How CICNDT Qualifies Inspectors for Complex Blade Scans

Jeremy Heinks, founder and CEO of CICNDT, joins to discuss the inspector shortage, Level III oversight, blade samples, drone thermal limits, and IEC updates. The Uptime Wind Energy Podcast is brought to you by Weather Guard Lightning Tech, creators of the StrikeTape Ultra LPS retrofit. Subscribe to Uptime’s Substack newsletter. And check out Rosemary’s "Engineering with Rosie" Youtube channel. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Episode Transcript Allen Hall: A lot is happening in your world. And in our world, too, as lightning protection people, because we are all dealing with damage to composite structures and wind turbine blades. Over the last couple of months, there have been some really complex problems in the field. And what I am seeing, and maybe you're seeing the same thing, is that some of the technicians out there trying to scan blades are just not qualified to do some of these complicated inspections. Blades are getting very complex now, with carbon in them and all the bonding issues. Are you seeing something similar from where you sit?Jeremy Heinks: It's not just service. It's at the supplier level, and it's at the OEM level, where they're trying to do something, but it's hard to come by the right people and make sure you're following a standard of sorts. But yeah, we're seeing that there's a genuine lack of properly qualified and certified people doing the work.Allen Hall: Is that a training issue, or just because there's so much demand for that expertise?Jeremy Heinks: A little bit of everything. Wind, even though it's been around for a while, is still relatively new to a proper inspection system. So having the right training in place, not getting taken advantage of by training centers, and having training that's actually focused on what we use for day-to-day inspection of blades is one thing.The other side of it is there's a global shortage of NDT technicians. It's just like any of the other trades that are really in demand. If anybody wants to get into something and have, not an easy life at work, but a decent chance at success and making a decent amount of money, then NDT is definitely the way to go, because there are huge shortages. Aviation and space programs are booming right now, and they're all looking for technicians.Allen Hall: Yeah, I've seen a lot of requests out there, particularly from defense companies that are building complex composite structures, and the job postings for NDT personnel. And they're paying really good money right now to find those people.Jeremy Heinks: Oh, absolutely. We just got a request from one of the big names here in the US for 86 technicians. And I'm like, there's no such thing as 86 technicians out there.Allen Hall: Yeah.Jeremy Heinks: You'll get one or two here and there, but there's just not that many available at the moment.Allen Hall: Well, back in the blade world, we're kind of wrapping up the blade season this time of year, and it gets a little bit heavy as everybody realizes, oh, I have some damage I didn't see before. A lot of drone inspections are happening, which then draw you in on NDT. As an operator, what are people to do here? I hear a lot of complaints that it's really hard to find somebody who knows what they're doing. I always point them to CIC and tell them to call you and get started there. But what should they be doing, and what should they be looking for when they have complex composite problems?Jeremy Heinks: Like you say, a lot more people are bringing inspection companies in, which is great, and we need to see that. But once you've made the decision that you need NDT, you've got to make sure you're getting what you pay for and the quality of service you expect to receive.So typically there are some questions you want to ask. Do you have a Level III in the method of inspection who is going to oversee everything from education to certification and qualification? And if they have Level IIIs, how do they take care of their technicians i