Papua New Guinea lies just north of Australia (Fig. 1). It is a developing island nation, with 462,839 km of land area, a population of 3.9 million people, and vast natural resources (Compton’s Interactive Encyclopedia, 1996). It is the largest island in the Oceania region of the world, which also includes Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Most of these islands share similar resources, and prudent development of the resources requires utilization of nondestructive evaluation (NDE). NDE provides the means for flaw detection and size assessment, as well as evaluation of material degradation such as corrosion and hydrogen attack. These are factors which affect the service life of components and systems. Being aware of the state of degradation of these components and systems will enable cost effective maintenance, and reduce costly and dangerous failures. Recognizing the need for NDE expertise, the Papua New Guinea University of Technology at Lae has initiated a Center for Nondestructive Evaluation. Once operational, the center should serve the entire Oceania region, and provide resources, trained students and expertise that will enable the growth of the NDE industry within that area. It is widely accepted that NDE adds value to a product or process, not just cost. The amount of value is directly related to the engineering education of the personnel making NDE decisions. The growth of the NDE industry in these South Pacific Islands will add to the economy, as well as aid in the further creation of a population of engineers who are well educated in NDE.
Development on Three-dimensionally Traveling SQUID System for Nondestructive Evaluation
