Infrared Training Center Staff - North America

Headquartered in Nashua, NH with regional office locations spread throughout the world, the Infrared Training Center is committed to training excellence. As an ISO 9001 certified business, we are devoted to continuous improvement across our operations, curriculum development, content delivery, and support resources to ensure the highest quality deliverables and learning experience for our students.

Ronald D. Lucier

Senior Instructor

• ASNT NDT Level III TIR #48004

Practicing and teaching thermography since 1984 in industries as diverse as power generation, paper, refining, petro-chemical, gas transmission/distribution, and manufacturing Ron is an internationally recognized expert in practical thermography and education. In fact, he started one of the nation’s first infrared predictive maintenance programs in the commercial nuclear power industry, so he is uniquely suited to teaching practical thermography to beginners and experts alike.

John Waggoner

Senior Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Thermographer

• Certified Power Quality (CPQ), Association of Energy Engineers (AEE)

• Level I Ultrasound

• NFPA Certified in Electrical Safety and Arc Flash

• OSHA Certified General Industry Safety 10 & 30 Hour

Combining more than 25 years in the electrical preventive maintenance and power quality assurance disciplines with over a decade of infrared thermography instruction, John brings deep interdisciplinary expertise to Infrared Training Center. He’s skilled in the use of energized and de-energized test equipment, certified in numerous testing disciplines as well as energized safe work practices, and has installed and maintained solid state and rotary UPS systems. With a thorough expertise in commercial and utility electrical systems, and decades of experience in thermography, John makes even the most complex topics easy to understand and apply safely.

Scott Sammons

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Thermographer

• FAA part 107 certified Remote Pilot

Scott has been a thermography instructor for over 10 years, teaching Level I, Level II, and Level I sUAS thermography IR certification classes across the United States. Before transitioning to the field of thermography, Scott worked in the aviation industry serving as a commercial airline Captain. He became a BPI Certified building analysist in 2013, adding to skills he acquired while also working for several years as an IR camera salesman and consultant. Scott draws upon this varied background to bring real-world knowledge to his thermography classes.

Russell Bushee

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Thermographer

An expert in the mechanical, electrical, and HVAC systems common to manufacturing facilities, Rusty ran his facility’s thermography reliability maintenance program before joining Infrared Training Center. He brings this deep knowledge of industrial systems, decades of practical knowledge, and over 10 years to teaching experience to every class.

Bill Schwahn

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Master Thermographer

• FAA part 107 certified Remote Pilot

"Bill instructs Level I, Level II, and Level III Thermography courses, plus L1 sUAS Thermography and Optical Gas Imaging. Prior to working for FLIR, Bill was the owner of a general property inspection and thermography company in Bozeman, Montana."

Brian Burns

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Master Thermographer

Brian has been teaching for the Infrared Training Center since 2016 and specializes in power generation, manufacturing, and quality applications. Prior to joining Infrared Training Center, he worked for over 9 years conducting thermal inspection on mechanical, building, and electrical systems. Brian and his wife Cindy live in Old Orchard Beach, ME and just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. In his spare time, Brian enjoys playing his guitar, golfing and spending time with his family and friends.

Jeff Sneed

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Master Thermographer

Jeff has more than 10 years of experience in Thermography, including five years of thermography training experience, plus a broad exposure to professional NDT certifications in vibration, ultrasound, motor testing, and oil analysis. His vast facility maintenance background includes maintaining infrastructure, high- and low- voltage electrical equipment, mechanical systems, and robotics.

Infrared Training Center Staff - Latin America

The Infrared Training Center’s Latin America staff offers decades of practical experience in thermal imaging for applications ranging from industrial condition monitoring to methane detection. Together, they have trained thousands of students to perform thermal inspections safely and efficiently, ensuring they get the most out of their investment in thermal technology.

Laerte dos Santos

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Master Thermographer

• ASNT NDT Certified (#191698)

• ABENDI Category 3 (#14372)

Laerte brings unique insight on thermography certification to the Infrared Training Center as a member of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT) thermography committee and the Brazilian Association of Non-Destructive Testing and Inspection (ABENDI) working group that developed thermographic certifications based on ISO 1972 and ISO 18436-7. He also spent more than 20 years working in the specification, acceptance, and calibration of thermographic cameras as well as the inspection, testing, and development of procedures for high voltage equipment, optical gas imaging, ultraviolet imaging. Laerte holds a degree in IT as well as a master's degree and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, both of which focused on thermography applied to electrical power systems.

