Zhenmao Chen
Younho Cho
Bruce Drinkwater
Prof. Zhenmao Chen is now a full professor of Xi’an Jiaotong University in China, Deputy Director of West China Research Institute for Quality Science and Technology. He got his Bachelor and Master Degree from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Doctor Degree from the University of Tokyo. He is an international Steering Committee member of ENDE, ISEM, ICFD, ICMST conferences and a subject editor of NDT&E International and associate editor of IJAEM. His major research interests are on Electromagnetic NDT and Thermal-Magneto-Mechanical Coupling Mechanics. He has published over 400 technical journal papers and author/coauthored 6 technical books. He is also holder of over 100 patents and awarded Provincial Technical Award, Miya award, JSM/JSAEM Award etc.
Prof. Younho Cho is a Professor in the School of Mechanical Design and Engineering at Pusan National University (PNU), South Korea. Since 2004, he has been a leading figure in the field of Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) and structural integrity. Dr. Cho recently concluded a distinguished term as the President of the 20th World Conference on Non-Destructive Testing (WCNDT), a role he held from 2016 to 2024. His leadership extends to several high-level committees, including serving as the Vice President of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers (KSME) and as a Commissioner for the National Standards Expert Committee (ISO/TC 135/SC3 WG6).
Beyond his administrative leadership, Dr. Cho is a globally recognized expert in ultrasonic guided wave propagation and structural health monitoring (SHM).
Bruce Drinkwater founded the Ultrasonics and Non-Destructive Testing Research Group at the University of Bristol in 1996. The group is now internationally recognised and has 6 academic staff and c.30 PhD students and post-docs. He is Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Future Innovation in Non-Destructive Evaluation and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal Non-Destructive Testing and Evaluation International, the leading journal in this field. He has pioneered industrial applications of ultrasonic arrays in non-destructive testing, as well as developing innovative devices for condition monitoring and particle manipulation. His research has been commercialised through licencing and spinouts and changed industrial practice by inclusion in international standards. In 2024 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Mohamed Elkarmoty
Evangelos Hristoforou
Eric Lindgren
Mohamed Elkarmoty received his Bachelor’s degree in 2009 and his Master’s degree in 2013 in Mining Engineering from Cairo University. He obtained his PhD in Georesources and Geoengineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2018.
Dr. Elkarmoty is currently an Associate Professor of Geological and Mining Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University. He also serves as the Director of the Rock Engineering Laboratory, the Deputy Coordinator of the ScanPyramids Project, and the Co-Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage.
Dr. Elkarmoty was awarded the Encouragement Prize in Engineering Sciences by Cairo University in 2022 and the Cairo University Trophy in 2023 in recognition of his contribution to the discovery of a hidden corridor inside the Khufu Pyramid that had remained concealed for 4,500 years. More recently, he contributed to the discovery of two anomalies behind the eastern face of the Menkaure Pyramid using non-destructive testing techniques.
Evangelos V Hristoforou, D.Eng, Ph.D, C.Eng, was born in 1961 and is Professor of Electronic Materials at the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and director of the Laboratory of Electronic Sensors, NTUA. His team is conducting research in materials and sensors for engineering applications. His personal research topic is magnetism and magnetic materials with emphasis in steel health monitoring. He is related to several industries in the field of transportation, energy and health, running industrial & research projects. He has published more than 200 papers in ISI journals (h-index=33 in Scopus) and has given more than 50 invited talks in international conferences. He belongs to the top 2% of researchers worldwide (Stanford Ranking), serves as the Chairman of the Hellenic NDT Association and he is a Senior Member of IEEE.
Dr. Lindgren is currently the Nondestructive Evaluation Technology Lead in the Materials State Awareness Branch of the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory. Before joining AFRL in 2006, Eric worked as the Director of Nondestructive Evaluation (NDE) Sciences at SAIC Ultra Image. He has over 40 years of experience in NDE research, development, transition, and deployment, including efforts to develop and deploy advanced inspection methods for aerospace applications, transitioning basic research to inspections used on USAF aircraft structures, and developing materials characterization and process monitoring/control methods using NDE technology. He earned a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He is a Fellow of AFRL and ASNT and is the US Co-National Delegate for ICAF.
