About Leak Testing Specialists®

Company History

Leak Testing Specialists, Inc. (LTS) was established in 1995 by Gary Elder, P.E. Initially, the company specialized in training courses for customers to comply with ASNT guidelines. Shortly thereafter, the company established a field-testing division, to leak test customer’s equipment and to perform on-site test surveillance. In addition, in-house testing of the customer’s product was implemented. More recently, LTS has expanded its training program course offerings to include additional technical content.

Vision Statement

LTS works to produce leak testing innovations, insights into product design for testing, and a generation of persons—both employees, and clients—who are well equipped in both theoretical and practical knowledge to provide high-reliability leak testing across a wide variety of applications and industries. This high reliability extends to the following:

  • The technical performance of products and leak tests being thoroughly understood and accurately represented
  • The testing and production of systems being completed in predictable schedule durations
  • Continuous improvement of the economy of leak testing and production of leak-tight systems, resulting in greater prosperity for our clients and the populations they serve

Mission

LTS exists to make leak testing for science and industry reliable and economical, thereby making the world safer and more prosperous.

Values

  • Act with integrity in all our business dealings.
  • Create a common sense of purpose.
  • Provide superior customer service.
  • Treat employees with respect.
  • Cultivate an entrepreneurial spirit of creativity and innovation.
  • Create long-term value and relationships with our clients.

Code of Ethics

LTS employees commit themselves to these moral codes:

  • Be honest and trustworthy in our dealings with customers, suppliers, partners, the public, and each other.
  • Display the highest standards of conduct in all our company business activities.
  • Obey the laws and regulations that apply to our business worldwide.
  • Avoid business conflicts of interest.
  • Strive to create a safe workplace and to protect and respect our environment.
  • Recognize the value of a diverse LTS workforce and extend equal opportunity to all members of the LTS community.

Staff

 
Anthony Heinz
Paul Brad Shaw
David Kuhn
Brian Laite

President

Anthony Heinz is the President of Leak Testing Specialists. He has over 30 years of experience in Nondestructive Testing (NDT) working in commercial and government testing programs as Field-Testing Supervisor, QA Manager, Safety Officer, and NDT testing consultant. Mr. Heinz is a certified ASNT NDE Level III in Visual, Magnetic Particle, Liquid Penetrant, Ultrasonic, Radiography, and Leak Testing methods.

Mr. Heinz has been with Leak Testing Specialists since 1995. He provides years of experience with leak rate test support and nondestructive testing consulting services. Mr. Heinz was elected President of the American Glovebox Society in 2018-2019. He joined the NDTMA Board of Directors in 2019 as well.

Vice-President

Mr. Shaw is the Vice President of Leak Testing Specialists and provides corporate leadership to the company’s project management team. Mr. Shaw is the Instructor for LTS’s training program and supports the business development efforts for LTS.

He has over 40 years of experience in Nondestructive Testing (NDT), Quality Assurance (QA), and Welding Engineering working in many arenas as a technician, engineer, principal scientist, principal engineer, supervisor, manager, and consultant. He is a certified ASNT NDT Level III in Radiographic, Penetrant, Ultrasonic, and Leak Testing methods.

Mr. Shaw holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Welding Engineering Technology and a Master of Divinity, Cross-cultural Ministry Degree. Also, he is an active member to several industry committees: ANSI, N14.5 Revision Subcommittee; ASNT, Leak Testing Technical Committee; and ASME.

He holds the patent for Time of Flight Measurement/Rate of Rise Measurement Method for Remote Leak Detection in Evacuated Spaces and has several publications including: 

  • ASNT, NDT Handbook, Third Edition, Volume 1, LEAK TESTING, Chapter 13, Leak Testing of Petrochemical Storage Tanks, Editor.
  • LIGO Beam Tube Component and Module Leak Testing, W.A. Carpenter, P. B. Shaw, L. Jones, and R. Weiss, Presented at the American Vacuum Society 46th International Symposium, Seattle, WA, October 25-29, 1999.
  • LIGO Beam Tube Component and Module Leak Testing, W.A. Carpenter, P. B. Shaw, L. Jones, and R. Weiss, Presented at the 21st Space Simulation Conference, Annapolis, MD, October 23-26, 2000.

Director of Training

After joining LTS in 2015 as the Director of Engineering and primary LTS procedure writer, Mr. Kuhn has assumed the role of Director of External Client Training and Qualification. Currently, Mr. Kuhn instructs over 20 courses a year at the Orlando office and various Client sites including national laboratories, commercial nuclear power plants, and abroad.

He holds a Professional Engineering License in Mechanical Engineering, a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science and Mechanics. He has over 30 years of experience in product design, manufacture, inspection, and field support working within the US Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP) where he was employed at Bechtel Corporation as a Senior Advisor Engineer.

As the Director of Engineering, Mr. Kuhn developed leak test techniques and conducted inspections on a variety of product mainly in the nuclear area like Type B casks, gloveboxes, and nuclear power plant dry fuel storage casks. At Bechtel, Mr. Kuhn focused primarily in the Nondestructive Testing (NDT) area where he was the lead for the NDT Level III qualification program for NAVSEA 250-1500-1 and MIL-STD-2132. Also, he was the lead author for the NNPP qualification program specification, NSTR-99, and the NDT portions of the NNPP Welding Standard, NAVSEA 250-1500-1. In addition, Mr. Kuhn was the lead instructor for the NNPP N-series Government Inspector NDT training for Visual (VT), Liquid Penetrant (PT), Magnetic Particle (MT), Ultrasonic (UT), and Radiography (RT). Lastly, Mr. Kuhn acted as one of the primary technical NDT experts for the evaluation of the NNPP vendor and shipyard/prototype facilities.

Mr. Kuhn holds ASNT NDT Level III certifications in VT, PT, UT, RT, and LT and held an AWS D1.1 certified weld inspector certification.

Senior Staff, NDT Level III

Brian is a Certified Welding Engineering Technologist with 25 years of experience in Welding Engineering, QA/QC, and Nondestructive Testing (NDT) activities for various materials, processes, and projects worldwide. Mr. Laite is a certified ASNT NDT Level III in Leak Testing, Magnetic Particle, Liquid Penetrant, Radiographic, Ultrasonic, and Visual methods.

Mr. Laite is also a certified CGSB, NDE Level II in Magnetic Particle, Liquid Penetrant, and Ultrasonic Testing methods and a Qualified Exposure Device Operator of the Canadian Atomic Energy Control Board, and holds a CSA W47.1 Welding Supervisor for the Canadian Welding Bureau.

He is a contributing member to various industry committees such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Section V Standards and Surface Examination Method committees, and working groups for Radiographic and Ultrasonic Testing.  He has also been a member of the American Welding Society (AWS) for over 20 years.  Most recently, Mr. Laite has joined several committees within the American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT), including an Associate Member of the Certification Management Council (CMC) for all methods and Technical and Education committees for Leak, Magnetic, Liquid Penetrant, and Ultrasonic Testing.

Where We Work

LTS has historically and currently worked internationally as well as domestically. We offer leak testing anywhere and anytime. Even during the pandemic, Leak Testing Specialists personnel safely deployed to meet leak testing challenges across five of the seven continents*. Some of the locations include but are not limited to the following:

  • Throughout the U.S.
  • Mexico
  • South Africa
  • Brazil
  • Ukraine
  • South Korea

*In 2020-21, we weren’t aware of any leaks in Australia and Antarctica, but when the call comes, we’ll be there!

LTS Is Committed to Implementing Safety, Quality, and Timely Services for Each and Every Project.

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