WABTEC AGREES TO
ACQUIRE EVIDENT’S
INSPECTION
TECHNOLOGIES
DIVISION FOR
US$1.78 BILLION
In January, Wabtec Corp. (NYSE: WAB)
announced it will acquire Evident’s
Inspection Technologies division
(Inspection Technologies), formerly part
of Olympus Corp.’s Scientific Solutions
Division. A global leader in nondestruc-
tive testing, remote visual inspection,
and analytical instruments, Inspection
Technologies brings industry-leading
complementary technologies to Wabtec’s
digital intelligence business, positioning
the company for accelerated, profit-
able growth while enhancing customer
productivity, reliability, and safety.
Inspection Technologies operates
across North America and Japan with
over 1300 employees. “The addition
of Inspection Technologies aligns with
our growth strategy to accelerate the
innovation of scalable technologies,
increase our installed base, expand
high margin recurring revenues,
and continuously drive operational
performance,” said Rafael Santana,
Wabtec President and CEO. Nalin
Jain, President of Wabtec’s Digital
Intelligence Group, added, “Inspection
Technologies will augment our existing
offerings in the rail, mining, and indus-
trial sectors while broadening our reach
into other high-growth, high-margin
complementary sectors.”
The acquisition enhances Wabtec’s
capabilities in automated inspection,
data analytics, and automation. “The
combination of our two skilled teams
and complementary portfolios will accel-
erate the development of first-class,
intelligent monitoring solutions to meet
the changing needs of the industries
we serve,” said Karen Smith, Executive
Vice President of Evident Inspection
Technologies.
Headquartered near Boston,
Massachusetts, Evident’s Inspection
Technologies division is expected
to generate US$433 million in 2024
revenue, with a 25.9% EBITDA margin.
Wabtec will acquire the division for
US$1.78 billion (~US$1.68 billion after tax
benefits), with the deal expected to close
in the first half of 2025, pending regula-
tory approvals.
NASA SMALL BUSINESS
FUNDING ENABLES
AIRCRAFT INSPECTION
BY DRONE
Near Earth Autonomy (Pittsburgh,
PA), through a NASA Small Business
Innovation Research (SBIR) program and
a partnership with Boeing, has devel-
oped a drone-based solution for preflight
checks of commercial airliners.
Preflight inspections, which can take
up to four hours and require workers
to climb around aircraft, pose safety
risks and potential diagnosis errors.
With NASA and Boeing funding, Near
Earth Autonomy’s business unit, Proxim,
created a drone system that completes
inspections in under 30 minutes. The
drone can autonomously fly around an
aircraft to complete the inspection by
following a computer-programmed task
card based on the US Federal Aviation
Administration’s rules for commercial
aircraft inspection. The card shows the
flight path the drone’s software needs to
take, providing aircraft workers a new tool
to increase safety and efficiency.
“NASA has worked with Near Earth
Autonomy on autonomous inspection
challenges in multiple domains,” said
Danette Allen, NASA senior leader for
autonomous systems. “We are excited to
see this technology spin out to industry
to increase efficiencies, safety, and accu-
racy of the aircraft inspection process for
overall public benefit.”
The photos collected from the drone
are shared and analyzed remotely, which
allows experts in the airline maintenance
field to support repair decisions faster
from any location. New images can be
compared to old images to look for
cracks, popped rivets, leaks, and other
common issues.
The user can ask the system to create
alerts if an area needs to be inspected
again or fails an inspection. Near Earth
Autonomy estimates that using drones
for aircraft inspection can save the airline
industry an average of US$10 000 per
hour of lost earnings during unplanned
time on the ground.
Over the last six years, Near Earth
Autonomy completed several rounds of
test flights with their drone system on
SCANNER
|
INDUSTRYNEWS
A Boeing 777-300ER aircraft is inspected by drone at an Emirates Airlines facility in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates.
12
M AT E R I A L S E V A L U AT I O N • M A R C H 2 0 2 5
CREDIT:
NEAR
EARTH
AUTONOMY

Boeing aircraft used by American Airlines
and Emirates Airlines.
NASA’s SBIR/Small Business
Technology Transfer program, managed
by the agency’s Space Technology
Mission Directorate, aims to bolster
American ingenuity by supporting
innovative ideas put forth by small
businesses to fulfill NASA and industry
needs. These research needs are
described in annual SBIR solicitations
and target technologies that have signif-
icant potential for successful commer-
cialization. Small businesses with 500 or
fewer employees, or those partnering
with nonprofit research institutions, are
eligible to apply.
NONDESTRUCTIVE
MICROWAVE RADAR
FINDS HIDDEN
MOISTURE IN
BUILDING WALLS
Moisture buildup can cause serious
problems for homeowners. It can lead to
mold developing on drywall and wood-
based materials, creeping along walls,
floors, and ceilings. Building materials
begin to erode and rot. As insulation
becomes damaged, the home’s energy
efficiency decreases. Even human
health suffers, as moisture also leads to
air-quality issues.
The key to preventing extensive mois-
ture damage is discovering it early, when
it can be easily fixed.
Researchers at the US Department of
Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory
(ORNL) have developed a nondestruc-
tive method using microwave radar to
detect and measure moisture within walls
without removing drywall or cladding.
This technology speeds up moisture
identification and enables early mold
treatment.
“We know microwave radar shows
great promise for this, because it’s well
known that it can measure the mois-
ture in wood samples,” ORNL’s Philip
Boudreaux said. “But can it measure
moisture in wood that is inside a wall
to detect high-moisture issues before
they become a big problem? That’s the
challenge.”
The envelope of a building consists
of exterior walls, the roof, and founda-
tion, all of which are designed to prevent
moisture intrusion but are still vulnerable
to rain, ground dampness, air leaks, and
vapor diffusion when moisture moves
from higher to lower concentrations
through the envelope. Since most homes
are wood-framed, moisture buildup
creates ideal conditions for mold. For
this reason, Boudreaux said, ORNL
researchers chose wood as their initial
test material.
“You can detect water within wood
with microwave energy that reflects off of
the material using radar,” Boudreaux said.
“You can also measure moisture in more
than one type of material within the wall.”
As part of the electromagnetic spec-
trum, microwaves interact with materials
in a similar way to visible light, but they
penetrate further, creating reflections.
Radar systems work by emitting signals
like microwaves and then detecting the
reflections of those microwaves. The
time delay of the returning waves reveals
moisture levels and their locations within
different layers of the wall. ORNL’s study
focused on detecting moisture in the
structural sheathing, typically oriented
strand board, located just behind the
exterior cladding.
Boudreaux’s team tested 305 mm2
wood sheathing samples that were
10 mm thick, conditioned to specific
moisture levels, using microwave radar.
Results were compared to conventional
handheld moisture meters, showing a
detection accuracy within 3%.
The next step was determining
whether radar could see through drywall.
“So, we placed a piece of drywall in front
ORNL researchers (from left: Philip Boudreaux, Rui Zhang, Stephen Killough, and intern Mercy
Sammy) demonstrate how a microwave radar system can detect moisture in a wood panel.
ORNL researchers set up instruments to
direct microwave radar at a sample of particle
board, which represents the first inner layer
or sheathing of a building’s envelope. The test
demonstrated that this nondestructive method
can detect moisture in its earliest stages of
development.
M A R C H 2 0 2 5 • M AT E R I A L S E V A L U AT I O N 13
CREDIT:
CARLOS
JONES/ORNL,
US
DEPARTMENT
OF
ENERGY
CREDIT:
CARLOS
JONES/ORNL,
US
DEPARTMENT
OF
ENERGY