The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) has announced Cybernet Systems Corporation as the winner of the 2025 CTMA Technology Competition, recognizing its breakthrough solution in mobile non-destructive testing (NDT) for aircraft maintenance. The award underscores the growing importance of digital tools in improving maintenance efficiency across defense and aerospace sectors.
Cybernet's winning entry, the NDT Tracker for Mobile C-Scan Generation, stood out among 35 submissions for its innovation, technical maturity, and cross-service applicability. The camera-based, semi-automated system drastically reduces inspection labor, enabling a single technician to conduct ultrasonic thickness grid inspections with high accuracy and speed. Using AutoClick Combo-Filtering, the solution eliminates hand-drawn grids and manual data entry, cutting inspection time from 20 seconds to just 2 seconds per grid cell—a tenfold productivity gain.
The tool also generates color-mapped C-Scan reports overlaid on actual imagery of the inspected area, reducing errors and eliminating unnecessary re-inspections caused by data miscommunication. With a range of 0.5 to 5 feet and an inspection area of 4ft x 4ft, extendable via leapfrogging, the NDT Tracker is already deployed at Tinker AFB, Robins AFB, and by commercial aerospace leaders such as Delta TechOps, ST Engineering, and Aeroman. Aircraft OEMs including Boeing, Airbus, and Gulfstream are also exploring integration.
The competition, held annually under the Commercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities (CTMA) program, is designed to accelerate the adoption of leading-edge sustainment technologies across the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). This year, NCMS partnered with the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRC-SE), which outlined five key focus areas: data integration, robotic automation, surface prep and corrosion control, laser cutting on aluminum, and field repair of structural components.
“The judges selected this winner from a pool of extraordinary innovative technologies,” said Lisa Strama, President and CEO of NCMS. “We are thrilled to be able to provide FRC-SE with a technology solution that can be applied to current challenges they face in their maintenance and sustainment operations.”
The judging panel included members from FRC-SE and the Joint Technology Exchange Group (JTEG), a collaborative DoD initiative that supports the transition of impactful technologies into depot maintenance. The competition also marked the first year in which finalists delivered live technology demonstrations at NCMS headquarters in Ann Arbor.
As part of the award, Cybernet Systems will receive $100,000 in project support funding, to be applied toward a DoD demonstration initiative under the CTMA program.
The NDT Tracker previously earned the 2024 SAE/A4A International Innovation Award and the 2024 ASNT Cool New Ideas Award, further cementing its status as a transformative tool in aerospace inspection and sustainment.
