In this insightful interview, we are honoured to speak with Neal Couture, the Chief Executive Officer of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT).
With a rich and diverse background spanning over multiple industries, Neal has spent the last five years at the helm of ASNT, guiding the organization toward significant growth and impact in the NDT sector. Throughout our conversation, Neal shares his unique journey from a career in the U.S. military and aerospace to leading one of the most influential professional bodies in nondestructive testing. His perspectives on leadership, innovation, and the future of NDT offer valuable lessons for both seasoned professionals and those just beginning their careers.
Neal also gives us a glimpse into his personal life, sharing his approach to balancing work and family, as well as his passion for travel, fitness, and lifelong learning.
Let’s begin with the amazing conversation.
Hello Mr. Neal J Couture. Hope you’re having an amazing day/night. We are pleased to you have here with us today. Could you please start by introducing yourself to our audience?
Good morning. My name is Neal Couture, and I am the Chief Executive Officer of the American Society for Nondestructive Testing, better known as ASNT. ASNT’s mission is to advance the field of nondestructive testing, and we have more than 40,000 members, certified professionals, and stakeholders worldwide. I have been with ASNT since July 2019 and recently celebrated my 5th anniversary with ASNT. I live with my wife Cambria in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we moved last year. We both work remotely and enjoy the weather in Charlotte – no winter snowstorms! We have four adult children who are all happily married and reside on the West Coast of the United States, and they are raising our 5 grandchildren. We like to golf as we live on a golf course and enjoy traveling around the world. Our most recent trips included Korea, Japan, India, and Canada!
… can you share a bit about your early days in the NDT industry? What initially attracted you to this field, and how did your career evolve over time?
I’m actually not an NDT Professional! I’m a business professional and association executive. My career started in the U.S. military, where I was a contract officer—I bought cool stuff for the Air Force. After leaving the military, I went into the aerospace and defense industry, working as a business manager for several large and small companies. My most interesting job from that part of my career was working for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where I worked on some amazing space programs! I transitioned into the association management field—yes, there is such a profession—in 1999, when I served as executive director of the professional society serving my former profession. In 2011, I shifted to higher education, where I was Director of Government Procurement Law and Business Programs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and then Associate Dean at Boston College. I returned to the association management field in 2019 in my current role with ASNT.
Now, while I have not had a career in NDT, I can tell you what I appreciate about the field; I appreciate how vital NDT professionals are to the health, safety, and welfare of our global society. NDT professionals keep planes flying, trains running, boats floating, buildings and bridges standing, equipment running, and energy flowing. When we get it right, no one notices. When we get it wrong—it ends up in your news feed and not in a good way. NDT is an essential field that most people don’t know about. NDT professionals are truly unsung heroes.
Mr. Couture, could you share some of the most significant challenges you faced while moving up the ladder in the NDT industry, and how did you overcome them?
From my perspective as a business manager, I can tell you my personal career challenges are very similar to those of NDT professionals. Having a vision for where you see yourself in this world, setting forth a plan to achieve that vision, and executing that plan diligently. Your career plans may change, as mine did several times in my career, but that’s ok. You can even have multiple careers in your lifetime. Just make a plan and stick to the plan, until the plan is no longer relevant, and then make a new plan. NDT professionals need to own their careers—don’t leave it up to an employer to get you where you want to be. That’s just a path to disappointment. If they won’t pay for your training, get it yourself, future you will thank you. If they offer you an opportunity for something new and exciting, even if it inconveniences you, take the risk. In my career, I have found that success requires taking risks. Take care of yourself and your loved ones along the way; all the career success in the world is hollow if you don’t live to enjoy it or share it with others.
… as a leader, how do you approach fostering innovation and a culture of continuous improvement within your team?
I challenge my teammates to be thought leaders. What is a thought leader? Someone who engages in their profession develops new skills, reads and watches everything, and then adds to the conversation. This is done by writing papers, engaging in online community discussions, speaking at conferences, advocating for the field, mentoring others, or volunteering for their professional societies. ASNT’s staff managers are thought leaders in their respective fields, whether it’s Barry Schieferstein in events management, Toni Kervina in content management, Nealy Wheat in finance, or Rali Petrova in certification management. I have a dozen more examples.
