CLEVELAND
C L E V E L A N D ,O H
1 5 A P R I L 2 0 2 4
1 4 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Cleveland Section held a meeting
at Mavis Winkles Restaurant in Twinsburg,
Ohio. Speaker Peter Pelayo, Met-L-Chek
Product Manager at McGean, presented
the modern history of liquid penetrant
inspection from a penetrant materials
manufacturer’s perspective. His talk
included the changes in the test method
from visible to fluorescent dyes and
included the transition from mercury
vapor UV lamps to LED UV lamps. Also
addressed was the question, “How small
of a crack can be found with penetrant
inspection?”
COLORADO
D E N V E R ,C O
11 A P R I L 2 0 2 4
8 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Colorado Section met at EVRAZ
North America in Pueblo, Colorado. The
meeting consisted of a tour and overview
of the EVRAZ “Rail Weld Line,” where rail
is electrically flash butt welded to provide
continuously welded rail to the railroad
industry.
CONNECTICUT YANKEE
G R O T O N ,C T
1 5 M A Y 2 0 2 4
2 4 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ A joint meeting of the Connecticut
Yankee Section and the AWS was held at
the Elks Lodge in Groton, Connecticut.
Max Richardson, a student in the Nuclear
Engineering Technology program at
Three Rivers Community College, was
awarded a US$500 scholarship for his
essay on nondestructive testing in a
nuclear power plant. This was followed by
Martin Dahl of Rad Source Technologies,
who delivered a presentation focusing
on the company’s new digital imaging
inspection system.
MINNESOTA
M I N N E A P O L I S ,M N
1 8 A P R I L 2 0 2 4
1 5 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ “Weld Failure Analysis” was the focus of
this Minnesota Section event and facility
tour, held at Materials Evaluation and
Engineering Inc. in Plymouth, Minnesota,
and hosted by CEO and Principal
Engineer Larry Hanke and Principal
Materials Engineer Dan Grice. The event
covered various failure analysis scenarios
in a variety of materials and included a
tour of their material characterization and
testing laboratory and its capabilities.
SAUDI ARABIAN
D H A H R A N ,S A U D I A R A B I A
17 A P R I L 2 0 2 4
9 5 A T T E N D I N G
Ñ The Saudi Arabian Section held
its sixth technical dinner meeting for
the 2023–2024 program year at the
Mercure Hotel Khobar in Al Khobar.
Gareth Mugford, Product Manager for
NDT Scanners &Solutions at Eddyfi
Technologies, delivered a presentation
on “Turnkey Phased Array Solutions.”
SCOPE
|
SECTIONNEWS
|
SPOTLIGHTCONNECTICUTYANKEE
Professor Jim Sherrard, Section Director (left) and Section Chair Kari
Slattberg (right) presented a scholarship award to Three Rivers Community
College student Max Richardson (center) for his essay on nondestructive
testing in a nuclear power plant.
SAVE THE DATE:
SECOND ANNUAL
ASNT FOUNDATION
GOLF TOURNAMENT
Location: Wildhorse Golf Club,
Henderson, NV
Date: 19 October 2024
Get ready to swing into action at ASNT’s
exciting charity golf tournament!
Whether you’re a pro or just starting
out, come join the fun and support a
great cause before our annual confer-
ence kicks off.
Network with industry pals, enjoy
delicious food and drinks, and grab
some cool swag. Plus, there are fantastic
prizes up for grabs!
All proceeds benefit the ASNT
Foundation, helping to advance
nondestructive testing (NDT) through
scholarships, grants, research, and
workforce development.
Don’t miss out! Make plans to join
us for a day of golf, camaraderie, and
giving back. More information will
be posted on asntfoundation.org as it
becomes available.
Save the date and see you on the green!
|
PARTICIPATE
72
M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N • J U L Y 2 0 2 4

AGUSTIN HARTE
2024 ASNT Foundation Engineering
Undergraduate Scholarship winner
Agustin Harte is a junior at Penn State
University, studying Engineering Science
and Energy Engineering. Harte holds
leadership positions in the Society of
Hispanic Professional Engineers and the
Society of Engineering Science.
