Hyderabad to host international NDT, aerospace inspection conferences from Nov 15
The Indian Society for Non-Destructive Testing (ISNT) will organise its 36th Annual Conference on Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE 2026) along with the 15th International Symposium on NDT in Aerospace (AeroNDT 2026) at the HITEX Exhibition Centre here.
Announcing this at a press conference on Friday, ISNT President and DRDO Director General Dr Jaiteerth R Joshi said the events would focus on emerging technologies in non-destructive evaluation, aerospace inspection, artificial intelligence, industrial safety and engineering applications.
Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the conference on November 15, while Telangana IT Minister D Sridhar Babu will attend as guest of honour.
Dr Joshi said the application of artificial intelligence in non-destructive testing, particularly in the aerospace sector, would be a major area of discussion.
India was developing capabilities in testing and certification, reducing its earlier dependence on countries such as Singapore, he said.
Referring to BrahMos missile exports, he said the deal with the Philippines had been completed and an understanding had been reached with Vietnam. Negotiations with some other Southeast Asian countries were at an advanced stage and the deals would be finalised after obtaining government approval.
He said non-destructive testing had played a crucial role in ensuring the reliability and effectiveness of missiles such as BrahMos.
The conference will deliberate on artificial intelligence and machine learning in inspection, digital twins, structural health monitoring, robotics, automation, advanced materials, predictive maintenance, renewable energy, hydrogen and energy storage systems, besides aerospace and defence applications.
The technical programme will have three major tracks covering AI and machine learning in NDT, digital twin and digital thread applications in engineering and reliability, and the development of India’s aerospace NDT competence framework, including personnel qualification and certification standards.
The organisers expressed concern over the shortage of qualified NDT engineers in the country and stressed the need to strengthen professional training and industry-oriented skill development.
Four pre-conference tutorials will be held on November 14 on digital radiography and AI-enabled inspection, NDT for renewable energy, artificial intelligence and machine learning, and NAS410 and NADCAP requirements for aerospace NDT organisations.
The programme will include scientific presentations, plenary sessions, invited lectures, poster presentations, technical discussions and industry interactions. Selected research papers, subject to peer review and publication requirements, will be included in a special edition of the conference proceedings published by Springer Nature.
The accompanying exhibition will feature more than 100 exhibitors showcasing products, technologies and solutions in non-destructive testing and related fields.
R Siva Prasad Reddy, Chairman of Rachamallu Forgings, G Surya Prakash, Chairman of NDE 2026 and Archimedes Engineering, and Mohan P Nair, Convenor of NDE 2026, were among those present.
Established in 1972, ISNT is a non-profit professional organisation promoting non-destructive testing through education, research and technical exchange. It has more than 5,000 members across 19 chapters in India.
The events are being organised by ISNT, with its Hyderabad Chapter hosting the conferences, in collaboration with BINDT, DGZfP and COFREND.
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