ASNT’s vision for the future of NDT: educate, engage and evolve
Barry Schieferstein, current Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ASNT, has witnessed and been at the center of a shift in the way events and training are conceived within the nondestructive testing (NDT) industry. His transition from Event Director to COO represented both a career advancement and an evolution in institutional strategy. As a result, today, under his supervision, ASNT is rethinking the way it trains, attracts talent and adapts to the new technological and industrial landscape.
From technical events to professional development meetings
Traditionally, NDT industry events focused on science and technology, but ASNT decided to make a strategic shift. According to Schieferstein, the decision was to transform the congress into a
The redesign was also reflected in the structure of the event, which now begins with content to establish clear objectives and ends with applicable ideas for immediate return to work. The ultimate goal of this change is that the knowledge acquired transcends theory and translates into concrete action.
A new paradigm in technical training
One of the biggest changes driven by American society has been in its educational model. According to Schieferstein, "
The contents are presented in blocks of 30 to 60 minutes, designed to be consumed in a flexible and personalized way. Upon completion of certain training paths, participants receive "digital badges" accrediting their competencies. This modality allows building a learning itinerary that, in the end, adds up the required hours without sacrificing dynamism or knowledge retention.
Connecting with new generations
The organization recognizes that the way young people learn is defined by the visual, the immediate and the interactive, to the point that, as Schieferstein pointed out, they find themselves competing with platforms such as TikTok. For this reason, the content adapts to these habits, becoming more fragmented, direct and immediately applicable. Likewise, the model seeks to be inclusive and accessible, as the training is no longer aimed exclusively at engineers, but at anyone interested in NDT, in order to broaden the spectrum of talent and diversify the industry.
Competence, not just assistance
ASNT is committed to a competency-based education model, where attending a technical session is not enough to validate knowledge. As the COO emphasized,
The strategy extends from elementary through high school, where ASNT works to demonstrate to young people that the world of nondestructive testing is an attractive and viable career option. To achieve this, technologies that are already familiar to students are used, facilitating their interest and understanding of the discipline.
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Source: Inspenet.
