The John Grimwade Medal
Award for BINDT members, Publications Award
Award criteria
Award criteria
Purpose: This prestigious award inaugurated in 1981 commemorates the late E J Grimwade MC HonFInstNDT, a major pioneering figure in the NDT world. The medal is awarded annually for the best paper by an Institute member to appear in the Institute’s journal in the preceding year.
Details of the award: The best paper is selected from articles published by Institute members in Insight during the preceding year.
Eligibility: Any Institute member who has published in Insight will be automatically considered (co-authors need not be members but only the lead author receives a medal).
Frequency: The prize will be awarded annually and will only be issued if suitable nominations are received.
Nomination arrangements: Automatic. Shortlist prepared by the NDT Sub-Committee and circulated to a judging panel for consideration. The judging panel will comprise the NDT Sub-Committee Chair and the Honorary Technical Editor, plus two other NDT members (nominated by the NDT Sub-Committee Chair).
Awarding arrangements: An engraved silver medal and an invitation to the NDT or CM Annual Conference Dinner with one night's accommodation for the lead author. All authors will receive a certificate and Institute pin.
Publicity: The award will be fully reported in Institute publications and the Secretariat will issue details in a press release to the technical and engineering institutional press.
Presentation: The medal and certificate will be awarded at the NDT Annual Conference, though another appropriate Institute event may be chosen if necessary.
Committee: NDT Sub-Committee.
Winners
2025 winners: Mengyuan Zhang, Dr Mark Sutcliffe, Dr QingPing Yang and Dr P Ian Nicholson
The recipients of the John Grimwade Medal for 2025 are Mengyuan Zhang, Dr Mark Sutcliffe, Dr QingPing Yang and Dr P Ian Nicholson for their paper, titled: ‘Robotic path planning for NDT using neuroevolution of augmenting topologies’, which was published in Insight, Vol 67, No 11, pp 688-696, November 2025 (DOI: 10.1784/2025.67.11.688).
Mengyuan Zhang is a PhD researcher in mechanical engineering at Brunel University of London. Her research focuses on robotic path planning for ultrasonic non-destructive testing (NDT). During her PhD, she has worked closely with TWI Ltd to develop intelligent robotic inspection systems that can plan inspection paths more efficiently and adapt to complex testing scenarios. Her research combines robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), optimisation and ultrasonic testing to reduce manual planning and improve the practicality of robotic inspection. She has validated her methods through both simulation and robotic experiments, published the results in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences. Her work aims to support the wider adoption of autonomous ultrasonic inspection in industry.
Dr QingPing Yang is a Reader at Brunel University of London and founder of its Quality Engineering and Smart Technology Research Group and Robotics and Automation Research Group. His research spans robotics, NDT, sensors, dimensional metrology, AI and quality engineering, with a particularfocus on intelligent measurement and automation systems. He has published more than 140 papers, supervised 27 PhD students to completion and led research projects funded by the EU, UK government and industry. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Metrology and Quality Engineering.
Dr P Ian Nicholson is a Technical Consultant and Business Development Lead with over 30 years of industrial experience, formerly with TWI Ltd. A Chartered Engineer, Ian specialises in systems integration for automated NDT, microelectronics, sensor and software development and technical project management. Throughout his career, he has delivered both prototype and commercial systems, coordinating multidisciplinary engineering teams to address complex inspection challenges across the aerospace and space sectors. Ian played a key role in the development of TWI’s flagship IntACOM robotic NDT inspection cells, leading to the creation of advanced NDT solutions for high‑performance inspection and evaluation.
