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Speakers Gallery
Anish Poudel - Sept 2021
Anish Poudel is the Principal Investigator for Nondestructive Evaluation within the Research and Development department of the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. Dr. Poudel holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Mechanical Engineering with the focus on NDE. At TTCI, Dr. Poudel currently provides technical leadership and manages various on-site and off-site inspection and detection research projects both in North America and overseas. In this role, he is playing a key role and serve as a technical lead in the research, development, and testing of advanced NDE and automated wayside inspection technologies for nondestructive characterization of railroad components to optimize their safety, integrity, and life costs.
Dr. Poudel brings over 10 years of research, development, and testing experience in the field of NDE for different applications. He has authored over 80 technical publications and presentations in the field of NDE and have 1 patent.
Dr. Poudel currently serves as the Board of Directors member in the American Society of Nondestructive Testing (ASNT). He is also the Chair of the ASNT Research Council. He has served in various leadership roles within ASNT in the past.
Dr. Poudel has received numerous prestigious recognition both in the field of NDE and railway research. He was the recent recipient of the 2019 International Heavy Haul Association Emerging Railway Professionals Award. He has also received the 2018 ASNT Mentoring Award and 2014 ASNT Young NDT Professional Award.
Prior to joining TTCI, Dr. Poudel was a laboratory supervisor and full-time instructor at the department of mechanical and engineering processes at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Dr. Poudel brings over 10 years of research, development, and testing experience in the field of NDE for different applications. He has authored over 80 technical publications and presentations in the field of NDE and have 1 patent.
Dr. Poudel currently serves as the Board of Directors member in the American Society of Nondestructive Testing (ASNT). He is also the Chair of the ASNT Research Council. He has served in various leadership roles within ASNT in the past.
Dr. Poudel has received numerous prestigious recognition both in the field of NDE and railway research. He was the recent recipient of the 2019 International Heavy Haul Association Emerging Railway Professionals Award. He has also received the 2018 ASNT Mentoring Award and 2014 ASNT Young NDT Professional Award.
Prior to joining TTCI, Dr. Poudel was a laboratory supervisor and full-time instructor at the department of mechanical and engineering processes at the Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
John Chen - Oct 2021
John Chen is the Corporate NDT Level III for KBR, Houston, TX. He has more than 20 years of NDE and materials engineering experience in the industry and the academia. A Fellow of ASNT, he currently serves Secretary/Treasurer on the Board of Directors of ASNT and the Technical Editor for Materials Evaluation. He is also a Principal Reviewer for the Welding Journal. He holds ASNT NDT Level III in 6 methods and is a Certified Welding Inspector from the American Welding Society. He earned a PhD in Welding Engineering from the Ohio State University.
Andrew Townsend - Nov 2021
Andy Townsend is an Engineer in the Nondestructive Evaluation Group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in Livermore, CA. Current work includes X-ray radiography and computed tomography research, characterizing complex materials and structures. In 2016 he published the first extraction and characterization of areal surface texture data from X-ray CT scans. He was a quality manager in the aerospace industry for 20 years before transitioning to research. Dr Townsend has authored ten peer-
reviewed journal papers. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Huddersfield University, UK.
reviewed journal papers. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Huddersfield University, UK.
John Stewart - Jan 2022
John A. Stewart - Founder, Executive Director
John is an ASNT Level III RT, UT, and PT, NAS 410 Level III RT, UT, PT, VT and MT NDT engineer. The AATA was founded when John decided to dedicate himself full-time to helping economically disadvantaged and veterans struggling with poor job prospects secure fulfilling careers in his field. Stewart, who over the course of his twenty-year career in NDT has trained technicians for companies such as SpaceX, Goodrich Aerospace, and Northrop Grumman, believed that by addressing inadequate STEM opportunities, one could empower youth and returning military veterans to fill the shortage of NDT professionals in many of California’s booming industries. John is a United States Navy Veteran and served as a Navy "Seabee" attached to Amphibious Construction Battalion 2.
John is an ASNT Level III RT, UT, and PT, NAS 410 Level III RT, UT, PT, VT and MT NDT engineer. The AATA was founded when John decided to dedicate himself full-time to helping economically disadvantaged and veterans struggling with poor job prospects secure fulfilling careers in his field. Stewart, who over the course of his twenty-year career in NDT has trained technicians for companies such as SpaceX, Goodrich Aerospace, and Northrop Grumman, believed that by addressing inadequate STEM opportunities, one could empower youth and returning military veterans to fill the shortage of NDT professionals in many of California’s booming industries. John is a United States Navy Veteran and served as a Navy "Seabee" attached to Amphibious Construction Battalion 2.
