Two studies were part of the 2008 QNDE ultrasonic benchmark session. The first study considered the effects of the curvature of a fluid‐solid interface on the pulse‐echo immersion response of a flat‐bottom hole. This was a re‐examination of a problem considered in the 2007 benchmark but with a well‐characterized transducer and a different set of testing conditions. The second study considered the response of a series of side‐drilled holes at different depths. Here we will summarize the results obtained at the Center for NDE (CNDE), Iowa State University, for these two benchmark problems.