In our article series “Testia Experts”, we present short interviews with our employees – the experts that really make Testia what it is. In this issue, we have a chat with Guillaume Padiou, NDT Inspector for Testia in Nantes, France.
Could you give us a short overview of your NDT inspector career?
I arrived at Testia in 2017 thanks to a POE training, which allowed me to have my first certification. I then started to work directly at a customer’s site. Thanks to that I gained experience and passed my level 2 UT certification and the following year my level 2 ET certification.
I have always been passionate about the world of aeronautics. The position of NDT technician seemed to me to be a good opportunity to access it. To date I am team leader of a small team of controllers at customer’s site – for me it is a big step forward because I did not expect to get there so quickly.
How do new technologies and developments for UT and/or ET inspection impact your work?
In general, new technologies help to simplify and improve NDT inspections. They also make it possible to optimize the time spent for an inspection: For example the automated creation of reports, which limits the risk of errors during editing. With the use of our Smart UE1, the applications can be adapted to different situations: Taking measurement points is done efficiently thanks to the features in the application.
The NDT world is changing a lot – what changes are you looking forward to? What are your personal goals as an NDT inspector in a few years?
I wouldn’t say that I’m looking forward to this, because I haven’t had the opportunity to test it personally, but augmented reality could be adapted for certain inspections: This will help to better prepare the inspection and have more precise localization capabilities.
In the near future I would like to participate in the development of a control system or perhaps pass a new certification complementary to the two that I already have.
What advice would you give to young apprentices who are just starting their NDT inspector career now?
What I learned when I started at Testia is that you have to create a network of acquaintances – every opportunity is good! This allows you to quickly gain skills and enrich yourself professionally and personally. In addition to that, I would say that you have to be curious and know how to stay interested about the environment around you.
Are you interested in also becoming a Testia expert? Visit our career page to find out about our current job offers!