The Nemet Award

Open award for members and non-members

Award criteria

Purpose: This award scheme, established by the generosity of Dr A Nemet and operated by the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing, has been set up to recognise examples of outstandingly effective use of NDT/CM/SHM, especially those that might encourage small firms to apply NDT/CM/SHM methods for the first time, over a period of at least 5-10 years.

Details of the Award: Annually, the Institute will call for the submission of entries that give instances of the introduction or implementation of an NDT/CM/SHM technique or procedure that has met with exceptional success. An awards panel, set up by the Institute, will consider all submissions and choose the winning entry. The panel will give due weight to instances where safety has been enhanced, costs reduced or reliability improved, particularly in first-time uses of NDT/CM/SHM. In years when the submissions are not of sufficient merit, no award shall be made.

Eligibility: Entries, submitted on the Institute’s form, may be made by any company using NDT/CM/SHM or by a third party recommending a suitable candidate. Companies that supply NDT/CM/SHM equipment or provide NDT/CM/SHM services to industry are well placed to initiate such entries and candidates for the award may also submit entries themselves.

This is intended to recognise contributions over a period of at least 5-10 years.

The proposer of the award should be a voting member of the Institute. If they are not, they will need to ensure the application is endorsed by an Institute voting member.

Frequency: Yearly, if a suitable candidate is deemed.

Nomination arrangements: Trade & Industry to nominate. Entries may be made by any company using NDT/CM/SHM or by a third party recommending a suitable candidate. Companies that supply/provide NDT/CM/SHM equipment or services to industry are well placed to initiate such entries and candidates for the award may also submit entries themselves. Nominations should be submitted by email to: karen.cambridge@bindt.org

Nominations for the award shall come from the Trade & Industry (T&I) Committee (nominations may also be submitted by any other BINDT Committee, in which case it will be passed to the Chair of the T&I Committee for consideration), which will be tabled as an agenda item at a meeting, if suitable nominations are put forward.

If there is only one nomination, then the T&I Committee should vote to confirm whether the nomination is eligible and, if so, to approve the award. If there is more than one nomination, then the entries should be sent for judging by a panel set up for the purpose. Four members of the panel are to be appointed by the T&I Committee. Each judge will be invited to score the entries on a point scale of 0 to 3 and send the scores to Karen Cambridge, who will total the scores, and the entry receiving the most points will be declared the winner.

Awarding arrangements: The award will consist of a certificate backed by £550 cash, an invitation to the NDT/CM Annual Conference Dinner and one night’s accommodation. In the case of a group award, the invitation to the Annual Conference Dinner will be made to one representative.

Committee: Trade and Industry Group.

Winners

2023 winner: David Griffin

The winner of the Nemet Award for 2023 is David Griffin.

David’s career started in 1977, straight from school at the age of 16, as a metallurgical trainee at British Steel River Don Works (now Sheffield Forgemasters) and he moved into non-destructive testing (NDT) in 1979. He had a wonderful 12 years in a fantastic learning environment while keeping up his metallurgical studies one day and two nights a week, gaining the then new Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) versions of the Ordinary National Certificate (ONC) and Higher National Certificate (HNC) in metallurgy.

In December 1988, David moved to what was then William Oxley’s, an aerospace forge, to be NDT Manager. There, he gained his first ASNT Level 3s to complement his PCN Level 3s and also gained Rolls-Royce Level 2D certification in magnetic testing (MT) and penetrant testing (PT), which was the forerunner of the now BS EN 4179 Level 3s. In 1995, he became the Level 3 for all of the sites now known as Aurora Forgings, as well as the Heat Treatment Manager.

In February 1999, having a passion and interest for NDT certification, David applied for a Level 3 role at Argyll Ruane. In his interview, he took the gamble of suggesting he set up possibly the first dedicated Level 3 Services department, which he did initially on his own. He gradually built up a large group of Level 3s with very varied experience, personally adding many other Level 3 certifications along the way.

Throughout this time, David was heavily involved with the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT)’s North Atlantic Section and filled every role except treasurer in his time, including Chair and Region 18 Director (this included countries such a South Africa, Bulgaria and the UK). In 2011 came David’s proudest moment by far when he was awarded a Fellow award in Palm Springs, California, USA, which followed his Lifetime Achievement Award from NATL, which he won jointly with his brother, Ian. David also had an interesting and fruitful time representing the Outside Agency Group on the UK National Aerospace NDT Board (NANDTB) between 2009 and 2018. Prior to this he spent a few years with the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BINDT) Training and Examination Group (TEG).

In 2013, David studied for and passed the NDT degree with the University of Northampton, although, as he is constantly reminded by his colleagues, he did not take the Honours option.

After 20 years of leading Argyll Ruane’s Level 3 Services team, David swapped his life travelling across the UK and the world for a more officed-based position as Chief Examiner in January 2020, where he helped keep the exam department running throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It is here that he continues to help the exam engine to turn and where he plans to finish his time in NDT.

David is very humbled, grateful and surprised to receive this award. He considers himself lucky to have worked in NDT for so long and to have met so many fantastic and knowledgeable people, both those he has worked with and those from his travels.

Past winners:
1989   Mr B Garbett
1990   Dr D H Saunderson
1991   Mr M Orrell, Mr G Vessey and Mr A Holden
1992   Mr C R Bird, Mr C R A Schneider and Mr J Morton
1993   Mr F E Hardie
1995   Dr C I Nicholls
1997   Mr G Herdman
1999   Mr A K Dunhill
2000   Mr J A Hughes
2001   Eur Ing Prof R M Cripps
2002   Mrs S A O’Connor
2003   Mr J Smith
2005   Mr J H Calvert
2006   Dr D J Lovejoy
2007   No Award
2008   Mr A Hadnum and Mr T Berry
2009   No Award
2010   Mr M Moles
2011   Mr B Brown
2012   Mr J Harris
2013   No Award
2014   Mr J McNab
2015    Mr D MacLennan
2016    Raymond J R Wilson MInstNDT FIAQP
2017    Dr Didar (Dee) Singh Dulay FInstNDT
2018    Rex Ankers
2019    Dr Geoff Diamond

2020 Tim Armitt
2021 EUR ING Ryan Murphy BSc (Hons) CEng MInstNDT MIScT FIES and Robert Andrew Bright
2022 Michael James Gorman BEng IEng MInstNDT

A nomination form can be downloaded here.

Details of all Institute awards can be found here.