I also charge my team to challenge the status quo and always to ask “why” or, more likely, “why not?” It’s not enough to show up every day and process things. We need to think—really think—about what we do and why we do it. I expect my team to own what they do, not like owning real estate in “get off my turf,” but from an accountability perspective. I expect my team to be accountable to each other, our members, the industries we serve, and most importantly, themselves. I want them to be proud of what they accomplish, and that happens when people are truly accountable for their work.
… what qualities are essential for someone aspiring to take on a senior leadership role in NDT?
Being a senior leader in any profession in NDT, welding, association management, or whatever – share the same requirements. It always starts with personal and professional integrity and ethics. Leadership is about inspiring others to achieve some shared goal, and you can’t do that if the people around you don’t trust you. Seeing the leader violate ethical norms is perhaps the fastest way for the leader to lose their team. When we see failures in NDT, they are almost always tied to some ethical lapse, such as shortcuts on inspections, falsified inspection documentation, fielding unprepared technicians, etc. Simply adhering to fundamental ethical standards and codes of conduct—ASNT’s Member Code of Ethics for its members, for example, would vastly improve the quality of NDT and the perception of the field in the industry.
Having a vision for what is possible and conveying this vision to people around you is essential to lead. People want to know why they are working with your company. It’s more than just a job to earn money for most people. People are attracted to compelling and inspiring purposes and want to be involved in work that matters. NDT has a noble and worthy purpose—saving lives—it’s an easy mission to get people to support, but the leader must tie the work to that higher purpose.
… how have you seen the NDT industry evolve over the years, and what trends do you think will shape its future?
My direct experience in NDT is limited to the past five years, but through my position, I have been exposed to feedback from many people with long and distinguished histories in NDT—people like the late Jim Treat and Chuck Hellier, both giants in this field. I’ve also had the chance to study the History of NDT through many of ASNT’s publications.
It is my observation that NDT has grown from a niche craft practiced by a few materials scientists into a true profession practiced by tens of thousands of professionals worldwide. NDT has become a respected and essential technical field with a complete body of knowledge, a deep research base, standardized training, and personnel certification. It is now facing the next phase of its evolution, and like most technical fields, that evolution is heavily influenced and shaped by the digitalization of information, work processes, etc. How will the NDT engineer utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to design better NDT practices, especially in data analysis, to characterize flaws? How will the technician in the field be impacted by using robotics as a platform for carrying sensors, especially in difficult or hazardous environments? How will technology enable researchers to develop innovative processes and equipment to characterize new and exotic materials used in advanced manufacturing?
The need for NDT professionals will only increase, but the digitalized world will demand they develop new skills to remain relevant to employers. It also opens new career pathways into AI, robotics, data management, etc., for professionals with those inclinations. Members often ask me whether new technologies such as AI will replace them, and my answer is only if they fail to develop new skills demanded by an evolving workplace. It’s the same advice I’d give a welder, an accountant, or an association manager.
… in your opinion, what are the key areas where the industry needs to focus to maintain its relevance and effectiveness?
The NDT field faces three momentous challenges that must be overcome to remain relevant. First, we need to increase the flow of new talent into the field. Workforce shortages have been a significant issue for NDT for a generation, and given the demographic trends in most industrialized nations, it doesn’t look to get any easier. ASNT has joined with our friends at NDTMA and AATA in an Apprenticeship Program, but that’s just a drop in the bucket. We are opening our first legislative affairs office in Washington, D.C., in January with the goal of influencing legislation and funding to invest in NDT workforce development. This problem is more significant than ASNT or any one organization, and it will require governmental assistance at the federal and state levels to help resolve.
The second big challenge is one I mentioned earlier—ethics. Companies taking shortcuts in NDT has become all too common for economic reasons. We get calls from members all the time, usually a field technician, who reports that they’ve observed or even been instructed by management to do something unethical. This could be anything from falsifying training records to field an unqualified technician up to reproducing images from inspecting one weld and presenting them as inspections of 200 welds. Several criminal investigations and trials are underway involving NDT Companies or professionals. I worry that I’m only seeing the tip of the iceberg. The problem is probably much worse than my anecdotal data suggests.
Third is, of course, the utilization of technology. NDT professionals must become experts at learning new methods, techniques, procedures, and equipment to meet the increasingly complex needs of the NDT profession. Failure to learn will make our field less relevant over time.
Mr. Couture, how do you see the role of new technologies, such as AI and machine learning, impacting the NDT sector?
