Five Takeaways from ASNT 2026
ASNT 2026, the Society’s Annual Conference, brought the NDT community together in Columbus, Ohio, on 12–15 October. Here are five highlights from the week.
1. The NDT industry will help shape the next evolution of SNT-TC-1A.
For nearly 60 years, Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A has given employers a trusted way to qualify NDT technicians. At the 13 October general session, ASNT Chief Global Strategy Officer Paul Lang and ASNT Board Director and Past President Clyde May asked the next question: How does the industry prove what a technician can do, not just how many hours they’ve logged?
When SNT-TC-1A was first published in 1966, inspection performance was hard to capture, so counting hours made sense. Today, tools such as recorded scans, PAUT, FMC/TFM, and digital radiography allow performance to be reviewed directly. Careers have changed too. Technicians move between employers more often, which makes a credential tied to one employer’s hours harder to carry.
Lang and May pointed to three pressures driving the review:
Workforce: More than 39% of certified NDT personnel are over 55, and only 11% are under 35.
Technology: NDE 4.0, automation, robotics, and VR/AR training are changing the work.
Confidence: Employers, customers, and regulators increasingly expect traceable evidence of competence.
A Q&A followed the presentation, with ASNT members asking questions and offering feedback. The project is still in the discovery phase, and no outcome has been selected. SNT-TC-1A will remain an employer-based program, and there is no predetermined move to third-party certification. ASNT will form subject-matter expert groups to review each method and section, followed by an open industry comment period. Sign-up details and a timeline will be shared soon.
2. When the stakes are high, you need both functional and relational trust.
The public trusts that aircraft are safe to fly and bridges are sound. According to opening keynote speaker Jason O. Harris, that trust starts with the people behind the work. Harris is a combat-decorated US Air Force pilot, a commercial airline captain, and the author of No Fail Trust.
In “Elevating Trust: Leading Together When the Stakes Are High,” sponsored by Carestream NDT, Harris described two dimensions of trust that high-performing teams need. Functional trust is confidence in a colleague’s technical competence. Relational trust is confidence in the person behind the role. He shared ways organizations can strengthen both.
3. The RISE program is shaping ASNT’s next leaders.
For ASNT’s RISE Leadership Development Program, the Annual Conference is both a finish line and a starting point. The Class of 2026 graduated, and a new cohort began its year with in-person sessions led by RISE graduates Amanda Pace, Annabel Sab-it, and Joshua Spychalla.
The program’s impact is already visible. RISE graduates are stepping into volunteer leadership roles across ASNT, and more than 40 people have now completed the program. This year’s conference also hosted the first RISE Program Mixer at Barley’s Brewing Co. in Columbus, where current participants and alumni from past cohorts gathered to connect.
4. AI is creating new ways to innovate NDT workflows.
DiscontinuityIQ, a tool that looks up acceptance criteria for NDT, won ASNT’s second Battle of the AI Agents. Conference attendees voted for the winner after the top three competitors presented their agents live. The tool was built by Dean Miller, NDT/NDI Test Engineer at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, and Mahammad Faizan Pinjari, Quality Manager at Hercules Drawn Steel.
DiscontinuityIQ uses retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to help with quality engineering for cold-finished steel bar. A user enters the product, size, finish, and discontinuity found. The tool then pulls the tolerance from the cited standard and returns an accept or reject result. The winning team provided an example of checking eddy current indications against ASTM A108. The team’s tagline: “Answers from the standard. Never from memory.”
The winners earned free registration to ASNT 2027. The challenge was led by Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts. He followed the competition with a session called “Beyond Experimentation: Practical AI Applications for NDT Professionals,” where he drew on the 2025 and 2026 competitions to show how NDT professionals can turn their expertise into AI tools for their own work.
5. In its 85th year, ASNT reported growth and stronger finances.
At the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Members, ASNT reported double-digit membership growth and a 30% improvement in its operating deficit. Membership reached 13 577 as of 30 June, up 10.3% from a year earlier, and 2893 people joined ASNT for the first time.
FY2026 revenue held steady at US$11.2 million, while program expenses fell by $574 000, and all six program areas posted a positive margin. Investment income brought net assets to $28 million. ASNT remains debt-free, and the FY2027 budget is projected to eliminate deficits from continuing operations.
ASNT 2027 heads to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on 18–21 October 2027. Mark your calendar for four days of technical sessions, networking, and the industry’s largest exhibit hall.
