iDICs - International Digital Image Correlation Society

What iDICs - International Digital Image Correlation Society does

iDICs (International Digital Image Correlation Society) is a US-incorporated professional membership society founded in 2015 to advance the practice of Digital Image Correlation (DIC), a non-contact optical method for measuring motion and deformation of objects using speckle-pattern tracking of digital images. The society serves engineers, researchers, academics, technicians, and product developers who use DIC in experimental mechanics, materials science, aerospace, automotive, and industrial testing. Its offerings comprise a tiered certification program (Level 1 Competent Basic User, Level 2 Intermediate User, Level 3 Master), a course catalog (DIC 101, Patterning for DIC, DIC 201, The Grid Method), the Good Practices Guide for DIC (freely available in English, French, Chinese, and German), the DIC Challenge benchmarking program run jointly with the Society for Experimental Mechanics, GitHub-hosted discussion forums, and an annual conference that rotates internationally.

The society monetizes through three annual membership tiers: $100 individual, $20 student, and $1,000 corporate sponsorship, with corporate members receiving booth discounts, logo placement, and committee representation. Supplemental revenue comes from one-time course fees ($175-$350) and Level 1 certification exams priced at $1,000, including on-site certification delivery for organizations with larger teams. Governance is provided by an unpaid board drawn from Sandia National Laboratories, NIST, Utah State University, the University of Texas at Arlington and Austin, the University of South Carolina, Oregon State University, the University of Tulsa, and DIC vendors including MatchID, Correlated Solutions, and others; the society operates without disclosed external funding. iDICs positions itself as the only global society dedicated specifically to DIC standardization, certification, and education, and is engaging ASTM, ASME, ISO, and VDI on formal standards development.

Name

iDICs - International Digital Image Correlation Society

Legal name

International Digital Image Correlation Society

Website

https://idics.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

iDICs (International Digital Image Correlation Society) is a US-based professional membership society founded in 2015 that offers DIC certification programs, training courses, the Good Practices Guide, and the DIC Challenge benchmarking initiative for engineers, researchers, academics, and vendors worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Training & Certification

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Programmatic Accreditors (Discipline/Profession-Specific) (EDADACAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Continuing Education (CE/CPD) & Provider Accreditation Bodies (EDADACAF)

Keywords

• Digital image correlation
• DIC certification
• DIC training
• Experimental mechanics
• Strain measurement

Headquarters

HQ city

International Falls

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Membership: Annual individual membership at $100 USD, includes email updates, access to international network, 15% discount on courses, 10% discount on exams, and $100 off conference registration.
2. Student Membership: Annual student membership at $20 USD for enrolled students with valid university email.
3. Corporate Membership: Annual corporate sponsorship at $1000 USD, includes booth discount at conferences, logo display on website, email blast, and appointment to corporations committee.
4. DIC 101 Course: Self-paced online course covering Good Practices Guide topics, 5 hours of video content plus Q&A forum access, priced at $350 USD. US government employees receive 5% discount.
5. Patterning for DIC Course: 3-hour webcast course on specimen preparation for DIC testing, priced at $175 USD.
6. Level 1 Certification Exam: In-person certification exam combining written exam (30%) and practical exam (70%), priced at $1000 including free access to DIC 101 course.
7. Annual Conference Registration: Annual conference fee includes individual membership ($100 value), with additional discounts for members.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

iDICs is a nonprofit professional membership society that provides standardized training, three-tier professional certification, and community resources for digital image correlation (DIC) practitioners worldwide. The society delivers certification programs (Level 1, 2, 3), educational courses (DIC 101, Patterning, DIC 201, Grid Method), the freely available Good Practices Guide for DIC, and the DIC Challenge benchmarking program for software validation. Its offerings are sold through annual memberships (individual, student, corporate), paid courses, certification exams, and conference registrations.

