This year, YXLON International lived up to its name during the annual YXLON CT User Conference.  The event, which took place in September, featured two full days of all things computed tomography.  For the first time since its inception, the event was not held at one of the YXLON sites, but rather they accepted the invitation from ArianeGroup to hold the conference at their site in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles, France.  11 speakers from 10 international firms and institutions presented their unique insights into CT and encouraged over 85 participants to exchange their own experiences with CT.

Whether from a practical or theoretical perspective, speakers gave well received snapshots of their CT applications, collectively composing a holistic collage demonstrating the versatility of CT in industrial and academic fields.  From product development in die casting, to dimensional inspection in medical technology, to quality control in electronics, aerospace and automotive; each presentation was a representation of computed tomography, delivered by experts in the field.  

Adrian Talbot of Renault Sport Formula One™ Team presented some recent racing test results acquired from the YXLON MU2000-D CT, a system YXLON provided to the organization as part of a technical partnership.  In an entirely different territory, a lecture by Karolin Engelkes of the University of Hamburg Natural History Center (CeNak) piqued the interest of all the amateur biologists in attendance with her descriptions of revolutionary discoveries made with CT in the realm of zoology.

Jens Biedebach, Section Manager in the Mechanical Laboratory at Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe, fully immersed himself in the concept, saying, „In our opinion, the idea to hold the CT User Conference not at the YXLON location but at the site of a CT user, is brilliant.  We had the opportunity to see live where ARIANE Group employs CT and what kinds of solutions their YXLON CT systems are providing for them.  The presentations were also an inspiring out-of-box glimpse into the distinct worlds of CT users.“

Jacque Bouteyre, Head of Support Production at MAIT Vehicles and Defense Systems at ArianeGroup, currently has three CT systems in operation, including one YXLON CT Modular which he has congenially christened Cathy, and most recently an YXLON FF35 CT called Jessica.  The „Hands-on Session“, supported by YXLON and Volume Graphics, was one highlight of the conference, as well as the tour of ARIANE Group’s Production and NDT Departments, a sight seldom witnessed by visitors due to the company’s strict security protocols.  Bouteyre had this to say, “It is always a pleasure for us at ArianeGroup to demonstrate our testing and service capabilities, which we employ not only for our own products, but also for those of our customers from a variety of markets to ensure maximum quality satisfaction.  Over the last 10 years, a strong partnership has developed between ArianeGroup and YXLON, stemming from our mutual work with non-destructive testing and our passion for quality. ”

Two weeks before the international conference in France, YXLON held a similar one-day event for German speaking customers at their company site in Heilbronn.  Taking place on September 12th, and much to the delight of our guests, it was deliberately planned one day prior to the Volume Graphics User Group Meeting in Heidelberg so that participants could easily plan their trip to attend both events.