LEADERSHIP
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SCOPE
LET ME SPEAK FREELY
I recently attended an international conference on nondestructive
testing (NDT) in Niagara Falls, Ontario, put on by the Pan-American
Federation for Nondestructive Testing (PANNDT), of which ASNT is a
member. Kudos to our friends to the north at the Canadian Institute for
Non-destructive Evaluation (CINDE), who organized and hosted the very
successful event.
I welcome the opportunity to attend such events, as I get to connect
with colleagues from around the world and discuss important issues
in the field of NDT as well as matters pertinent to managing a national
NDT society. The feedback I receive at these conferences informs how
we position ASNT, shapes the programs and services we provide to
members, and helps identify opportunities for improvement. I’d like to
share some of the feedback provided to me from the recent PANNDT
event.
The overwhelming majority of feedback from international colleagues
is that they look to ASNT to be a global leader for the field. We were
one of the first NDT societies formed, and we set the global standards
for personnel qualification through the SNT-TC-1A Recommended
Practice and the ASNT NDT Level III certification. The US has the largest
economy and the most innovation (in my opinion), and ASNT has the
most resources (I have not validated this claim, but it is the perception).
This feedback matches the feedback the Board of Directors gathered
during its recent stakeholder outreach project as part of the Vision 2035
strategic planning process. In short, ASNT is highly respected by our
international colleagues, and they expect us to lead.
However, there was a series of interesting perspectives from people at
the conference that I’d like to focus on. A well-known researcher shared
their concern that research seems less important to ASNT than before
a very accomplished Level III expressed concern that ASNT “has been
taken over by the equipment companies” a young professional said
they are trying to find the value ASNT provides as they pursue Level II
certification and make their way in the profession a senior professional
shared that they drifted away from ASNT because, some years ago,
certain individuals got into power to serve their own personal interests
lastly, a highly respected executive in the aerospace industry said they
don’t engage with ASNT as much as they could because they view us as
focused exclusively on the energy industries—specifically the oil and gas
sector.
First, I respect each of these individuals for having the courage to
provide their feedback directly to me. Sometimes it’s easier to sit back
and avoid the discussion to steer clear of unpleasantness. Second, each
and every comment I received has validity after all, we’re talking about
individual perceptions, not facts or figures. All feedback goes into “the
hopper” to help inform ASNT’s Board on the Society’s direction.
Now let me share some thoughts on these issues.
NEAL J. COUTURE,
FASAE, CAE
ASNT CEO
NCOUTURE@ASNT.ORG
If you or your
organization are
anywhere in the
NDT ecosystem,
ASNT must position
itself to help you.
You all have a
seat at the ASNT
table—for the
advancement of the
NDT field.
A U G U S T 2 0 2 5 • M AT E R I A L S E V A L U AT I O N 81

ASNT’s founders back in the 1940s
were researchers, and for the first
20 years of our existence, most of
our members were scientists and
researchers. Our first programs
supported research through conferences
and journal publications. Research is
in our DNA. It remains essential to our
members, the industries we serve, and
the Board of Directors, and I remain
committed to that part of ASNT’s
community.
ASNT spends more on research
today than ever before: we hold the
ASNT Research Symposium, the leading
research conference in nondestructive
evaluation (again, my opinion) we publish
two research journals, Materials Evaluation
and Research in Nondestructive
Evaluation (RNDE), and we make our
published research more accessible than
ever before we fund more research
scholarships and faculty grants than
ever before we have researchers on our
Board of Directors and throughout our
councils and committees we joined the
Center for Nondestructive Evaluation
(CNDE) as members for the first time
in 2024 we have sponsored members
to present their research at the World
Conference on NDT and we estab-
lished the ASNT Foundation, which has
produced ASNT’s first industry-focused
research and, as it gains funding, will
increase the size and number of scholar-
ships and grants it awards.
At the same time, we stopped
conducting the US-Japan NDT
Symposium, which ran seven times (in
Hawaii) in alternating years until 2022
with a maximum US attendance of fewer
than 75 people, and the International
Symposium on the Nondestructive
Characterization of Materials (ISNDCM),
which ran three times in alternating
years until 2023 with a maximum of 75
attendees. We discontinued these two
events because they were an inefficient
use of ASNT’s resources (in other words,
they did not cover their costs). They
also faced significant competition from
well-established international research
conferences conducted by other national
societies and federations, such as the
PANNDT conference I recently attended
and the Asia Pacific Conference for NDT
(APCNDT), which we will host in Hawaii
in 2026.
It is no secret that with the launch of
SNT-TC-1A in 1966 and the ASNT NDT
Level III certification in 1977, ASNT’s focus
expanded from primarily research to
include personnel qualification of prac-
titioners. ASNT’s membership reflected
this shift, as over the years we grew
significantly as Level III professionals
were created and engaged. Naturally,
these members came to hold leadership
positions on ASNT’s Board of Directors,
and the Board’s attention and priorities
expanded. We didn’t stop supporting
research—we expanded our field.
Some members would say this shift
went too far, that ASNT became “the
Level III society,” to the exclusion of
others. Perhaps. If you read the Board’s
minutes, they do seem dominated by
discussions focused on certification, but
maybe that was natural given its impor-
tance in the field. In any event…
At some point our community
expanded as new methods were devel-
oped, and the technology needed to
perform these methods was developed
(thank you, research!). The NDT equip-
ment industry rapidly grew in the 1990s
and 2000s into what it is today. Naturally,
people employed at equipment compa-
nies engaged in ASNT and are now
represented on our Board of Directors
and in our councils and committees. This
expansion did not reduce our commit-
ment to research or personnel certifi-
cation—it broadened the scope of our
attention, to the betterment of the field.
Equipment companies are an essential
component of the NDT field and, as such,
are important to ASNT.
ASNT has historically not had many
Level I or II members. We think this
is because most of their professional
development needs were being met by
their employers. Therefore, ASNT didn’t
develop many products or programs
specifically for Level I and II professionals.
It’s a reinforcing cycle—one that needs
to be broken. ASNT is now focusing its
attention on how to support technicians
of all levels throughout their careers.
ASNT continues to transform to
achieve its mission: to advance the
field of NDT. Not just the researchers,
or the Level IIIs, or just one part of the
field, but the entire field. That includes
not only individuals but also the organi-
zations utilizing, performing, providing,
supporting, educating, researching, or
equipping NDT. If you or your organiza-
tion are anywhere in the NDT ecosystem,
ASNT must position itself to help you.
You all have a seat at the ASNT table—for
the advancement of the NDT field.
I invite you to join us in this worthy
mission. Please reach out to me I
welcome your perspectives and ideas.
SCOPE
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LEADERSHIP
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