The Address by the Chief Guest, Prof. R.C. Budhani, Director, NPL, Delivered in the Inaugural Session of NSU-XIX on 30 Oct. 2012

The field of ultrasonics has made phenomenal progress in last 3 decades due to advances in materials and electronics for generation, detection and control of ultrasonic waves. A large number of laboratory level ultrasonic equipment have been commercialized in this period. Applications such as non-destructive testing medical imaging, underwater communication, industrial processing and process control, etc. are now ubiquitous. Some of the commercially available ultrasonic equipments are high power cleaners, welders, grinders, flaw detectors, thickness gauge, Doppler velocimeters, medical scanners, therapy units, atomizers, nebulizers, dental sealers, etc. As compared to many electromagnetic waves based devices ultrasound has the advantage of adaptability, greater penetration, non-hazardous, non-invasive, less expensive, etc.