The Pan-American Conference for Non Destructive Testing that took place in Buenos Aires  for the first time, ended with expected success.

More than 500 participants attended the event, gathering prestigious professionals  from all over the world.

The most important scientific and technical advances in the area of NDT were presented.

The Conference was organized by the Pan American Committee for Non Destructive Testing, which gathers NDT organizations from the American countries, in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE).

THE IV Pan-American Conference for Non Destructive Testing was held between October 22 and 26 in the Panamericano Hotel, Buenos Aires.

During the Conference, international speakers lecturers presented different subjects related to NDT.  Among them, the highlights were the following plenary conferences: “Human-like robotic inspectors – science fiction and reality”; “Steam generator inspections: faster, cheaper and better, are we there yet?”; “Progress in NDT System Engineering Through Sensor Physics and Integrated Efficient Computing”; “Survey and testing through interferometric radar: applications to Cultural Heritage and public utilities”; “Technological System PETROBRAS: from the Well to the Gas Station”; “The validation of Inspection Systems via Non Destructive Testing, Origin, Evolution and Current Status”; and “Infrarred Thermography: A Multifaceted Technique for Non Destructive Evaluation”.

Parallel and poster sessions were simultaneously presented More than 130 works on NDT from 32 different countries were presented.

In short, 545 people registered, 254 of them from abroad. Representatives from thirty three countries, including Argentina, took part in this event.

Moreover, three events were held in parallel: the meeting of the ISO TC-135 (Technical Committee no. 135 of the International Standardization Organization), the meeting of the Policy and General Purposes Committee of the International Committee for Non-Destructive Testing (PGP – ICNDT) and THE Regulatory MERCOSUR Meeting.

At the same time, an exhibition with the most representative companies of the sector was developed offering the visitors the opportunity to admire numerous equipments with innovative designs and features. Altogether, 38 exhibitors from different parts of the world, such as Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Holland, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Spain and USA participated. On the other hand, other companies joined as sponsors.

The attendees were offered the opportunity to make Technical Visits to Atucha Nuclear Power Stations I and II, and to one of Tenaris Siderca Productive Centers. Those who took this opportunity were able to see the operation of these plants, their productive process, as well as the centers of non-destructive testing of high speed and the research center in Tenaris Siderca.

Social activities were carried out to foster friendly relations and a pleasant atmosphere to strengthen the regional ties of cooperation.

The IV Pan-American Conference for Non Destructive Testing was extremely productive for all the professionals of the area. All expectations are now focused on V PANNDT that will be taking place in Mexico in 2011.