Fabrizio Montagnoli
Silvano Vergura
Fabrizio Montagnoli currently acts as the NDT and Failure Analysis Manager within the Engineering Department of the Leonardo Helicopters, having joined the Division in 2010.
In 2021, he was appointed Chairman of the Italian Aerospace Non-Destructive Testing Board (ITANDTB), following his role as coordinator of the Standardization Committee in 2018.
Additionally, he became Chairman of the NADCAP NDT Task Group in October 2025.
He also represents the Italian NDT Board at the European Forum of NANDTBs and participates in Working Group 15 (Materials Domain) within ASD-STAN as part of the Harmonization Team responsible for the revision of EN 4179 and NAS 410.
Silvano Vergura is Full Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy, where he currently teaches Photovoltaic Systems and Diagnostics, and Fundamentals of NDT. He is the Scientific Coordinator of RELab (Renewable Energy Laboratory). He is Chair of the Scientific Council of the Italian Association of Non Destructive Testing (AIPnD) and coordinator of the AIPnD DRONES Study Commission.
His main research interests are modelling and monitoring of electrical systems powered by renewable energy sources (primarily photovoltaic and wind power), also by means of drone-based infrared analysis. He is a member of international committees of international conferences on renewable energy. He is Editor-in-Chief of the journal Smart Cities, for the Smart Urban Energies and Integrated Systems section. He is the author or co-author of over 150 international publications in journals, conference proceedings and books. He holds a patent on monitoring the ageing of photovoltaic modules and has designed several software programmes, one of which (DiSS) is dedicated to the processing of infrared images of defective photovoltaic modules, and another (DUBIOS) dedicated to the processing of infrared video footage of photovoltaic modules, captured by drone.
Uwe Ewert
Johannes Vrana
Dr. Uwe Ewert was faculty member at the Baker-Lab of the Cornell university 1989/90 and Director and Professor of the division “Non-destructive testing, radiation methods” at the German research institute BAM-Berlin (Federal Institute for Material Research and Testing) from 2000 to 2017.
His research is focussed to digital Radiography and Computed Tomography for industrial application.
He is a driving force for the transfer from film to digital radiography in the international standardisation system and he is currently involved in international metrology projects to develop quality gauges for save applications in radiography and CT.
He is delegate and convenor of different working groups at DIN, CEN, ISO and ASTM.
He is consultant for different companies as X-Ray-Net, KOWOTEST and Sentin.
He is elected vice chairman of the “radiology committee” of the German society of NDT (DGZfP), past member of the DGZfP advisory board and member of Academia NDT International.
Dr. Uwe Ewert received the Berthold award of DGZfP (2005), the Roentgen medal of the birth city of Prof. Roentgen, Remscheid (2009), the Briggs Award of ASTM-International (2010), the Roy Sharpe Award of BINDT (2016), the needle of honour of DGZfP (2021) and the Innovator Award of DIN (2021 for a team).
Dr. Johannes Vrana: physicist, consultant, speaker, and trainer with 20+ years’ experience in NDE and data science.
His work ranges from applied ultrasonic testing to quantum optics, from quality assurance to science, and from large-scale industries to start-ups.
Some of the highlights of his work: Ph.D. on Induction Thermography, former Chairman of the Siemens NDE Council, and implementation of SAFT into serial production.
Dr. Vrana is leading multiple groups in national and international societies, mainly regarding NDE 4.0 and automated ultrasonic testing.
He serves on the ASNT Global Advisory Board.
He is well-published, editor of the Journal of NDE, editor-in-chief of the Handbook of NDE 4.0, and has received multiple awards.
In 2022, he received the Robert C McMaster Gold Medal from ASNT (together with Dr. Singh), in 2023, Onalytica identified him as one of the Top 50 Influencers on Industry 4.0, and in 2025, he was awarded the Kurzweil Award for High Impact on NDE 4.0 for the work “Pioneering, Leading & Globalizing NDE 4.0”.
His company, “Vrana GmbH,” specializes in NDE and digital transformation consulting and solutions, R&D, training, and software development.