NRI Dr. Sandhu receives the most prestigious "Research Award for Innovation", 2010 FROM ASNT

Chicago, May 10, 2010
Rajinder Singh Mago

The American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Inc. (ASNT),  the world's largest technical society for nondestructive testing (NDT) professionals,  awarded  the most prestigious "Research Award for Innovation,  2010, to Dr. Jaswinder Singh Sandhu of Wheeling Illinois  for his outstanding contribution and distinguished breakthrough in the field of "Acoustography."

ASNT was founded in 1941 (under the name of The American Industrial Radium and X-Ray Society) and currently boasts an individual membership of over 10,000 including more than 450 Corporate Partner affiliated companies. The Society is structured into local Sections (or chapters) throughout the world. There are over 70 local Sections in the US and 14 internationally. Our membership represents a wide cross-section of NDT practitioners working in manufacturing, construction, education, research, consulting, services, and the military.

The award on behalf of ASNT was presented by Dr. Gary Workman, a well-known authority in the NDT field, a retired professor at the University of Alabama, and a former Chairman of the ASNT Research Council.

No more than one such award may be given in any calendar year and need not be given if there are no outstanding candidates nominated for the award.  Dr. Sandhu is the first Indian American and also the first Gursikh (observing Sikh) ever to receive this award.

The award ceremony took place at the ASNT Research Symposium and Spring Conference held at Williamsburg Marriott, Williamsburg, VA on March 25th, 2010, where Dr. Sandhu’s presentation entitled “Acoustography – Dawn of a New Era in Ultrasonic Inspection” was greatly applauded.  

Dr. Jas Sandhu is the founder and president of Santec Systems, Inc with its world head quarters in Wheeling Illinois, and is best known for his pioneering work in developing “Acoustography,” a novel ultrasound imaging method. Dr. Sandhu has dedicated most of his professional career to developing Acoustography for various industrial and medical applications.

He is currently collaborating with various aerospace companies to develop Acoustography to provide dramatically faster NDI of composites. Dr. Sandhu’s dedicated effort earned him the Best Paper Award in 2001 by SPIE-The International Society for Optical Engineering. He is the recipient of more than 15 patents and has authored over 40 papers and reports in the field of Acoustography.

Dr. Sandhu received a B.Sc (honors) in Physics from the University of Sussex (UK) in 1975 and M.Sc in Solid State Physics from the University of London (UK) in 1976. He then went on to do research work in the field of Ultrasonics and received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of London in 1980. After graduate school, Dr. Sandhu joined ITT Corporation and then worked for a private venture. In 1989 he decided to start his own company - Santec Systems, Inc - to develop and commercialize Acoustography.

  “It’s a moment of great pride for our community that Dr. Jaswinder Singh Sandhu is the first Indian American to win this prestigious award. He is such a humble man with a gentle demeanor that you won’t believe it,” said Rajinder Singh Mago, president of Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago, “he is a solid role model and an inspiration for our next generation,” he added.

 Dr. Jaswinder Singh Sandhu, founder & president of Santec Systems, Inc., addressing the conference attendees in Williamsburg VA, while accepting the “Research Award for Innovation” from the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT). Dr. Sandhu is the first Indian American to receive this award.

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