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The article offers information on the 51st Annual Conference of The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) that was held in Northamptonshire, England in September 2012. It states that more than 200 delegates and 49 exhibitors attended the conference and several professors and researchers were awarded for their contribution in research field. It further states that delegates also visited National Space Centre in Leicester, England for exhibition and evening dinner.

Information on the 50th Annual Conference of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) held in 2011 is presented. Topics include music, the institute's presidents, and how innovation leads to quality. The event featured several speakers including Andrew Sherry from the University of Manchester, doctor Roman Maev from the University of Windsor, and BINDT president Steve Lavender.

This paper describes the advantages and challenges of an organisation that links industrial needs with academic research. The successful UK Research Centre for NDE (RCNDE) was established in 2003 as a partnership between various large industrial users of NDE, the UK Government university funding body (EPSRC) and six leading UK universities. During the 1980s and 1990s, industrial organisations reduced the size of or closed their NDE research laboratories and concentrated on shorter-term development activities to further their core businesses. At this time, the links between industry and universities regarding NDE were often weak; industrial needs were seen as immediate whilst academic timescales too protracted. The result was poor delivery and/or understanding of academic output and a correspondingly slow uptake of new research ideas. During the 1990s, major industrial users of NDE and universities began to develop bilateral arrangements to overcome the barriers to effective cooperation. Recognising the wide range of industries with a need for high-quality NDE research, discussions instigated by the UK Government in 2001-2 led to the creation of RCNDE in April 2003. Since that time, industrial and university involvement has steadily grown and the success of the partnership led to a second phase of public funding between 2008-2014. The core membership now includes 16 major industrial companies and six universities, with a growing number of other universities and companies also participating. From its inception, RCNDE has emphasised the importance of exploiting the research outcomes and a system based on Technology Readiness Levels is now being used to facilitate the technology transfer process. This approach helps all parties to understand the full range of activities which need to be achieved before new research can be translated into commercial products or processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional (2D) ultrasonic arrays for non-destructive evaluation will enable the detection and characterisation of sub-surface defects in three-dimensions (3D). This type of volumetric inspection is desirable when testing engineering components that have an inherent 3D internal structure or may contain defects orientated at a range of angles. One potential industrial application for this technology is the in-situ inspection of jet-engine turbine blades for root cracking. However, modern turbine blades are manufactured from single crystals of nickel-based superalloys for the excellent mechanical properties these materials exhibit at elevated temperatures. Single-crystal materials are elastically anisotropic, which causes ultrasonic waves to propagate with different velocities depending on the direction of the wave. If unaddressed, this significantly reduces the quality of the inspection and the 3D images that can be produced with an ultrasonic array. In this paper, a model of wave propagation in anisotropic media is used to correct an ultrasonic imaging algorithm to enable the reliable volumetric inspection of single-crystal aerospace components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on the Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) 2011 conference and the Materials Testing 2011 exhibition sponsored by the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) is presented. It says that Bill Gardner presented a lecture to music, while Gail Long presented a review of the Institute's presidents. It states that the award for the best paper was given to M. Alamin and the William Gardner Award for the best paper went to A. M. Chertov.