ASNT 2026 in Review

The NDT community came to Columbus, Ohio, on 12–15 October for ASNT 2026: The Annual Conference. This year’s theme, “Together We Lead,” ran through a program of more than 80 technical sessions, two general sessions, and a lineup of new events built around ASNT’s 85th anniversary.

Keynotes and General Sessions

Jason O. Harris opened the conference Monday afternoon with “Elevating Trust: Leading Together When the Stakes Are High,” sponsored by Carestream NDT. Harris is a combat-decorated US Air Force pilot, a commercial airline captain, and the author of No Fail Trust. He described two kinds of trust that high-performing teams need: confidence in a colleague’s technical competence, and confidence in the person behind the role. On Tuesday, he led a follow-up session on building teams that perform under pressure.

Tuesday’s general session took on certification. ASNT Chief Global Strategy Officer Paul Lang and Past President Clyde May presented “Together We Lead: Redefining How NDT Skills and Performance Are Proven.” They described a modernization of SNT-TC-1A focused on proving what a technician can do, not only how many hours they have logged. The project is still in discovery and will remain an employer-based system. ASNT plans subject matter expert groups for each method, followed by an open industry comment period. Attendees continued the discussion at an afternoon Q&A.

On Wednesday, Garra Liming, ASNT Director of Public Relations and Government Affairs, moderated the workforce development panel “Building the Skilled Workforce of the Future.” Panelists Eddie Pompa, owner of 4Point NDT LLC; Emilie Peloquin, director at Evident/Wabtec Inspection Technologies; Joshua de Monbrun, ASNT Board Director; Prakash Gokulanandam, Managing Director of ASNT India; and JJ Owen, Executive Director of Skills Jam, discussed career awareness, training, technology adoption, and global perspectives on the talent pipeline. ASNT President Jason Riggs and Advocacy Committee Chair Mike Childers opened the session with an update on ASNT’s advocacy work.

The career conversation continued on the exhibit floor, where the Career Corner connected job seekers, students, and the career-curious with NDT employers on Tuesday and Wednesday, no appointment needed. Wednesday afternoon, the Women in NDT Council (WIN) hosted “Ask the Experts: Navigating Careers, Certifications & Growth in NDT.” Panelists Amanda Pace of APEX PQI, Veronique Chayer of Eddyfi Technologies, Paul Knopick of Pinnacle X-ray Solutions, and Rebecca Hase of North Star Imaging shared advice on certification pathways, career turning points, and mentorship.

Jennifer Mass, President of Scientific Analysis of Fine Art LLC, closed the conference at Thursday’s luncheon with “Fakes, Forgeries, and Disappearing Paintings: NDT Case Studies in Connoisseurship.” Mass showed how methods from X-ray fluorescence mapping to gamma radiography help authenticate artworks and explain why paintings by van Gogh, Munch, and Matisse are changing color. The luncheon also recognized the RISE Class of 2026 and the 2025–2026 President’s Award for ASNT sections.

New and Notable This Year

The second Battle of the AI Agents, led by AI consultant Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, ran all week. Participants with no programming background built custom AI agents for real NDT problems during Monday’s workshop. They demoed them Tuesday, and three finalists competed in Wednesday’s final round, with the winner picked by attendee vote. Dean Miller of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Mahammad Faizan Pinjari of Hercules Drawn Steel won free registration to ASNT 2027 with DiscontinuityIQ, an agent that looks up acceptance criteria for cold-finished steel bar. A user enters the product, size, finish, and discontinuity, and the agent returns an accept or reject result tied to the cited standard. Tsipursky followed with a session on practical AI applications for NDT professionals.

The ASNT booth became a destination of its own. During Monday’s Welcome Reception, ASNT Fellow and NASA NDT Level III Eddie Pompa signed copies of Guardians of Infrastructure, the new collection of all nine NDT Hero Adventures stories from Materials Evaluation. On Tuesday, attendees stopped by the LEGO® Minifig Bar to build their own minifigures. On Wednesday, more than 300 attendees created a custom ASNT All-Star comic book to take home.

ASNT’s RISE Leadership Development Program also added something new: its first RISE Program Mixer. On Tuesday evening, current participants, alumni, and mentors gathered at Barley’s Brewing Co. on North High Street. The mixer brought together the graduating Class of 2026 and the incoming cohort of 20 early- career professionals from 11 countries. It follows the launch of the RISE Alumni Group this summer, and with this year’s graduates, more than 40 people have now completed the program.

Annual Meeting and Foundation Golf Tournament

At Tuesday’s Annual Meeting of the Members, held in person and online, ASNT leadership reported membership of 13 577 as of 30 June, up 10.3% from the year before. Interim CEO Barry Schieferstein, CFAO Nealy Patty, and President Jason Riggs reviewed the Society’s finances and progress on Vision 2035. Highlights included the first NDT Week held in January 2026, the SNT-TC-1A modernization project, and the establishment of ASNT’s first Global Advisory Board.

The week started early for 59 golfers on 15 teams at the ASNT Foundation’s 4th Annual Golf Tournament at the Golf Club of Dublin. The Carestream NDT team of Dustin Foughty, Matt Tria, Chris Woodard, and Pete Howie won the four-person scramble at 11 under par after a scorecard playoff. Proceeds support Foundation scholarships, grants, workforce development, and STEM outreach. ASNT thanks title sponsors MET-L-CHEK and North Star Imaging, and golf carts sponsor Carestream NDT.

85 Years, and on to Albuquerque

Eighty-five years after nine radiographers founded the Society, attendees marked the anniversary Wednesday night at ASNT Celebrates! held in the Battelle Grand Ballroom. The evening featured the cutting of the ASNT 85th birthday cake and an all-request dueling piano show from Cleveland Keys, with two grand pianos and a setlist determined by the crowd.

Save the date—next year’s conference is heading west to Albuquerque, New Mexico, on 18–21 October 2027. Watch for registration and program details in the coming months.