The RCNDE spring meetings took place a little earlier this year, and were hosted for the first time in Liverpool, home to one of our newest academic members.

On Monday 24 April, the University of Liverpool set a new standard for Industrial Working Group visits with a tour of labs and facilities that greatly excited academic and industrial visitors. As well as demonstrating the progress and future direction of RCNDE-funded projects, our hosts gave attendees a tour of the Digital Innovation Facility and Optical Coherence Tomography labs, allowing guests the opportunity to become familiar with exciting new developments in research areas that could fruitfully collaborate with NDE.

Tuesday was the day for showcasing the amazing talent of the FIND-CDT and aligned PhD/EngD students, who presented their research to a large audience of academic, industrial, and associate members gather at the Maritime Museum. Not only did the students present an impressive array of complex research topics in a clear and concise manner, but they also answered questions from experts in the audience with confidence and professionalism.

The Annual Review day, which took place on Wednesday, was a celebration of RCNDE in more ways than one. The first part of the day was dedicated to presentations of RCNDE core and impact enhancement projects at various stages of development – from initiation through to mid-point development and completion. The academics presenting had the opportunity to receive feedback on their research, find new contacts for future collaborations, and benefit from the input of the members of the International Advisory Board. The evening was a celebration of RCNDE’s 20^th Anniversary; to mark twenty years of serving the NDE community we gathered for a special dinner at the Museum of Liverpool’s People’s Republic gallery. With a breath-taking view of the Albert Dock as backdrop, past and present RCNDE Directors reminisced about the creation of RCNDE, acknowledged the extraordinary contributions of its members over the years, and raised a toast to another successful twenty years.

The series of meetings concluded on Thursday 27 May with a Board meeting, which also featured a hybrid workshop on skills for NDE 4.0. Attendees had the opportunity to reflect on the broad questions the sector needs to consider if it is to rise to the challenge of NDE 4.0, and the input of the members will be collated to assist with the effort of preparing NDE professionals for a new era.

We would like to extend a warm thanks to all of our presenters for a varied and robust programme of research presentations, and to everyone who attended for making these meetings an all-round success! We are looking forward to seeing everyone again in the autumn.