Harte also participates as an active
undergraduate researcher in the
Argüelles Research Group, which broadly
concerns itself with using ultrasound for
the nondestructive characterization of
materials. Harte recently traveled with
the group to the 186th Meeting of the
Acoustical Society of America and gave a
presentation on the use of ultrasonics in
dairy processing. Harte plans to pursue
graduate studies and continue research in
the field of nondestructive testing (NDT),
relating evaluations to the renewable
energy sector.
NADIA LAFONTANT
2024 ASNT Foundation Engineering
Undergraduate Scholarship winner
Nadia Lafontant is an undergraduate in
the School of Computing at Southern
Illinois University at Carbondale (SIUC).
She is currently working in the Intelligent
Measurement and Evaluation Laboratory,
where she studies nondestructive evalu-
ation (NDE). Lafontant is also a teaching
assistant for the “Engineering Learning
Skills” course.
By developing AI models capable of
detecting faults in metals with unprec-
edented precision, Lafontant seeks to
address longstanding challenges in NDT,
such as limited inspection speed and
human error.
BROOKE LASTINGER
2024 ASNT Foundation Engineering
Undergraduate Scholarship winner
Brooke Lastinger is a junior at the
University of Florida, pursuing combined
bachelor’s and master’s degrees in
Materials Science and Engineering.
Lastinger is the treasurer for Material
Advantage, the Materials Science and
Engineering student society, and a team
lead for the club’s design team, Ceramic
Mug Drop. Lastinger conducts under-
graduate research in the university’s
Quantum Materials Design Group, with
the goal of developing a practical and
nondestructive method of measuring
oxygen diffusion in oxide thin films for
nano-ionic technologies.
In 2023, Lastinger interned at Naval Air
Station Jacksonville’s (NAS JAX) Materials
Engineering Laboratory in their nonde-
structive inspection branch, where she
gained hands-on experience in five
NDT methods and performed service
life assessment protocols and material
engineering service requests on struc-
tural components of the Navy’s aircraft.
This summer, Lastinger returned to NAS
JAX where she is an intern for both the
nondestructive inspection and metallurgy
branches, working on failure analysis and
engineering investigations.
STUART KLEVEN
2024 Charles N. Sherlock Meritorious
Service Award winner Stuart Kleven
is a Quality Engineer and Responsible
Level III at Acuren–Alloyweld Inspection,
an NDT laboratory and metal finishing
and welding shop in Bensenville, Illinois,
serving critical industries including aero-
space, electronics, medical devices, and
forensics. He is an ASNT NDT Level III in
four test methods—radiographic testing
(RT), ultrasonic testing (UT), magnetic
particle testing (MT), and liquid penetrant
testing (PT)—as well an ASNT Fellow and
Mentoring Award recipient and an AWS
CWI (American Welding Society Certified
Weld Inspector). He has 51 years of NDT
experience in the commercial laboratory,
welding and fabrication, forging, and
nuclear power industries. Currently, he
serves on the ASTM (American Society
for Testing and Materials) E7 Committee
for RT, PT, MT, and UT. He also serves
on the board for the Chicago Section of
ASNT.
AWARDS&HONORS
|
SCOPE
ABOUT THE ENGINEERING
UNDERGRADUATE
SCHOLARSHIP
The Engineering Undergraduate Scholarship
is a cash award given by the ASNT Foundation,
currently US$3000 per award, that provides an
incentive to undergraduate students enrolled
in accredited US colleges and universities who
are pursuing NDT/E as their field of specialization.
ABOUT THE CHARLES N.
SHERLOCK MERITORIOUS
AWARD
The Charles N. Sherlock Meritorious Service
Award, given by ASNT, recognizes an indi-
vidual’s outstanding voluntary service to the
Society, through a single or aggregate activi-
ties, though not necessarily in any single year.
J U L Y 2 0 2 4 • M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N 73