Edgar D. Hidalgo

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Level III Master Thermographer

• CBM Specialist

With more than 20 years of experience in thermography and other condition-based maintenance technologies, Edgar is an excellent resource for students working in a variety of industries, including power generation, industrial papermaking, refining, gas transmission/distribution, and manufacturing. He’s committed to passing on his knowledge of both cameras and analysis software through the Level I, Level II, Level III, OGI, Furnace Inspection, and Electrical courses he teaches for Infrared Training Center in Latin America and the US.

Nalter Camargo Santos

Instructor

• Level II and CAT II Thermographer

• ABENDI Category 3 (#32552)

Nalter has extensive experience with cameras and software that he brings to all the Level I, CAT I, OGI, and Electricity courses he teaches for the Infrared Training Center. His 30 years of thermal camera use extends across a wide variety of applications, including power generation (hydro, thermal, solar, and wind), power transmission lines, auto manufacturing, military, oil & gas, UAS, and mining.

Infrared Training Center Staff - EMEA

Roberto Rinaldi

Instructor

• Level 3 Infrared Thermography instructor

Roberto is a Level 3 Infrared Thermography instructor, he is electrotechnical engineer at the Galileo Galilei Institute in Milan (Italy) and experienced in the field of infrared thermography. After specific technical training on the technology of the IR systems, got more than 12 years field experience in using the IR equipment in various industrial, building and R&D applications. Starting in the 1999, he received dedicated instructor training by joining the Infrared Training Center team. Roberto is now having more than 23-year experience in teaching the fascinating and very often misunderstood world of infrared thermography. The typical environment where Roberto teaches is spanning from universities, large manufacturing plants, utility companies, automotive companies, aircraft companies, electronic companies, Oil and Gas facilities, food and beverage, medical or infrastructure companies. Due to the versatility of thermography the everyday activity is always a new discover, hence a newer lesson to learn. The area where Roberto’s activity is taking place is generally south Europe and the whole Middle East, especially Qatar, Emirates, Oman, and Saudi. Very often Roberto delivers training programs at customer’s site by offering thermography certification programs, according to international standards, and/or tailored solutions to the specific customer needs. Sharing the knowledge is the specific aim of Roberto during every training session delivered.

Sylvain Telmi

Instructor

• Level III Master Thermographer

Sylvain is managing the infrared Training Center EMEA South Division based in Paris, France and is a thermography instructor since 15 years. He has extensive experience with cameras and software use extends across a wide variety of applications, including power generation (hydro, thermal, solar, and wind), power transmission lines, military, oil & gas, UAS, mining, medical, building and R&D uncooled camera applications. Before transitioning to knowledge of thermography, Sylvain worked in the telecom industry as a Field application engineer all over EMEA. He brings this knowledge of industrial systems and teach classes like Level I, CAT I, OGI, Building, R&D and Electricity courses across EMEA.

Jochen Piro

Instructor

• Infrared Training Center Manager D-A-CH

• Certified Thermographer according to DIN EN ISO 9712 Level 2 Industry as well as ITC Categories 1, 2, and 3

Since 2019, I have been the manager responsible for the Infrared Training Center (ITC) in the D-A-CH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). Throughout my career, technical support and technical training for camera systems have been central components. In my current role, administrative tasks such as sales and course organization have been added, and it is precisely this broad spectrum that makes this job particularly appealing to me. The proper and efficient use of thermal imaging cameras is something that requires explanation, but at the same time, it has a very steep learning curve. Once a certain resistance is overcome, the challenge is to get the "penny to drop" and to "get the ball rolling." Contributing to this is something I enjoy immensely and that drives me. What particularly distinguishes the Infrared Training Center is its highly experienced instructors, some of whom have been working as thermography service providers for over 20, or even 30 years, and bring a vast wealth of practical experience to our training sessions. I am a little proud to be a part of this team.

Jon Willis

Instructor

• Infrared Training Centre Manager EMEA

• Thermography Instructor L3 IRT

With more than 23 years experience as an instructor with the Infrared Training Centre and experience with other condition based maintenance technologies, Jon is able to share his knowledge of applications and condition monitoring techniques with students he teaches. He is an active member of IRT working groups and associations to ensure certification standards meet the requirement of today’s engineers. In 2022 Jon took over management of the ITC EMEA region and continues to support his team and certification activities in many countries. Before joining the infrared Training Centre Jon trained as an electronic engineer then spent 7 years working in IT supporting the financial exchanges in London.