17th April, 2014
As the president of the COFREND, Mr. Jean-Pierre Gustin can follow the evolution of NDT in France. He kindly accepted to give us his insight on the matter.
What are, in your opinion, the challenges that NDT professionals will have to face within the next years (at both local and international levels)?
- The adaptation of the workforce to the increasingly quick evolution of technologies and methods (regulations, standards, etc.)
- Managing the age pyramid and available skills (recruitment, replacing retiring people, etc.)
- Integrating and training young recruits
- Managing a skills market on a just-in-time basis (aeronautic / major refit)
- Face an increasingly strong international competition
The COFREND is in constant evolution. Could you give us your vision of what the COFREND will be within two to three years, and the main role it should take?
The COFREND will play a key role in the valorization and the attractiveness of our professions.
The certification and the experts’ network on which it relies will increase the COFREND’s role as key contact in the profession, toward to various external stakeholders (public authorities, national and international organizations…).
What are the cooperative efforts between NDT companies at an international level? What are the COFREND’s priorities in these exchanges?
The COFREND actively takes part in the ECNDT event, for which it holds the presidency of the European Committee for Certification.
It also participates in the European Aeronautic Forum by performing the secretarial work.
And it contributes to helping companies making exports, through a system of COFREND certifications, widely recognized beyond our borders.
International concerns for the COFREND are:
- A mutual recognition of our certification process by all our European counterparts, to make the certified professionals mobile throughout all the European Union
- Exporting our know-how in certification: mobile examination center, to answer the need in response of French companies based abroad, among other things
You have been the driving force in the implementation of the COFREND’s commissions, in particular to promote NDTs and enhance their reputation. What do you expect from these commissions, what is their priority for you?
The role of the COFREND’s commissions is to:
- Take an inventory of the socio-economic issues in the NDT world
- Defend the interests of the actors of this field
- Anticipate the needs of the NDT industry
- Highlight the profession
- Create and make visible and readable initial and ongoing training
You are organizing the COFREND days, taking place from 20th to 22nd of May. What are your expectations for this event (in terms of visitors, fame, impact for NDT, etc.)?
These COFREND days have many expectations to meet:
- To showcase of the dynamic of the new COFREND Poles’ and of their missions
- To valorize NDT professions, institutions, user companies, job partners, training sessions, etc.
- To deploy the initial and ongoing NDT training course
- To link people looking for a job or an internship and companies
- To promote new technologies and their actors
- Through technical conferences, to highlight our experts’ network and the works of their R&D departments
What are, in your opinion, the main NDT innovations that will make the testing of tomorrow?
To me, it comes down to three things:
- GreenTech
- The ergonomy of tools and equipment
- Improving the performance of testing methods
Simulation is used a lot in some fields, less so in others. What are the main perks of simulation in your opinion?
Simulation tools have a great future in the NDT field, allowing for savings (of both time and costs) on choices of techniques and optimization of set-up processes regarding typologies of flaws to be detected
The flip side of this being, of course, to know what we are looking for, which is not always that simple, and to be able to qualify these tools.