FIFTH CANADIAN CONFERENCE ON NONDESTRUCTIVE ... - IAEA

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In the Canadian Society for Nondestructive Testing, we have a responsible
National Society. The.Society provides its members with an excellent
technical Journal, communicates at the national and international
level with other technical Societies, provides representation
on the C.G.S.B. subcommittees for certification of NDT personnel,
and conducts seminars and conferences. These services are vital in
keeping the NDT community in Canada up-to-date on recent developments
and providing a forum for discussion. C.S.N.D.T. has taken a major
step in ensuring high quality, uniform education for nondestructive
testing personnel in Canada. I refer to "C.S.N.D.T. Procedure - ED-1"
which states :
This document identifies the conditions and procedures
under which the Canadian Society for Nondestructive
Testing Inc., and the Canadian Society for Nondestructive
Testing Foundation (hereafter referred to as the
Society and the Foundation) will issue certificates of
education to students who have attended in any of the
NDT methods identified in this document.
The use of this procedure is mandatory and is to be
adopted by the Foundation and all Chapters of the
Society. Other organizations may adopt this procedure
in order to conform with standardization of NDT
training in Canada; such organizations must comply
with ED-1 in its entirety for approval by the National
Commi 11ee.
ED-1 is meant to supplement the C.G.S.B. certification standards, not
to replace them. The Society has simply gone a step further and provided
recommended guidelines regarding the educational material,
instructors' credentials, and examination format for the educational
programs. Again, the objective is to ensure high quality, uniform
education for NDT personnel.
N.D.T. training in Canada has come a long way in a relatively short
period of time. At this conference, we are celebrating the major
strides that the Society has taken in just twenty years and I congratulate
the Society for its emphasis on education.
What strides will be taken in the next twenty years? The strides that
are taken are going to have to be in step with a rapidly changing technology.
Many of the registrants at this conference will listen to presented
papers with NDT applications which they had not thought of, or
perhaps, thought possible. But how many people, and how many of the
disciplines 'hat inter-relate with NDT, are we reaching?
In any technology, there is a frustrating (and potentially dangerous)
gap between the engineer and the technician. Within the next five years
I believe those of us in the NDT sector of Canadian industry are going
to be the first to realize the impact of a fairly recent addition to
some community college semester programs. In a course entitled "Materials
Testing", students are taking Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Foundry
Practice and Metallurgy, Electrical Systems and Instrumentation, Welding
Computer Concepts, Statistics, Mechanics of Solids, Nondestructive and
Destructive testing, and Language and Report Writing.