Product overview

iDICs (International Digital Image Correlation Society) offers a portfolio of certification programs, educational courses, and professional resources for the digital image correlation community. The certification program spans three levels (Level 1 Competent Basic User, Level 2 Intermediate User, Level 3 Master Level User) with both exam-based and on-site certification options. Educational offerings include DIC 101 (practical considerations), Patterning for DIC, DIC 201 (advanced concepts and uncertainty quantification), and The Grid Method course. The Good Practices Guide for Digital Image Correlation serves as the foundational reference document. The DIC Challenge program provides benchmark image datasets for software validation. Annual conferences, forums, and various membership tiers support global networking and knowledge sharing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Individual Membership Annual individual membership at $100 USD providing email updates, access to international network, 15% discount on courses, 10% discount on exams, and $100 off conference registration. Designed for individual professionals using or interested in DIC technology.
• Student Membership Annual student membership at $20 USD for enrolled students with valid university email, providing access to iDICs member benefits at a reduced rate.
• Corporate Sponsorship Annual corporate sponsorship at $1,000 USD, including booth discount at conferences, logo display on website, email blast, and appointment to corporations committee. Designed for organizations supporting the DIC community.
• DIC 101: Practical Considerations for Good DIC Measurements Comprehensive training course covering all topics in the Good Practices Guide, focusing on practical applications of DIC rather than theory or algorithms. Self-paced format with 5 hours of video content plus Q&A forum access, priced at $350 USD; serves as both training for new practitioners and refresher for Level 1 certification exam. US government employees receive 5% discount.
• Patterning for DIC Course covering specimen preparation techniques for DIC testing, including patterning methods, quality metrics, and handling various test conditions including high-temperature applications. 3-hour webcast format, priced at $175 USD.
• DIC 201: Advanced DIC Concepts and Uncertainty Quantification Advanced course covering underlying principles of DIC errors, lens and camera selection, calibration parameters, 2D and stereo-DIC uncertainty quantification, and virtual strain gauge studies. Designed for Level 2 certification preparation.
• The Grid Method Alternative technique to DIC for in-plane displacement and strain measurement using spectral methods and windowed Fourier transform for quasi-direct displacement and strain field determination.
• Level 1 Certification (Competent Basic User) Entry-level certification demonstrating competence in basic DIC measurement setup, execution, calibration, and post-processing for standard 2D-DIC and stereo-DIC measurements. In-person certification exam combining written exam (30%) and practical exam (70%), priced at $1,000 including free access to DIC 101 course.
• Level 2 Certification (Intermediate User) Intermediate-level certification for DIC practitioners with advanced understanding of measurement uncertainty and complex applications.
• Level 3 Certification (Master Level User) Master-level certification for experts demonstrating comprehensive DIC knowledge and advanced application capabilities.
• On-Site Certification Program On-site Level 1 DIC certification program that brings the certification exam to client organizations, enabling teams to get certified at their own facilities with cost savings on travel.
• Good Practices Guide for Digital Image Correlation Comprehensive guidelines document for conducting DIC measurements in conjunction with mechanical testing of a planar test piece. Designed as both a primer for new practitioners and a reference for experienced users, covering measurement setup, image correlation, and basic post-processing for strain computations. Freely available.
• DIC Challenge Program providing standardized image datasets to the DIC community for software testing and verification, including both commercial and university codes. Includes 2D-DIC, Stereo-DIC, DVC, and SEM-DIC challenges with results published in journal papers.
• iDICs Forum GitHub-hosted discussion platform for discussing recent DIC publications and connecting with other DIC enthusiasts.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 140 subscribers to DIC Challenge mailing list
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSEM collaborates with iDICs on the DIC Challenge initiative, with meetings held twice yearly - in June at the SEM annual conference and in November at the iDICs conference. The DIC Challenge operates under the auspices of both organizations.
• Sandia National LaboratoriescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSandia NL serves as the organizational home for iDICs President Daniel Z. Turner (R&D Manager) and Past President Phillip L. Reu (Distinguished Member of Technical Staff). Sandia contributes to DIC Challenge leadership, DVC Challenge, and standards development.
• National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIST staff (Mark A. Iadicola, Past President 3; Alexander Landauer) participate in DIC Challenge leadership and standards committee activities, contributing to measurement uncertainty quantification.
• University of Texas at ArlingtoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Andrew Makeev (Jenkins Garrett Professor, Director of Advanced Materials and Structures Lab) and Dr. Sarvenaz Ghaffari (Research Engineering Scientist) from UTA contribute to iDICs leadership and research. UTA is where Dr. Julia Cline earned her PhD.
• AirbuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLauren Reid, Test Technologist at Airbus, serves as iDICs member and conference participant, using DIC for structures testing and advanced metrology applications.
• NASA Langley Research CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Julia Cline, Research Aerospace Engineer at NASA Langley, serves as iDICs board member and chairs the Technical Committee's Council, using DIC for aerospace applications.
• University of TulsacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWill LePage, PhD, serves as Co-chair of DIC Challenge and advisor, contributing to stereo DIC challenge development.
• University of Texas at AustincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJin Yang, PhD, Assistant Professor, serves as Co-chair of DIC Challenge and DVC Challenge Lead, contributing experimental mechanics research.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• ASTM International: Major international standards development organization with which iDICs' committees actively work on formal DIC standards. Far larger and broader scope than iDICs, but directly comparable as a certification and standards authority addressing materials/testing practice.
• ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers): Large, established engineering professional society where DIC-relevant standards committees operate. Wider scope and resources than iDICs, but the natural analog as a member-driven standards and credentialing body serving mechanical engineering practitioners.
• Optica (formerly Optical Society of America): Major optics and photonics professional society, structurally similar to iDICs as a member-driven technical society with conferences, courses, and certification offerings — though at much larger scale and broader optical-science scope that overlaps with DIC's imaging/tracking foundations.
• SPIE (Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers): International society for optics and photonics that covers DIC's underlying optical-measurement instrumentation community. Comparable in running conferences, training, and publication of standards/advisory material serving technical practitioners whose tools include DIC.
• IMEKO (International Measurement Confederation): International federation of measurement-focused societies and institutes covering metrology, testing, and sensor-related practice. Analogous in convening a measurement-practitioner community and supporting standards, though operating as an umbrella body rather than a single-discipline accreditor like iDICs.

