive Committee presented Iman with a Section chair lapel pin earlier in the evening. New Orleans (Louisiana) The New Orleans Section held its 9th Annual Hands-On NDE Workshop on 21-22 May. This unique workshop allows participants from all industries the opportunity to test various types of anomalous specimens, such as welded plates, pipe welds, structural members, corrosion and downhole oil country tubular goods. Participants received instruction from ASNT NDT Level III instructors, instructors from various NDT companies, and equipment manufacturers and suppliers. Instructors were set up at individual tables (instructor stations) with their equipment and specimens. Participants then spent two days rotating through each station, receiving hands-on training on how to use the equipment and perform various NDT techniques. Individual guidance on the various types of equipment met the objective of the workshop, which is to improve each participant's overall testing skills. Equipment at individual training stations included ultrasonic phased array and mono-probe equipment, in addition to various other UT instruments. For the first time the workshop also included eddy current, infrared, alternating current field measurement, visual testing and acoustic pulse reflectometry equipment, used by various major instrument manufacturers and suppliers. Over the years, the Workshop has been fortunate to have very small instructor to student ratios. The Workshop was again hosted by Source Production & Equipment Company, Inc. (SPEC), a manufacturer of radioisotope source equipment and materials, at their training center in St. Rose, Louisiana. However, next year the NDE Workshop will have a new home at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Center For NDE. The New Orleans Section will partner with the mechanical engineering department to promote NDT education. Because so many instructors donate their time, the cost of the entire Workshop, which includes lunch and the evening Section meeting, is kept to a minimum. Non-members are requested to pay an additional fee for an annual ASNT membership, thus the Section gains many new members. The Section is grateful to the Education Committee, Victor Hernandez, of SBM Atlantia, David Mandina, of Mandina's Inspection, Dwight Witter, of CAN-USA, Carlos Quintana, of Northrop Grumman and Charlie Speed, of Materials, Corrosion & Inspection Consultants, for organizing the event. The New Orleans Section is especially grateful to Tony Bustillo and Kevin Schehr, of SPEC, for hosting the event for the last nine years. The monies generated by this workshop promote future Section educational events and annual Section scholarships. Speed, Section educational chair, who began the Workshop in 2000, believes that the 2010 event at the LSU Center For NDE will be bigger than ever. For more information on ASNT educational opportunities in the South Louisiana area, contact Speed at (504) 400-7878; e-mail charliefspeed@gmail.com; Web site www.asntneworleans.org. Nigeria (Warri, Delta) The newly established Nigeria Section held its annual election on 30 May in Effurun. The Section is located in the Warri, Delta area and is in Region 18. The newly elected Section chair is Aliu Ayotunde, who replaces Outgoing Chair Festus Mrakpor, who is now a director of the Section. Henry Chimezie was elected as secretary, and Mike Ugbaeide replaced Aire Joseph as treasurer. The ASNT Board of Directors had approved the Section's charter last year, and ASNT members in the area are invited and encouraged to affiliate with the new Section. Contact ASNT Member Services to join the Nigeria Section. For information on upcoming meeting dates, contact Section Secretary Chimezie at 234 8052161735 or e-mail him at henchn2yk@yahoo.co.uk. Saudi Arabian (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia) [ Photograph ] The Saudi Arabian Section held its eleventh meeting of the 2008-2009 season on 25 May at the Dhahran Palace Hotel. The meeting was attended by 85 members and guests. The presenter for the evening was Mohammad A. Abu Four, Section treasurer, and the topic was "The Future of the NDT Technician." At the end of presentation, a prize distribution ceremony was held and some door prizes were given to winners by raffle. After the prize ceremony, the attendees retired to have an excellent buffet dinner served by the Dhahran Palace Hotel staff. <> <> <> Section news reports and photographs are published from submissions received from individual sections. For submission requirements, contact ASNT's Membership Department. Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. ASNT is not responsible for the authenticity or accuracy of information herein. Published opinions and statements do not necessarily reflect the opinion of ASNT. Products or services that are advertised or mentioned do not carry the endorsement or recommendation of ASNT. IRRSP, NDT Handbook, The NDT Technician and www.asnt.org are trademarks of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. ACCP, ASNT, Level III Study Guide, Materials Evaluation, Nondestructive Testing Handbook, Research in Nondestructive Evaluation and RNDE are registered trademarks of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. ASNT exists to create a safer world by promoting the profession and technologies of nondestructive testing.