Ripi Singh - Feb 2022
Dr. Ripi Singh is now an NDE 4.0 coach, with significant research background which started with aging airplane program in 1992 at Georgia Tech. Ripi serves as Chair of ASNT Committee on NDE 4.0 and Vice Chair of ICNDT SIG on NDE 4.0. Decades of his research work on fatigue and fracture, damage tolerance, human factors in NDE are well published and frequently referred to. Ripi is now working hard to bring industry 4.0 perspective and innovation processes to the NDE community and CT Eco-system: with his virtual coaching lectures and articles. He is also on various university advisory boards, US delegation to ISO 56000 on Innovation Management, International Association of International Professionals, and CT Academy of Science and Engineering. Ripi is an author of 4 books, over 100 peer-reviewed publications, and dozens of keynote lectures.
John Rodriguez - March 2022
John Rodriguez is a Superintendent for the Materials Engineering Division and an ASNT Level III in RT, UT, ET, PT, MT, VT at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL).
John’s diverse background began as a 4-year apprentice at the Naval Air Station Alameda to graduate to an Aircraft Sheetmetal Mechanic Journeyman. It is at the NAS Alameda where John started his 40+ years career in NDT/ NDI / NDE performing inspections on Naval aircraft and support equipment at the NAS and world-wide. Due to DoD’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) closure of NAS Alameda, John transferred to McClellan Air Force Base which later was closed by another BRAC.
Upon leaving DoD Civil Service, John began private industry work as a construction Special Inspector obtaining Certified Welding Inspector and has held multiple International Conference of Building Officials/Uniform Building Code certifications, as well as an Aboveground Storage Tank Inspector (API 653), NDT Level IIIs per TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein-Technical Inspection Association) and ACCP Level IIIs.
On joining LLNL in 2001, John progressed from Senior Mechanical Technologist, supporting the Nondestructive Evaluation Group (NDE), to NDE Senior Supervisor before becoming superintendent.
https://www.ggasnt.org/event-details/march-2022-presentation-by-john-rodriguez-from-llnl
John’s diverse background began as a 4-year apprentice at the Naval Air Station Alameda to graduate to an Aircraft Sheetmetal Mechanic Journeyman. It is at the NAS Alameda where John started his 40+ years career in NDT/ NDI / NDE performing inspections on Naval aircraft and support equipment at the NAS and world-wide. Due to DoD’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) closure of NAS Alameda, John transferred to McClellan Air Force Base which later was closed by another BRAC.
Upon leaving DoD Civil Service, John began private industry work as a construction Special Inspector obtaining Certified Welding Inspector and has held multiple International Conference of Building Officials/Uniform Building Code certifications, as well as an Aboveground Storage Tank Inspector (API 653), NDT Level IIIs per TÜV (Technischer Überwachungsverein-Technical Inspection Association) and ACCP Level IIIs.
On joining LLNL in 2001, John progressed from Senior Mechanical Technologist, supporting the Nondestructive Evaluation Group (NDE), to NDE Senior Supervisor before becoming superintendent.
https://www.ggasnt.org/event-details/march-2022-presentation-by-john-rodriguez-from-llnl
Nina Choy - April 2022
Nina Choy is a former Air Force Civil Engineering Officer, now a Supervising Bridge Engineer for the California Department of Transportation and Vice Chair of the American Welding Society Bridge Welding Committee. She’s held key roles in the construction of some notable California Bridges, including the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and Gerald Desmond Bridge. She currently oversees strategic planning and quality management for the Division of Engineering Services, in addition to AWS D1.5, is engaged in a number AWS D1 Structural Steel Task Groups including Tubulars, Inspection and Fabrication.
Bill Horne - May 2022
Bill Horne is the president of NDT Corporation, a nondestructive testing company based in Sterling MA (USA). For over 25 years NDT Corporation has provided innovative nondestructive testing & geophysical services for evaluating all types of infrastructure materials including: concrete, timber, steel, masonry, asphalt, soil and rock. NDT is a pioneer in the development of specialized impact energy generating equipment, customized sensor arrays to record returning energy signals and analyzes the data via proprietary signal interpretation software.
https://www.ggasnt.org/event-details/may-2022-sonic-ultrasonic-testing-of-infrastructure
https://www.ggasnt.org/event-details/may-2022-sonic-ultrasonic-testing-of-infrastructure
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