Direct peers

• American Society for Nondestructive Testing (ASNT): Long-established US professional society that certifies practitioners in nondestructive testing methods. The closest structural analog to iDICs in terms of a multi-tier certification program, training courses, conferences, and a member-driven nonprofit model — though applied to NDE rather than DIC specifically.
• Society for Experimental Mechanics (SEM): Sister organization to iDICs that co-hosts DIC Challenge meetings annually and shares the experimental mechanics practitioner base. SEM represents the closest functional peer — a member-driven society running conferences, training, and standards activity for adjacent technical communities, with overlapping leadership and shared membership.
• British Society for Strain Measurement (BSSM): UK-based partner society listed on the iDICs website. Operates a comparable member-driven model focused on strain measurement, with conferences, training, and certification offerings — directly analogous to iDICs but at a smaller scale and regionally scoped to the UK/Commonwealth.

Regional players

• Asian Society for Experimental Mechanics (ASEM): iDICs-listed partner covering Asia. Runs analogous conferences and member services for the experimental mechanics community, comparable in mission (advancing experimental practice) but serving a different geography than iDICs' primarily US/EU base.
• European Society for Experimental Mechanics (ESEM): European counterpart professional society in experimental mechanics, serving EU-based practitioners with conferences and technical activities. Functionally analogous to iDICs as a discipline community-society model, but with a European membership and footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/iDICs/forum-DIC-Papers/discussions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/idics-international-digital-image-correlation-society

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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