CENTRAL INDIANA
I N D I A N A P O L I S ,I N
1 0 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3
1 2 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Central Indiana Section met
at Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza in
Greenwood, Indiana. Lucas Garcia from
Screening Eagle was the guest tech-
nical presenter. Garcia’s presentation
highlighted his company’s ability to use
ground penetrating radar to protect the
built world.
CHICAGO
C H I C A G O ,I L
1 3 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3
2 4 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Chicago Section met at the
Pyramid Club Restaurant in Addison,
Illinois. The speaker for the evening was
ASNT President and KBR Tech Fellow
John Chen, PhD. Chen’s theme for the
evening was “NDT of Welds in Upstream
Equipment for Oil and Gas.”
COLORADO
D E N V E R ,C O
9 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3
1 6 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ Jesse Grantham, PhD, of Welding
&Joining Management Group gave a
technical presentation on “Hand-Held
Laser Beam Welding &Heat Treatment
of Metals.” This was a virtual meeting that
included high school welding and NDT
students from Colorado Springs School
District 3, The Mill.
CONNECTICUT YANKEE
G R O T O N ,C T
1 5 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3
3 0 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ A joint meeting between AWS and the
Connecticut Yankee Section was held at
the Elks Lodge in Groton, Connecticut.
The evening was dedicated to the bene-
fits of vocational education and the impor-
tance of mentorship. Neil Mansfield, CWI,
retired welding/metal fab teacher from
Assabet Valley Vocational High School,
along with Matt Marshall, NDT inspector
and aviation structural mechanic, shared
their experiences of vocational and US
Navy training and the value of mentors.
Graduates from Assabet Valley Vocational
High School shared their experiences from
vocational education to current employ-
ment positions including welding, NDT
material inspection, and self-employed
business ownership in welding and fabri-
cation. This was a symbiotic meeting
where old learned from new and new
learned from old.
IOWA
A M E S ,I A
1 8 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3
17 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Iowa Section hosted a pizza
dinner and technical talk at the Center
for Nondestructive Evaluation. Guest
speaker Gavin Dao, director of business
development at AOS-NDT, discussed the
adaptive total focusing method and other
ultrasound techniques.
KUWAIT
K U W A I T C I T Y, K U W A I T
5 N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 3
2 0 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Kuwait Section held its first
student outreach and mentoring
program for the 2023–2024 program
year at the Kohinoor Hotel in Fahaheel,
Kuwait. The title of the presentation
was “Basic of NDT Methods, ASNT
SNT-TC-1A: 2020 and ASNT CP-189:
2020” by Sangili Gunasekaran, Manager –
Quality Operations of HEISCO.
LEWIS &CLARK
P O R T L A N D ,O R
19 S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3
9 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Lewis &Clark Section met,
covered old/new business, and listened
to a presentation on shear wave UT from
Brandon Zach, which included some
physical samples of equipment and a
hands-on demonstration.
METRO NY/NORTHERN
NEW JERSEY
R O C K V I L L E C E N T R E ,N Y
11 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3
3 2 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Metro NY/Northern New Jersey
Section met for an industry tour and
presentation given by Matt May of
Dayton T. Brown. The presentation
was on specialized test techniques and
functions.
MINNESOTA
M I N N E A P O L I S ,M N
11 O C T O B E R 2 0 2 3
3 5 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Minnesota Section held its annual
ASNT student hotdog membership drive
and signed up 19 new members for
ASNT and the Section. One hundred and
twenty hotdogs were consumed.
SECTIONNEWS
|
SCOPE
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SPOTLIGHTCONNECTICUTYANKEE
The Connecticut Yankee Section held a joint meeting with AWS
for its November meeting focused on vocational education
and mentorship. From left: Rob Starkey, Brook Folan, Matthew
Marshall, Neil Mansfield, Justin Cameron, Malorie Baldinger, Zach
Ritter, and Fay Butler.
J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4 • M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N 95
2401 ME January.indd 95 12/20/23 8:01 AM

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AWARDS&HONORS
DAVID GILBERT
2023 ASNT Fellow David Gilbert grad-
uated from the University of Leeds, UK,
with an honours degree in electrical and
electronic engineering. After spending
time in industry focusing on electronic
control of electrical machines (especially
for the pulp and paper industry), he went
on to become editor of Vector, Southern
Africa’s largest electrical engineering
journal. He joined the British Institute of
Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) in 1993
as editor of the Institute’s journal, which
was relaunched in 1994 with the new
title Insight. He went on to become head
of publishing, media, and marketing at
BINDT and then deputy CEO.
Gilbert is now CEO at BINDT and is
also general secretary of the International
Committee for NDT (ICNDT), a board
member and communications secre-
tary for the European Federation
of NDT (EFNDT), and a member of
the Council of the Academia NDT
International. He is a Chartered Engineer,
Fellow of BINDT, and member of the
Institution of Engineering &Technology.
Gilbert also sits on several ASNT commit-
tees, including the Research Council,
the Engineering Council, the Scientific &
Technical Advisors Committee, and the
NDE 4.0 Committee.
AKIN KOKSAL
2023 ASNT Fellow Akin A. Koksal is a
registered professional engineer and
commission-eligible National Board
Inspector in Alberta, Canada, with a
master’s degree in welding engineering.
Koksal delivered nondestructive testing
(NDT) lectures while completing his
metallurgical engineering degree at
Istanbul Technical University. He started
his inspection career in 1994 and has
been an active member of ASNT since
2003. He holds ASNT NDT Level III certifi-
cation in PT, MT, RT, UT, and VT.
Koksal has worked in the engineering,
construction, operation, and mainte-
nance phases of various large-scale
projects in the oil and gas, pipelines,
storage tanks, and power generation
industries. In his current role as a Chief
Inspector at MEG Energy, he manages
the in-house NDT program and works
closely with various technology devel-
opers and service providers focusing
on increasing probability of detection
with new approaches. He volunteers in
CSA Group Z662-Pipelines and Z245.X-
Material Technical Subcommittees. He
also serves as an ASNT Exam Monitor
and a member of the Certification
Management Committee and Technical
and Education Council, and has contrib-
uted as a peer reviewer for various ASNT
publications.
ANISH POUDEL
2023 ASNT Fellow Anish Poudel, PhD, is
the Principal Investigator II – NDE within
the R&D department of MxV Rail. He
holds a BS, MS, and PhD in mechanical
engineering with the focus on nonde-
structive evaluation (NDE).
Poudel serves as a team leader,
SME, and mentor providing advanced
technical expertise related to NDE,
wayside inspection technologies, and
data analytics for the North American
railway industry. He brings over 13 years
of R&D and testing experience in the
field of NDE for aerospace and railroad
applications and is currently an ASNT
BOD member and chair of the Research
Council. He has authored over 100 tech-
nical publications/presentations in the
field of NDE and has one patent.
Poudel has received numerous pres-
tigious recognitions, both in the field of
NDE and railway research. He was the
recipient of the 2019 International Heavy
Haul Association Emerging Railway
Professionals Award, the 2018 ASNT
Mentoring Award, and 2014 ASNT New
NDT Professional Award.
Prior to joining MxV Rail, Poudel was
a laboratory supervisor and full-time
instructor in the department of mechan-
ical and engineering processes at
Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
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