THE TEAM
National Placement for Strategic and Agile Support
Kristoffer Jones
Founder and CEO
"Kris" obtained a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University, a M.A. in Executive Leadership from Liberty University, and is pursuing a Masters Certificate in Supply Chain Management and Procurement from Michigan State University. He has contributed to domestic and international manufacturing since 2009, in various roles and responsibilities, with increasing levels of authority. Most notably Kris served as senior metallurgist in support of the Naval Foundry and Propeller Center where he oversaw laboratory quality and casting execution for the VIRGINIA Class and Collins Class submarine propellers among other nautical components. Furthermore, he assisted with the acquisition of the largest induction furnace installed in the United States. Currently, Kris contributes to the COLUMBIA Class submarine program as the Materials Systems Integration Team Lead. Responsibilities in that capacity include oversight of castings, forgings, fasteners, polymers, welding, NDT, and coatings. He has lead numerous subprime vendor audits and qualification efforts primarily focusing on metallic materials manufacture.
As NWI CEO, Kris is responsible for the long term vision of the company, aligning professional talent with collegiate needs for program development and success, expanding business opportunities, establishing strategic partnerships, and ensuring contract execution and product delivery.
Christopher Faith
Co-Founder and Chief Welding Officer
"Chris" is an Ohio State welding engineering graduate. He has been an industry contributor for nearly 15 years, working for Norfolk Naval Shipyard as a welding engineer followed by a period as a government inspector. Currently, Chris assists Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia as their welding and NDT subject matter expert. In that capacity, Chris has amassed significant experience in manufacturing surface and subsurface ships, auditing nationally recognized defense companies, and developing and overseeing countless ferrous and non-ferrous welding procedures.
As NWI CWO, Chris is responsible for all aspects of welding course development, as well as our emerging additive manufacturing (AM) capabilities. Chris will personally oversee welding instructors and provide technical support.
Joel Benton
Senior NDT Advisor
"Joey" is one of the most well known contributors in the Navy NDT community. He celebrates over 39 years in the NDT profession, 20 of which were in support of Norfolk Naval Shipyard, 13 years with Supervisor of Shipbuilding Groton, and 6 years with Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock. Joey is a NAVSEA Level III Examiner in all methods, both nuclear and non-nuclear, in accordance with NAVSEA 250-1500-1 and NAVSEA T9074-AS-GIB-010/271. Joey continues to advance in the profession as a lead for the implementation of emerging methods for the advanced detection of defects in metallic materials.
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As a NWI Senior NDT Advisor Joey is responsible for the NWI radiographic educational product from the 271 standard perspective. He oversees collegiate course development in the volumetric inspection method, creates classroom presentations compliant with industry standard requirements, develops hands on training sequences for laboratory courses to replicate on the job training, performs in person and distanced training, witnesses student execution of procedures, and leads collegiate "Train-the-Train" sessions.
Joey oversees the Middle States Region offering support to colleges along the east coast, from Pennsylvania to South Carolina.
Gordon Daviscourt
Senior NDT Advisor
"Gordy" has a broad background in Non-Destructive Testing with 30 combined years of experience as a NDT level II inspector, NDT level III examiner and Branch Head of NDT Training and Technical code at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. He currently holds Level III certifications for Navy NDT Examiner in NAVSEA 250-1500-1 Magnetic Particle (MT), Liquid Penetrant (PT), Radiographic (RT), Ultrasonic (UT) and Visual (VT), MIL-STD-2132 MT, PT, RT, UT and T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 MT, PT, RT, UT and VT disciplines. He is a Navy veteran, having served 13 years active duty in the United States Navy. Additionally, Gordy is a Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level III in Production, Quality and Manufacturing (PQM).
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As a NWI Senior NDT Advisor Gordy is responsible for quality assurance of NWI's ultrasonic and radiographic educational product. He oversees collegiate course development in the volumetric and surface inspection methods, creates and reviews presentations ensuring compliance with industry standard requirements, develops hands on training sequences for laboratory courses for hours in method or on the job experience, performs in person and distanced training, witnesses student execution of procedures, and leads collegiate "Train-the-Train" sessions.
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Gordy oversees the Pacific Northwest Region offering support to colleges in Washington State and Oregon.