I think I answered this one in prior responses.
… leading a dynamic career like yours must come with its challenges. How do you maintain a balance between your professional responsibilities and personal life?
This is a hard one for me. I admit I’ve not always been good at stepping away and attending to myself and my family. Working remotely since the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new challenges and new opportunities. A couple of things I do: I always bring workout clothes when I travel, and I always work out 3-4 times a week. While I’ve always wanted to drop a few more pounds, like many, I have found resistance training effective at keeping parts in working order and alleviating stress.
I always look for new opportunities to learn. I started a doctoral program at the age of 51. I study the association management profession. I challenge my mind. I find this lends balance, particularly in stressful times.
I’m also blessed by an amazing partner, Cambria. We often travel together on work trips. We both work from home and manage businesses and despite the demands of each of our jobs, we work hard to spend quality time together.
… are there any books, podcasts, or resources that have significantly influenced your thinking or approach to your career and life?
I can’t point to one or two specific resources like that. I’ve been in the workplace since 1979, and over those years, I’ve read thousands of books, watched hundreds of videos, listened to hundreds of podcasts, and seen hundreds of speeches, lectures, and presentations. At this point, all of that information has blended together smoothly in my mind…it’s all in there, but you wouldn’t recognize the ingredients. For newer professionals, my advice is to read; certainly, information related to your profession is good, but most anything will do. Expose yourself to new ideas and contrary positions and challenge yourself.
I would say that certain people in my life have had much more influence over my thinking than published material. For example, my stepdad influenced how I think about taking pride in my work, no matter what I did. He was an auto mechanic and the most disciplined person I’ve known. Another is my first mentor, who showed me how to be a professional, prepare, and deal with people. Many other people I have shared experiences with have influenced my thinking, but these are the two most formative ones.
.. if you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Wow, we’re getting deep here! I’d advise myself to start saving for retirement immediately—don’t wait. Stocks—the market always rebounds. Lighten up. Learn how to ballroom dance. It’ll come in handy more than you think. Be kinder. Call your mom more frequently. She’ll be gone before you know it. That’s more than one piece, but it’s all important.
… what hobbies or activities do you engage in outside of work that helps you stay balanced and motivated?
My wife and I like to travel. I’ve been to all 50 states, all U.S. territories, and 20 countries. We both like baseball and have been to more than 25 professional stadiums. We golf. We work out together. I’m a movie buff, but my wife tends to fall asleep halfway through. And, of course, we like to visit family. They have a way of seeing the real you (and not the CEO in you).
… who were your mentors, and how did they influence your approach to leadership and industry practices?
I think I answered this one previously.
… what advice would you give to young professionals looking to build a career in NDT?
I think I answered this one previously.
…you are the CEO of ASNT, one of the largest organizations specializing in NDT. What’s your vision or the end goal at ASNT?
It’s important to note that my vision is a shared vision developed with the society's volunteer member-leaders. Without their perspective, my vision is incomplete. We are blessed with an amazing board of directors who really have an excellent grasp of what the NDT profession needs.
Our shared vision is that ASNT makes the world a safer place through excellent NDT. It sounds simple, but it’s amazingly complex and challenging. To achieve that vision, there has to be a sufficient stream of talent entering the NDT field to meet the demands of industries. To attract workers, NDT needs to be recognized publicly as an essential field, and there needs to be multiple accessible pathways into the field. Workforce is just one element of that vision. Ethics, technology, research, new techniques, and methods are important aspects of our vision, and ASNT invests significant time and energy in them.
The Board wants ASNT to lead on the global stage. While we have always had members around the world, we have not wielded our collective influence as effectively as we could have in establishing and enforcing standards, focusing on ethical practices, introducing new technology, and more. We are working hard to address this area currently.
Finally, what are your thoughts on OnestopNDT? Do you think our efforts to provide real, authentic and accurate content are helping the NDT industry? Also, do you think our platform helps the community connect with like-minded people?
I think OnestopNDT is a terrific channel for NDT content and provides value to the professional community. Our challenges are far greater than any one organization can solve; it will take the minds and voices of everyone involved. With OnestopNDT, we have another important voice in getting trustworthy content to the community and providing a helpful platform for bringing the community together. ASNT looks to continue our growing relationship in the interests of our members and the global NDT community.
