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The (Ogden, Utah) celebrated its grand opening on April 4, 2025. Developed through a technology partnership between composite inspection and consulting firm (Ogden, Utah, U.S.) and robotic inspection startup (Tucson, Ariz., U.S.), the AIMM Center brings together the latest in technologies for nondestructive testing, inspection and engineering (NDT, NDI, NDE) with next-gen automation and robotics and a team of engineers and Level 3 inspectors that have decades of experience with advanced composites in a range of industries, including aerospace, defense, biomedical, wind blades and marine.

The 4,000-square-foot AIMM Center facility houses individual stations for:

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• Robot RT (X-ray) and robot computed tomography (CT)
• Thermography
• Laser shearography
• Eddy current
• Bond testing
• Phased array ultrasonic testing (UT)
• Noncontact laser UT
• Metrology/3D surface mapping.

“One of our goals for establishing the AIMM Center,” explains Jeremy Heinks, CEO of CICNDT, “is to bring the latest sensors and inspection methods into one place, so that if you have a unique material, application or inspection problem, there are a wide range of tools that can be applied by experienced Level 3 inspectors to find the best solution.”

Once that solution is found, the AIMM Center can work with companies to develop customized systems and training to meet their production needs. “We want to provide a one-stop shop to help enable the next generation of advanced materials and manufacturing,” says Heinks. This includes:

• Scan-as-a-service
• Proof of detection (POD)/R&D consulting
• Equipment sales
• Training and certification
• Calibration of equipment
• Automation
• NDT digital twin
• CT/RT vault services.

AIMM Center partners are also working with industry to investigate cost and time studies, evaluating known defects and what can be seen for materials like ceramic matrix composites (CMC) and welded thermoplastic composites, among others.

“We also want to provide further demonstration events and workshops in the future, as we build our database with these new inspection techniques, to help bring the whole industry forward,” says Heinks.

One of the demonstrations during the April opening was of Omni NDE’s robotic CT system housed in a shipping container. “This showcases the flexibility of our cobot-based systems that don’t need a dedicated cell and can be moved around a facility for inspecting large structures like launcher payload fairings,” notes James Bennett, Ph.D., CEO of Omni NDE. “In some cases, we can even enable inspections in the field, which is a unique capability for CT, but also for most of these methods, where forward deployment typically means inspection by hand.”

Both companies stress the importance of being able to examine the latest sensors and inspection technologies to help solve the challenges of advanced materials and processes.

“For example, we are developing noncontact inspection capabilities — including robot CT and laser ultrasound — that can accommodate no-touch/no-contamination requirements as well as eliminate the use of water and subsequent drying,” notes Bennett.

Heinks adds that with so many new developments, it’s not possible for manufacturers to stay on top of them all. “We are bringing decades of experience in real-world applications — such as inspection of military aerostructures and space vehicles — to trial these technologies and develop the practical methodologies needed to use them effectively.”