Rolls-Royce holds its first NDE conference
09/12/2013
In large organisations, it is often very difficult to know and fully understand what other departments and sectors are doing, despite being proactive and communicating often on various specific issues. Therefore, Rolls-Royce plc held its first company-wide NDE conference on 17 October. The event was held at the Elton Road facilities in Derby. Over 30 employees were present in person and a further 10 connected via the internet – some of them from the company’s facilities in Germany and the USA. The event provided a unique opportunity for employees from different sectors, for example aerospace and civil nuclear, to talk about NDE.
The 14 presenters were all from NDE teams, whilst some of the attendees were from related disciplines, for example repair technology, and some were from disciplines that are customers of NDE, such as manufacturing. The presenters covered an extensive range of NDE topics, including production and in-service inspections, process accreditation, computer simulations and technology acquisition. The NDE techniques that were discussed were eddy current testing, fluorescent dye penetrant inspection, radiography, thermography and ultrasonic testing. Four of the presenters were research engineers who are based at Rolls-Royce and are doing Engineering Doctorates (EngDs) with the Industrial Doctorate Centre in NDE.
The aim of the conference was for employees across the company to talk about their NDE capabilities and challenges. This aim was definitely met and the event resulted in a much greater appreciation of the full scope of all the activities being undertaken. After the event, some of the contacts made have been reinforced by further discussions. This is leading to broader exploitation of the available technologies.
Following this successful first conference, all parties have agreed to make this an annual event. For more information, contact Maria Felice at maria.felice@rolls-royce.com
