NDT's Got Talent
by Bernard McGrath, Inspection Validation Centre

The excitement of Christmas, for people of all ages, is enhanced by the anticipation and the run up to the actual day. Once the clocks go back in the UK, the passage of time up to the 25th December is divided into small pieces by various events and occasions: Halloween, bonfire night, the Christmas lights going up in the town centres, the school nativity plays, work and school Christmas parties, and finally, Christmas Eve. Most people enhance this run-in with their own Christmas customs and routines, each adding to the overall experience.

Unfortunately, other outside influences beyond our control intrude and impose change upon our annual preparations. No longer can we have the fun of guessing what the Christmas number one song will be. We are manipulated into selecting the X-Factor contestant that will be given the hit so that the number one is inevitable. The first sign that Christmas is on the way is no longer the first rehearsals for the school play but the showing of the first auditions for the TV show.

The show, in common with other shows and media, has other less obvious but nevertheless powerful influences on us. It is good to watch someone with a natural singing talent be given the opportunity to realise that gift. My objection is that the show portrays the ability to sing as a talent that is superior to any other, just because it is associated with fame and fortune. To think that someone could have spent the rest of her life as a dinner lady if the X-Factor hadn't rescued her!

But what if she was a better dinner lady than she is a singer? Perhaps she had a bigger impact and more beneficial influence on other people's lives as a dinner lady than she ever will as a singer. The winner of another talent show was a Carphone Warehouse salesman. As pleasant as it is to listen to his singing, I can honestly say that Carphone Warehouse sales people have provided more practical benefit to me and my family.

This skewed view of talent is not the only thing that is exaggerated in the world of entertainment. Writers and artists get paid royalties based on the individual sales and use of their work. Compare this to engineering, where the creative output is more than just words but is usually only rewarded with a single, one-off fee. Royalties can be collected if a patent is obtained. But the patent process can be a costly and lengthy process. Even when it is obtained it has to be policed by the patentee taking legal action (more cost) against any infringement. In addition, the patent is open to be challenged by other parties. Think how different it would be if engineers and technicians automatically received a royalty from every user of the end products they had a creative input into producing.

NDT is at a particular disadvantage when it comes to intellectual property. Procedures are difficult to protect and easy to copy. Often the best protection for a new technique or piece of equipment is secrecy. But this can be counter productive when the capability of the technique or equipment can only be fully assessed, and hence appreciated, by a proper understanding of the principles of operation.

The screenwriters in America are currently striking for a share of the royalties from internet and DVD sales. The advance of technology is threatening the old system of intellectual property rights. Maybe it is time for the NDT community to agree their own, new system of rights which can allow people and companies to be justly rewarded, for a period of time at least, for their creative output in procedures, techniques and equipment.

However, Christmas is a family time. So this year, in addition to contributing to the royalties of the No. 1 artist, we should also take time to think of our NDT family. Whether you are flying off to the sun, turning on the Christmas tree lights, filling the car with petrol or travelling across a bridge, just pause and think of the NDT talent which has made it possible for you to do these things. Isn’t that just as valuable as a song 3 minutes 53 seconds long?

Please note that the views expressed in this column are the author’s own personal ramblings for the purpose of encouraging discussion within the NDT Newspaper. They do not represent the views of the IVC, Serco Assurance or the HSE who funded the PANI projects.

Letters can be mailed to The Editor, NDT News, Newton Building, St George's Avenue, Northampton NN2 6JB. Fax: 01604 89 3861; E-mail: ndtnews@bindt.org or e-mail Bernard McGrath direct at Bernard.McGrath@sercoassurance.com