We are proud to announce that Dr. Johannes Vrana has been retroactively awarded the prestigious 2022 Robert C. McMaster Gold Medal Award by the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT). Renamed in 1990 to honour NDT pioneer Robert C. McMaster, the award recognises individuals for outstanding contributions or significant advancements in any area of non-destructive testing and the Society. Conferred jointly alongside Dr. Ripi Singh, this distinction makes Dr. Vrana only the third German recipient of the award, following NDT pioneers Friedrich Förster (1975) and Josef Krautkrämer (1993).

A physicist, consultant, speaker, and trainer with more than 20 years of experience in NDE and over 25 years in data science, Dr. Vrana's work spans from applied ultrasonic testing and quality assurance to quantum computing, supporting both large-scale industries and start-ups. His career highlights include research on photon-atom entanglement, a PhD on induction thermography, serving as chair of the Siemens NDE Council, implementing the Synthetic Aperture Focusing Technique (SAFT) into serial production, and founding the International Conference on NDE 4.0 series.

Actively involved in national and international working groups focusing on NDE 4.0 and automated ultrasonic testing, Dr. Vrana also serves as editor of the Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation and editor-in-chief of the Handbook of Nondestructive Evaluation 4.0, and was named one of Onalytica's Top 50 Influencers on Industry 4.0 in 2023. At Vrana GmbH, this broad expertise drives specialised consulting and solutions in NDE and digital transformation, R&D, training, and software development.