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Past winners:
1980 Mr S I Ibrahim and Mr V N Whittaker
1981 Mr D A W Pullen
1982 Mr R F Lumb
1983 Dr J M Farley and Mr J L Thomson
1984 Mr A N Robinson, Mr P Nolan and Mr G A Raine
1985 Mr C N Owston
1986 Dr D N Shackleton
1987 Dr J Ogilvy
1988 Dr P Highmore and Dr K A Short
1989 Dr G A Georgiou
1990 Dr P A Cawley
1991 Dr A McNab
1992 Dr J R Rudlin and Dr L C Wolstenholme
1993 Prof J H Bungey
1994 Dr F A Wedgwood
1995 Mr R A Smith
1996 Dr A McNab and Dr A Cochran
1997 Prof G Hayward, Mr R Banks and Mr R Farlow
1998 Prof G Hayward and Mr P Reynolds
1999 Dr A Khalid
2000 Dr B W Drinkwater, Dr A M Robinson and Dr R J Freemantle
2001 Mr R A Smith and Dr G R Hugo
2002 Dr S Dixon, Dr C Edwards and Prof S B Palmer
2003 Dr L L Morgan, Mr P Nolan, Mr A Kirkham and Mr R Wilkinson
2004 Dr E A Birt, Mr L D Jones, Mr R A Smith and Prof C B Scruby
2005 Dr A Sophian, Dr R S Edwards, Prof G-Y Tian, Dr S Dixon, Dr D Topp and Dr M Smith
2006 Mrs A Whittle
2007 Prof P Cawley
2008 Dr L Nelson
2009 Dr R A Smith
2010 Mr C Lane
2011 Prof D P Almond
2012 Prof P Cawley
2013 Prof D Mery
2014 Prof P Cawley, Dr N Brierley and Dr T Tippetts
2015 Dr C Mineo, Prof S G Pierce, Mr B Wright, Prof I Cooper and Dr P I Nicholson
2016 Dr Chris Ward and Dr Colin Brett
2017 Professor Peter Charlton, Dr Stephen Mosey, Dr Miles Weston and Dr Mark Sutcliffe
2018 Dr Colin R Brett, Dr David A Gunn, Dr Ben A J Dashwood, Simon J Holyoake and Dr Paul B Wilkinson
2019 Dr David A Gunn, Simon J Holyoake, Dr Ben A J Dashwood, Dr Paul B Wilkinson,
Dr Colin R Brett, Humphrey C Wallis, Wayne Leman and Professor John G Rees
2020 Dr Tomasz Pialucha, Dr Brian Pavlakovic, Dr David Alleyne and Professor Peter Cawley
2021 Dr Stewart Haslinger, Professor Michael Lowe, Professor Richard Craster, Dr Peter Huthwaite and Dr Fan Shi
2022 Ross Hanna, Dr Mark Sutcliffe, Professor Peter Charlton and Dr Stephen Mosey
1981 Mr D A W Pullen
1982 Mr R F Lumb
1983 Dr J M Farley and Mr J L Thomson
1984 Mr A N Robinson, Mr P Nolan and Mr G A Raine
1985 Mr C N Owston
1986 Dr D N Shackleton
1987 Dr J Ogilvy
1988 Dr P Highmore and Dr K A Short
1989 Dr G A Georgiou
1990 Dr P A Cawley
1991 Dr A McNab
1992 Dr J R Rudlin and Dr L C Wolstenholme
1993 Prof J H Bungey
1994 Dr F A Wedgwood
1995 Mr R A Smith
1996 Dr A McNab and Dr A Cochran
1997 Prof G Hayward, Mr R Banks and Mr R Farlow
1998 Prof G Hayward and Mr P Reynolds
1999 Dr A Khalid
2000 Dr B W Drinkwater, Dr A M Robinson and Dr R J Freemantle
2001 Mr R A Smith and Dr G R Hugo
2002 Dr S Dixon, Dr C Edwards and Prof S B Palmer
2003 Dr L L Morgan, Mr P Nolan, Mr A Kirkham and Mr R Wilkinson
2004 Dr E A Birt, Mr L D Jones, Mr R A Smith and Prof C B Scruby
2005 Dr A Sophian, Dr R S Edwards, Prof G-Y Tian, Dr S Dixon, Dr D Topp and Dr M Smith
2006 Mrs A Whittle
2007 Prof P Cawley
2008 Dr L Nelson
2009 Dr R A Smith
2010 Mr C Lane
2011 Prof D P Almond
2012 Prof P Cawley
2013 Prof D Mery
2014 Prof P Cawley, Dr N Brierley and Dr T Tippetts
2015 Dr C Mineo, Prof S G Pierce, Mr B Wright, Prof I Cooper and Dr P I Nicholson
2016 Dr Chris Ward and Dr Colin Brett
2017 Professor Peter Charlton, Dr Stephen Mosey, Dr Miles Weston and Dr Mark Sutcliffe
2018 Dr Colin R Brett, Dr David A Gunn, Dr Ben A J Dashwood, Simon J Holyoake and Dr Paul B Wilkinson
2019 Dr David A Gunn, Simon J Holyoake, Dr Ben A J Dashwood, Dr Paul B Wilkinson,
Dr Colin R Brett, Humphrey C Wallis, Wayne Leman and Professor John G Rees
2020 Dr Tomasz Pialucha, Dr Brian Pavlakovic, Dr David Alleyne and Professor Peter Cawley
2021 Dr Stewart Haslinger, Professor Michael Lowe, Professor Richard Craster, Dr Peter Huthwaite and Dr Fan Shi
2022 Ross Hanna, Dr Mark Sutcliffe, Professor Peter Charlton and Dr Stephen Mosey
