General education and training of NDT personnel, including NDT Education at Universities. in South Africa

Abstract

Following the 16th World Conference in Durban, South Africa, The South African Institute for NDT (SAINT) was mandated to invest the monies made from the WCNDT to establish a professional qualification for NDT personnel. In South Africa, a professional qualification must comply with the national qualification framework (NQF) requirements, which stipulate the rules to assure that qualifications for different occupations are at the same level. For NDT this meant, that the qualifications to ISO 9712 (ISO TC 25107 syllabus) would not suffice to serve as a qualification. There exists a requirement that classroom training, classroom practical training and work integrated practical training should each make up at least 30 % of the work. Anybody who had a look at ISO 9712 will realise that 160 hours of classroom training and 180 days (1080 hours) practical training would not cut it, as the training content for the 1080 hours is not defined in any standard. This state of affairs required the definition (curriculum development) of what has to be taught and how. The paper will elucidate this outcome. Concerning university education in South Africa one has to mention the NDT diploma and advanced diploma in NDT offered by the Vaal University of Technology (VUT). These courses focus on teaching NDT theory across a broad spectrum. Students have to undergo work integrated learning (WIL) and then successfully pass the practical examination at NDT Level II in order to be certificated to perform NDT in line with codes and standards. The Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) offer a subject in NDT as part of the applied physics diploma, where the emphasis is on Nuclear Technology and Photonics. At the University of Cape Town (UCT) in the department of mechanical engineering, digital shearography is offered as a research field for master degree studies. They have a well-equipped optical laboratory for this purpose and have manufactured a shearography system which they support and improve on an ongoing basis. At the University Pretoria (UP) the subject Non-destructive Testing was offered at the post graduate degree level, as part of the course work for Asset Integrity Management. Most practical NDT technology development in South Africa is performed in industry at the company’s own costs. Some examples will be mentioned.