Jeffrey Wagner
Senior NDT Advisor
"Jeff's" NDT experience spans over 30 years during which time he has worked for the Military, NASA, aerospace, ordnance and manufacturing inspection elements. He currently holds Level III certifications from the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT) in Radiography (RT), Ultrasound (UT), Magnetic Particle (MT), Eddy Current (ET) and Liquid Penetrant (PT) Testing and Industrial Radiography Radiation Safety Personnel (IRRSP) certification #84816. His Navy NDT Examiner Certifications include: NAVSEA 250-1500-1 MT, PT, RT, UT, VT, MIL-STD-2132 MT, PT, RT, UT and T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 MT, PT, RT, UT and VT. He is a Defense Acquisition Workforce Improvement Act (DAWIA) Level III in Production, Quality and Manufacturing (PQM). Jeff is heavily involved in numerous professional organizations such as American Society for Nondestructive Testing, Defense Working Group for Nondestructive Testing, Federal Working Group for Industrial Digital Radiography and ASQ Houston.
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As a NWI Senior NDT Advisor Jeff is responsible for the NWI radiographic educational product from an ASNT perspective. He oversees collegiate course development in the volumetric inspection method, creates presentations compliant with industry standard requirements, develops hands on training sequences for laboratory courses for hours in method or on the job experience, performs in person and distanced training, witnesses student execution of procedures, and leads collegiate "Train-the-Train" sessions.
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Jeff oversees the Southwest Region offering support to colleges in Texas and the surrounding states.
Jacob Styron
Senior NDT Specialist
"Chance" joined the US Navy in July of 2002 as a Hull Maintenance Technician and was stationed on the USS Blue Ridge from 2003 to 2006. As a technician he performed welding, ship fitting and pipe fitting. After graduating from the US Navy NDT “C” school with experience in the VT, PT, MT and UT methods, Chance applied his training as a Level II inspector for two US Navy shipyards, Mistras, and CB&I. He performed UT and PAUT on various applications (Pipe/pressure vessel/structural) to various codes (Military Standards/ASME/D1) during his career. In 2015 Chance became a Level III Test Examiner and was appointed as the NAVSEA corporate Phased Array Ultrasonic Test Examiner. Since then he has worked for Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division as a the Level III NDT consultant. He supports the Defense Contract Management Agency as a Naval Specialist Level III. Currently Chance is based out of Hawaii where he is developing and executing a High Velocity Training program to fast track novice inspectors into UT Shearwave certification.
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As a NWI Senior NDT Specialist Chance provides conventional and advanced ultrasonic testing capabilities in addition to command of the surface inspection methods. Chance is responsible for the NWI ultrasonic testing educational product. He oversees collegiate course development in the volumetric inspection method and its advanced forms, creates presentations compliant with industry standard requirements, develops hands on training sequences for laboratory courses replicating hours in method or on the job experience, performs in person and distanced training, witnesses student execution of procedures, and leads collegiate "Train-the-Train" sessions.
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Chance oversees the Hawaiian Islands currently.
Matthew Draper, PhD
Senior Metallurgical Advisor
"Matt" earned a BS from Northwestern University (Olson Group) and a PhD from the University of Maryland (Ankem Group); both in Materials Engineering. Previously, he was the head of Materials Development at General Dynamics Electric Boat, preceding that he was a process metallurgist at Scot Forge. Currently his efforts are in support of Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division functioning as a Metallurgist and Engineering Manager for Metallic Materials. He is focused on advanced structural materials and manufacturing processes. Matt supports technical warrant holders at Naval Sea Systems Command with vendor and process qualifications. He currently sits on the Joint Defense Manufacturing Technology Panel – Metals Subcommittee, the Technical Cooperation Program – Materials and Processing Technology Group Technical Panel, and the Steel Founders Society of America High Alloy Research Committee. Matt contributes significant experience and proven technical capabilities to NWI’s team, specific to manufacture of complex castings and forgings, functioning as a metallurgical consultant and instructor.
Todd Grace
Senior NDT Specialist
Todd is a Navy veteran, serving from 1999 to 2008 as a Submarine Torpedoman. After his service he worked as a NDT inspector while supporting Mistras Group, Inc. from 2009 to 2011. Todd accepted a NDT inspector position with General Dynamics Electric Boat after his time with Mistras and remained there until 2013. Since 2013 Todd has contributed to ship manufacture and repair in service of Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Groton. He has held NDT level III certification in both nuclear and non-nuclear NAVSEA technical standards, T9074-AS-GIB-010/271 and 250-1500, for 8 years. He specializes in Radiographic Testing (RT). As an inspection professional he has focused on testing and procedure development specific to submarine quality assurance. Additionally, Todd provides effective training and mentoring to apprentice inspectors.
