Meet Our New Non-Destructive Testing Lecturer, Richie Fairs

Richie Fairs works as a Non-Destructive Testing Lecturer at TWI North, in Middlesbrough, who is currently working to train candidates in theory and practical elements for various conventional NDT methods.

He took some time to tell us about why he became a lecturer, training at TWI, and more.

Richie has a background of working as an NDT technician in multiple areas, including structural steel manufacturing and the oil and gas industry, with experience covering a broad spectrum ranging from ultrasonic testing of heavy lift mobile cranes to eddy current testing of in-service offshore helicopter decks.

Talking about what led for him to be a lecturer, Richie said that, “I enjoy when candidates advance their skills and knowledge, so becoming a lecturer was a great way for me to help more people do that.”

Diving deeper into the discussion, Richie explained how he had previously attended a course at TWI and was impressed by the level of professionalism and expertise shown by the staff.

So, when he received a recommendation to apply for a lecturing role at Twi himself, he did not hesitate.

Settling into life at TWI, Richie revealed that, “So far I am enjoying my experience at TWI, and I look forward to making a positive contribution to the team.”

Richie has not taught any methods yet but he will be teaching visual testing, magnetic particle testing, penetrant testing and eddy current testing in the near future.

He added that, “I hope students will benefit from my practical knowledge gained from real life experience of carrying out NDT in many different environments using various methods and techniques.”