Connecting people, skills and industry: BINDT outreach highlights from 2025
17/02/2026
2025 was a momentous year for BINDT’s outreach programme. From engaging tens of thousands of young people across the UK to strengthening relationships with corporate members, partners and educators, the outreach programme has continued to grow in reach, ambition and impact. This year has demonstrated the vital role outreach plays in raising awareness of non-destructive testing (NDT), condition monitoring (CM) and structural health monitoring (SHM) and the work that the Institute does.A major focus for 2025 has been science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) engagement. Through a combination of large-scale events and smaller school-based activities, BINDT’s outreach team engaged with approximately 50,000 young people, from early years through to sixth form. BINDT recognises that both large and small events are essential: large events allow significant numbers to be reached, while smaller school visits enable deeper engagement and meaningful conversations. Tom O’Hare, BINDT Vice President, noted: “The UK engineering arena is vast with multiple disciplines, in-demand job roles and an increasingly diverse workforce. BINDT, through outreach and similar projects, is actively promoting engineering as a vocation to encourage young people into the roles required for future growth. It is our members and their involvement with the Institute that provide the impetus for change to support STEM activities, thereby demonstrating NDT, CM and SHM are mainstream engineering roles.”
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| Patrick Boulton, Howard Garlick and Mike Smith at Advanced Engineering, October 2025 |
Among the highlights were several flagship STEM events. The National Apprenticeship & Education Events held in Salford, Newcastle and Cardiff during the spring saw BINDT’s outreach volunteers and some Corporate Members engage with over 15,000 students, promoting technical pathways and career opportunities in NDT. At STEAM Northants at the University of Northampton, more than 4000 students attended to learn all about the exciting career prospects and engage in an interactive demonstration. Meanwhile, the National School & College Leaver (NSCL) Festival 2025 reached an impressive 20,000 students. These events provided invaluable opportunities to showcase real-world engineering and inspire future practitioners.
BINDT’s growing STEM volunteer group has been central to this success. Throughout the year, volunteers supported events, shared insights into their careers and provided testimonials that bring NDT to life. The group continues to expand and meets virtually throughout the year to share ideas and experiences.
Engagement with Corporate Members has also strengthened significantly. Liaison meetings were held with a range of organisations to better understand their work and explore how the Institute can support them. At the BINDT Annual Conference in Edinburgh, the Vice Presidents hosted a dedicated session for BINDT Corporate Members, creating a valuable space for dialogue, feedback and collaboration.
Sam Cunningham, BINDT Vice President, said: “The Vice Presidents’ session in Edinburgh was focused on open discussion with industry professionals around the real challenges facing NDT today, from skills and competence through to technology and standards. It was an important opportunity to listen, challenge ourselves as an Institute and ensure BINDT continues to evolve in step with industry requirements.”
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| BINDT STEM volunteer Roy Thiis at the National Apprenticeship & Education Event in Salford, March 2025 |
Beyond this, BINDT exhibited at major industry-facing events, including the Industrial Maintenance Solutions Summit (IMSS), Maintec and Advanced Engineering, engaging with approximately 22,500 attendees to promote membership, certification and the work of the Institute.
Building strong external partnerships has been another key achievement. In 2025, BINDT worked closely with organisations including EngineeringUK, Futures for All, DYW, The Careers and Enterprise Company and Primary Engineer. By attending events such as Tomorrow’s Engineers Live, the Institute gained insight into national STEM strategies and how professional engineering institutions can work collectively to maximise impact.
BINDT’s relationship with the University of Northampton continued to flourish. As the training provider for the Level 6 NDT degree and degree apprenticeship, the Institute was able to provide support through careers fairs, STEAM Northants and apprenticeship promotion events, helping to raise awareness of degree and apprenticeship pathways in NDT.
Internally, outreach presence at Institute and Branch events increased, with NDT 2025, held in Edinburgh, standing out as a particular highlight. It provided a fantastic opportunity to meet members, practitioners and stakeholders, gather feedback and share progress on BINDT’s outreach journey.
Notable projects in 2025 included the JCB and Lavender International Programme, a nine-week initiative designed to develop young people’s understanding of NDT, which has now been relaunched for 2026. Work also began with the Gatsby Foundation on its Technicians Campaign and saw several STEM volunteers contribute testimonials, which are due to be featured in 2026.
BINDT was proud to have a blog published through EngineeringUK during Tomorrow’s Engineers Week and to be quoted in their annual update. Attendance at events such as the CEC Midlands Annual Conference and the EngineeringUK Gender Pathways Event further informed BINDT’s approach, particularly in supporting girls and women into engineering careers.
Behind the scenes, BINDT has grown its STEM outreach demonstration kit thanks to generous corporate donations and has developed a comprehensive bank of volunteer resources, including presentations, games and videos covering NDT, CM and SHM.
None of this would be possible without the continued guidance and support of the Vice Presidents, who act as ambassadors for the outreach programme. Mike Smith, BINDT Vice President, noted: “2025 saw BINDT really step up its outreach programme with a wide range of initiatives to create new contacts and support people throughout the NDT, SHM and CM community. Its seminars, visits, articles and conference meetings have given a new voice to those already in the industry, while its excellent STEM programme has taken practical engineering into the classroom to inspire the next generation of practitioners, researchers and leaders.”
Looking ahead, 2026 is shaping up to be another busy and exciting year, with new events, collaborations and strategic developments already underway.
BINDT is always keen to welcome new volunteers who want to help shape the future of the profession. If you would like to get involved or support BINDT outreach activities in any capacity, please contact Rebecca Mulholland at: rebecca.mulholland@bindt.org
