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It has been a while since a published a post, and it feels good to be back. Currently, I have been knee deep in coding software for the micro-resolution ultrasonic imaging system. One of the main objectives that makes the system a valuable asset is the timing between the components. Specifically, the timing between data acquisition and stage movement. The data acquisition card in the computer has to consistently record data from the ultrasonic pulse sent through the component being inspected and the stage has to move while the data acquisition is occurring....

In today’s post I will discuss programming language data structure/types. This post highlights another accomplishment of building a micro-resolution ultrasonic imaging system. First, I successfully completed a plot script that will read binary data that was recorded by a data acquisition card and plot the curve using python. Now, some would agree that this is not a big feat, however this took me over three months to complete. The complexity of the journey first started with understanding what I was reading from the data acquisition card....

I am in the process of building an ultrasonic imaging lab. One of the main challenges to consistently overcome is connecting standalone units (such as a digital oscilloscope, ultrasonic pulse generator, 3-axis motion controller, etc.) to a central personal computer (PC). Furthermore, once these units are connected to a PC, you then must make them communicate with them via a custom program. In this post we will not get into interfacing all the components together with a custom program....

Radiography (x-ray) and ultrasound technology have been two nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques that have the ability to provide users with useful volumetric data. The NDE data obtained from these processes can be quite diverse in nature from quantifying defect sizes to measuring microstructural texturing in specific alloys. In addition, radiographic testing (RT) and ultrasonic testing (UT) have been rivals of each other and there is a debate on which one reigns supreme in the NDE community....

I am a sucker for anything that has to do with space and the cosmos. From trying to understand black holes to the possibility of terraforming Venus is very fascinating to me. So I recently ran across a Kurzgesagt YouTube video (my social media of choice) that talked about building a sustainable colony on the moon [1]. Once I found this video I watched it multiple times, because 1) I enjoy the animation style of Kurzgesagt and 2) the Kurzgesagt team often make videos that allow me to think and imagine how my research can be used for futuristic applications....

Ultrasonic technology is causing a shift in the nondestructive evaluation (NDE) and testing (NDT) industry. Many companies are moving toward ultrasonic testing (UT) as an alternative to radiographic testing (RT). UT uses ultrasonic waves to perform weld inspection, while RT uses x-rays to perform weld inspection. In my career, I have used more RT than UT for oil and gas weld inspection. This is not to say that RT is better than UT, but there are more UT solutions finding their way into the NDE market....

I taught a lecture on radiation source in my introduction to nondestructive evaluation (NDE) course in late March 2022. During the lecture I thought to myself, “What if you could use a black hole as your x-ray source?” I know that this idea is far from being possible with today’s current technology and may be a bit controversial. But, I wonder how the NDE industry (particularly radiography) would change if using black holes was feasible....

The purpose of this blog is to take the first steps on my quest to make engineering more accessible. I am fully aware that I will not change the landscape of engineering over night let alone by myself but, I have studied engineering for the past 18 years and what I have found and experienced is that if a scholar of engineering is not careful they can make themselves become obsolete due to the ever changing landscape of the engineering field and the evolution of the general public....