One of the most prominent organs of Iowa State’s scientific research community is the Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, (CNDE), located in the Applied Science Complex on Scholl Road just north of Ontario Road.

It is a major collaborator with universities and research centers from China, Germany, Russia and around the world. CNDE also attracts many international graduate students in engineering and science to ISU.

One resource ISU has through the CNDE is the Iowa Development Lab for Nondestructive Evaluation, (IDL).

IDL is one mechanism the university has for fulfilling its strategic vision of being the best land-grant university by working with nondestructive evaluation, which is commonly called NDE by IDL scientists.

“Being a land-grant institution means giving something back to the community, and IDL’s mission is to make awareness of and expertise in NDE methods available to Iowa businesses,” said David Utrata, nondestructive testing engineer with IDL.

NDE methods are used by manufacturers to evaluate their processes as well as their products.

” We are the middlemen between problems and solutions,” Utrata said. “In the late ’80s, most sponsors for the CNDE were located far away, and that, combined with the land-grant vision, provided the impetus for creating IDL in 1992 — to bring in more involvement with state and regional companies.”

Brian Larson, director of IDL, said they service an average of 40 Iowa companies per year.

Lisa Brasche, a scientist a CNDE and the first director of IDL, said NDE is used to determine the quality, integrity, and reliability of materials, products and structures, without destroying the materials.

“In much the same manner as modern medicine, NDE detects, measures, and characterizes flaws, defects, and pending failures without ‘surgery’,” she said.

Given its mission, IDL concentrates on effectively utilizing and training people on the most common practical testing methods, rather than some of the cutting-edge, fancy but impractical methods, Utrata said.

The six principle types of NDE used are ultrasonic, eddy current (magnetic induction), X-ray radiographic, magnetic, and liquid penetrant testing, he said.

Utrata said IDL provides the first 40 hours of testing samples, describing the process and the results to the client, and training company personnel free of charge. They have provided service to over 100 clients.

“There are four typical questions we are tasked to answer for the client: ‘Can this be done?, What’s the best way of doing this?, Who can we go to in our immediate area for some particular help?, and What do you know about this?” Utrata said.

If a client asks IDL scientists to help them employ a specific technique, IDL scientists asks them for a sample, tests it at the CNDE, invites the client back to observe the results and learn about the process, and then offers training for the appropriate members of the client’s staff in how to effectively employ the testing method, Utrata said.