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As a NWI Senior NDT Specialist he oversees development of collegiate courses in RT and RT Safety. Todd oversees the Northeast Region.
Samuel Schwarm, PhD
Senior Metallurgical Advisor
"Sam" is a materials scientist specializing in physical metallurgy. Originally from Springfield, IL, he received a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the University of Alabama in 2014, and Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Maryland in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Sam's experience includes undergraduate research into magnetic thin films and clean room processing, and graduate dissertation research in cast duplex stainless steels used in the nuclear field. As part of this graduate research, he was a Department of Energy (DoE) Integrated University Program (IUP) fellow and performed a stint as a visiting graduate researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Following his graduate studies, he went to work for the U.S. Navy as a materials engineer at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, where he is currently working in applied research. He also maintained connections with the University of Maryland as a part-time teaching faculty member for the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. His technical interests include micromechanical finite element method (FEM) modeling, Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME), alloy characterization and development, and metallurgical systems analysis. Sam brings significant teaching experience along with his technical capabilities to NWI’s team, where he serves as a metallurgical consultant and instructor.
Eric Harms
Metallurgical Advisor
Eric has specialized in metallurgy and semiconductors since earning his Bachelor of Science, magna cum laude, in Materials Engineering from Iowa State University in 2012. From 2012-2020, Eric was an engineer in the Plant Materials group at Naval Reactors where he developed a broad knowledge of the alloy systems used in general naval applications and naval nuclear propulsion applications, with particular expertise in ferrous, nickel, titanium, and copper alloys. Additionally, he was responsible for many specifications for both materials and processes such as heat treatment. While working for Naval Reactors he was also privileged to visit many suppliers, where he learned about manufacturing and fabrication processes firsthand while conveying the concerns underlying the Navy’s requirements. Eric continues to share his knowledge as a Metallurgical Advisor with NWI.
Dorian Matthews
Senior Welding Advisor
Dorian is a graduate of Ohio State University’s Welding Engineering program and has ten years of experience in Naval ship repair and ship design. He worked as a welding engineer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for seven years, primarily focusing on non-nuclear special emphasis projects for ship and submarine repair, overhaul, and modernization, but has also worked on nearly all welding aspects of ship and submarine repair. Dorian then contributed to the COLUMBIA Class submarine program as the Materials Integration Team Leader, where he worked on welding, ferrous metallurgy, non-ferrous metallurgy, fasteners, and NDT. During his time in COLUMBIA, he also worked closely with the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense on joint engineering programs. Dorian currently serves as the Materials Deputy for the VIRGINIA Class Submarine Program, where he focuses on welding and casting matters.
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Dorian has extensive experience in procedure and process development, structural fabrication, machinery fabrication, propulsion shafting repair, casting repair, brazing, and main propulsion boiler repair. He has also provided close support to the NAVSEA technical community regarding the production of HY-80 and HY-100 forgings, castings, and plate. He has worked with numerous suppliers and vendors, both domestically and internationally in support of various Naval programs.
Andrew Irwin
Welding Advisor
"Andy" is an Ohio State University welding engineering program graduate. He has 8 years of experience as a welding engineer at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. He has extensive experience with the development and implementation of manual and mechanized welding procedures. Andy works closely with the weld shop and engineering departments to develop practical, cost effective solutions to all welding problems encountered in the field. During his time at the shipyard Andy's primary focus has been on nuclear special emphasis work however he has experience in nearly every welding aspect of ship and submarine repair, overhaul and modernization.
Jonathan Andrus
Metallurgical Advisor
"Jon" obtained a B.S in Materials Science and Engineering from Drexel University, an MBA from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, is a PMI certified Project Management Professional (PMP), an ASQ certified Six Sigma Green Belt (CSSGB), and is certified in Supply Chain Management by the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He has worked in industry for the past 11 years working primarily in specialty alloy manufacturing for both ferrous and non-ferrous superalloys. He has experience in both customer facing and production roles centered around raw material production of various product forms - from billets to bar, wire, and strip. Jon has hands-on experience with raw material manufacturing from melt shop to finishing including VIM, ESR, VAR, hotworking, cold working, finishing, and NDT. Jon has primarily served the aerospace market including his current role supporting material and process selection for private industry space exploration.
Jon looks forward to sharing his industry experience and knowledge via coursework offered by NWI as well as continuing to serve as a metallurgist consultant.
