Princeton Junction, NJ – September 2004 – Sotirios J. Vahaviolos, President and CEO of the MISTRAS Holdings Group was elected as the 9th Honorary Member of ICNDT during the 16th World Conference on NDT in Montreal, Canada held August 30 – September 3, 2004. Dr. Vahaviolos is a Past President of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), a member Society of ICNDT, and is the first American to be elected as an Honorary Member of ICNDT. The Honorary Membership has been created by ICNDT to “recognize an individual for a distinguished NDT career and activity within the scope of ICNDT’s objectives.”
Honorary Members are “lifelong” voting members of ICNDT’s Policy and General Purpose Committee (PGPC). The ICNDT Constitution and Terms of Reference state that “the PGPC is a strategic committee nominated by ICNDT with the precise tasks of establishing the strategy that ICNDT shall apply in developing its activity, execute the policies decided by the full International Committee and prepare papers and present to the General Assembly of ICNDT for approval.”

Dr. Vahaviolos stated “I am proud to have been chosen as the first American honorary member of ICNDT. ICNDT is an allinclusive international NDT body consisting of 61 National Society Members and is responsible for certifying more than 300,000 NDT professionals. I will continue to serve the PGPC in the future with the same strong commitment for NDT excellence and Worldwide Harmonization of our Personnel Certification Standards as I have done since 1992 with the signing of the ASNT/DGZfP (USA/German) Harmonization Agreement. For all those that have a fear in Internationalizing Certification of Personnel, Harmonization never implies “watering down” of standards.”

Founded in 1954 by UN Member States, ICNDT is a non-profit organization that is devoted to the international development of the science and practice of Nondestructive Testing, in conjunction with individual NDT National Member Societies and recognized Regional Continental groupings of NDT Societies. ICNDT’s activities are dependent on the voluntary actions of its members.