In conjunction with its local partner, Abdulla Fouad Holding Co, GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies have announced the opening of a new $1 million non-destructive testing application centre in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Serving the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its surrounding countries, the centre will provide customers with non-destructive testing expertise and training. It will also allow customers to explore new technologies and learn about innovative application developments, such as corrosion monitoring.

As Faisal A. Fouad, president of Abdulla Fouad Holding Co. explains, "We are both proud and happy to open the doors of the new Abdulla Fouad Application Centre in Dammam to the NDT community. This is the only centre of its kind in the region and shows our commitment towards enhancing local expertise and support. We are thankful to the GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies team for their support in establishing this centre and look forward to working with GE to ensure a successful partnership."

Stefaan Verhelst, global sales leader at GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies, adds,"The new centre demonstrates the importance of strong professional local partnerships, which are critical to our investment in the region and confirm our commitment to the Middle East."

The new 460m² facility will also operate as a service centre and is dedicated to non-destructive testing technology throughout the region in the oil and gas, aerospace and power generation sectors. It is resourced with a wide portfolio of inspection solutions, including manual ultrasonic flaw detection instruments, automated ultrasonic inspection systems for girth weld inspection and remote sensing, eddy current instrumentation, computed radiography equipment, a comprehensive range of remote visual inspection instruments and associated data processing, reporting and archiving software platforms.

The Abdulla Fouad non-destructive testing application centre follows the 2008 opening of GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies' training and service centre for both sensing and inspection products in Abu Dhabi and the 2007 opening of Saudi Arabian Sensing Solutions Co. (SASSCO) and GE's calibration, repair and training centre for sensing products in Al Khobar.

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