The RCNDE winter meetings were hosted by The University of Warwick from 27th – 29th January 2025

Monday 29th January opened with the Industrial Working Group where attendees were welcomed by Dr Colin Brett at Millburn House, University of Warwick. 

This was followed by Industrial Working Group Talks delivered by Martin Coates from Bae Systems, Liam Harrison and Bernard McGrath from Amentum and Thomas Poon from Rolls Royce. 

In the afternoon attendees were able to enjoy tours of the labs and facilities of the Department of Physics and the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). 

The NDE research group at the Department of Physics has a focus on ultrasonics with key expertise in EMATs and laser ultrasonics, electromagnetic techniques such as eddy current arrays, novel techniques such as liquid crystal sensors, and flow measurement. There is also work ongoing with developing new magnetometers. The WMG hosts a wide variety of industrial research, with strong links with Tata and Jaguar Land Rover. They host a suite of metrology instruments, including X-Ray facilities, as well as activities in laser-welding, with applications in metrology, applied visualisation but also in forensics and bioengineering.

The attendees were shown different practical demonstrations such as the use of EMATS to measure residual stress in metals (Steve Dixon, Warwick / Mark Potter, Sonemat), whose application to rail wheels has already been incorporated into BSEN testing standards. They also enjoyed a demonstration on Tensor gradiometry with a diamond magnetometer for imaging damage in steel (Alex Newman, Warwick) which can be used for nuclear applications, including fusion and fission, but can also be applied to provide scalar measurements for magnetic surveys used in space, medical, geological applications. It was particularly exciting to see the new developments in other more familiar topics for the RCNDE membership such as the Liquid crystal ultrasonic sensors (Martha Turvey, Wariwck) which can be used to explore the performance of transducers at an early stage and the use of EMAT arrays for robotic deployment (Rachel Edwards, Warwick) that can be used in an ample variety of material and industrial contexts. 

The Technology Transfer Day took place on Tuesday 29th January at Scarman House Conference Centre. Once again attendees were welcomed by Dr Colin Brett and with Dr Caroline Bull giving an Introduction to RCNDE. 

Presentations took place to a large audience of academic, industrial, and associate members.  There were contributions as follows: 

• Chris Curtis (IVC) – Inspection Qualification for UK Civil Nuclear – Current Status and Challenges 
• Mike Laws, HOIS – An introduction to HOIS and our trial programmes 

The FIND CDT Team then gave a Future CDT Update for associate members. 

This was followed by presentations from: 

• Kit Lane (Evident) – An EngD student’s experiences in moving from academia to industry 
• Nick Brierley, Diondo – Update on the NDE4.0 roadmap. Requirements for validation discussion

The morning session ended with a Summary presentation of demos. The afternoon opened with Demo Sessions allowing attendees to participate in the following 6 demonstrations. 

• Pogo – Peter Huthwaite, Imperial College London  
• Diamond Magnetometer – Stuart Graham, University of Warwick  
• Smart nose for corrosion detection – Ines Carotti, University of Warwick  
• Virtual X-ray CT Pose Optimisation and Physical Implementation – Nick Brierley, Diondo  
• Editable custom beamformer for advanced real-time imaging for ultrasonic non-destructive evaluation – Ewan Carcreff, TPAC  
• Advanced and Automated Ultrasonic and Eddy Current Array Solutions – Gary Luckett, Evident  

The event concluded on Wednesday 30th January with the Board Meeting  chaired by Pat Lidicott.  

We would like to thank all of our presenters for a varied and interesting programme of research presentations. Also to thank everyone who attended for making these meetings a success. 

We are looking forward to seeing everyone again in the spring at the Annual CDT Day and Review Day in Manchester