A Tribute - NCSL InternationalA Tribute By Professor Andrew Wallard Director Emeritus, International Bureau of Weights and Measures ... and mastered by many but Seton took to it naturally

Dr. Seton Bennett(1945 – 2015)

A TributeBy Professor Andrew WallardDirector Emeritus, International Bureau of Weights and Measures

42

NCSLI WORLDWIDE NEWS

Publisher NCSL InternationalEditor Linda Stone, NCSL InternationalContributing Editors Prof. Horst Czichos, BHT Berlin, University of Applied SciencesMark Kuster, Pantex MetrologyEditorial Committee Craig Gulka, NCSLI Executive DirectorTim Osborne, Trescal How to Reach Us:NCSL International5766 Central Avenue, Suite 150Boulder, CO 80301-5404 USAPhone 303-440-3339 • Fax 303-440-3384

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IN THIS ISSUE:The Circle Game: The use of theLunar Distance and Related Measurementsfor Celestial and Satellite-Based Navigationand Timekeeping

Two-Color One-Way FrequencyTransfer in a Metropolitan OpticalFiber Data Network

Experimental and Simulation Study fora Time Transfer Service via aCommercial Geostationary Satellite

A Survey of Time Transfer viaa Bidirectional Fiber Link for PreciseCalibration Services

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www.ncsli.org October 2015 | Metrologist 1

A Major Milestone for AccreditationRobert Sawyer and Georgette Macdonald39

By Professor Andrew WallardDirector Emeritus, International Bureau of Weights and Measures

The metrology world was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Seton Bennett on 14 September. He had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and coped bravely and with innate fortitude as the illness took a hold.

It is impossible to fit Seton into a single category as he was not only an excellent scientist with numerous papers and innovations to his name but he took part in, and led, a multitude of international activities with flair, distinc-tion, infectious charm, and ent husiasm. The ability to bridge the gap between researcher and “manager” is not a skill always relished and mastered by many but Seton took to it naturally. Unlike many whose career took a turn like this, he always maintained a deep understanding of, and love for, his science and brought it into management matters. I was present on many an occasion when his quietly spoken and courteous inter-vention in a meeting hit the nail on the head and led to a more sound scientific and administrative decision.

A f t e r l e av i n g O x fo rd University, Seton started life as a laser and optical physics scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, joining just a year before I did. He imme-diately showed that he had the skill to marry physics and engineering, and many of his innovations changed, quite dramatically, the ability to make precise measurements. Seton’s diplomatic skills were called on early in life as he persuaded tradi-tional metrologists to adopt “new fangled” techniques. There are several instruments at the NPL and in metrology labs world-wide that were developed from the principles that he intro-duced. Automated measurements and data processing speeded up processes and replaced subjective judgements with objective,

physical-based techniques. At that time, many of us were devel-oping laser-based wavelength length standards that were even-tually used to replace the kryton lamp realisation of the metre. I was developing the NPL’s red Helium Neon laser but, typically, Seton saw an alternative approach which took him, for a year,

to work at the Labratoire de l’Horloge Atomique in Orsay, France where he developed the first wavelength stabi-lized Helium-Neon laser, which used the saturated absorption technique, in the green region of the spectrum. It immediately had a practical application as it was more powerful than the red laser on which the realisation of the redefined metre was even-tually based, and therefore more suited to Seton’s activi-ties in engineering metrology. Nevertheless, his scientific paper on green lasers, is still — 30 or more years later — part of the official “mise en pratique” of length and wavelength standards.

Returning to the NPL, Seton was asked to take on t he management of t h e L a b o r a t o r y ’ s n e w researc h prog ramme on micrometrolgy and, building

on his specroscopic and laser experience, he also set up what is now NPL’s world-leading team in the use of trapped ions as wave-length and frequency standards. His skills were much in demand and he then took on the leadership role of one of the NPL’s largest teams devoted to mass, force and pressure research and routine calibration services. Part of this was the design and oper-ation of the NPL’s new kilogram balance and Seton’s practical eye focused on the need to investigate the surface properties of the kilogram standards using surface analysis. This continues to play a major role in the understanding and maintenance of mass standards and is something that is now of immense importance

A TRIBUTE TODR. SETON BENNETT

(1945 – 2015)

IN MEMORIAM

inthisissue

NCSLI WORLDWIDE NEWS OCT

2015

specialfeaturescontentsFrom the President 2

From the Boardroom 3NCSLI New Members 4

2016 Technical Exchange 6Conference Review 8

Learning & Development 162016 Workshop & Symposium 40

Committee News 56Regional News 62

International NewsNRC Canada 30

Liaison Reports 44 CPEM 2016 Conference 33

Advertisers Index 68 42 24

1630

Education OutreachSTEM and Seabrook Station MetrologyWilliam Hinton

16

MagnetsMcClelland First GradersWilliam Hinton

24

Primary Thermometry at NRCDr. Patrick Rourke and Dr. Andrew Todd30

Dr. Seton Bennett TributeAndrew Wallard42

57

Toward a MeasurementInformation InfrastructureSmart Certificates, Part 2Mark Kuster

34

2 Metrologist | October 2015 Vol. 8 No. 4

regionalnews

Roger Burton | NCSLI President

fromthepresident

Greetings! I hope you have had a great summer and are looking

forward to the changing seasons and the beginning of fall.

Many of you attended the 2015 NCSLI Workshop & Symposium

that was held at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention

Center in Grapevine, Texas from July 19-23. The conference

theme was “Measurement Science and the Quality of Life.” I

found the NIST Lego Watt Balance to be especially intriguing. If

you were like me, you found the conference to be a great chance

to hear about the latest advancements in our industry, catch up

with colleagues, meet with exhibitors and to come away with

increased knowledge and strengthened relationships that allow

you to improve and succeed in your career.

It is not too early to begin making your plans to attend the

upcoming 2016 NCSLI Technical Exchange, to be held at the

Omni Jacksonville Hotel, in Jacksonville, Florida from February

1-2, 2016. You can also start planning for next year’s Workshop

& Symposium, with the theme “Measurement Accuracy and the

Impact on Society,” which will be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota

on July 24-28, 2016.

As I have mentioned in my previous articles, the NCSLI Board

is focusing on seven key objectives as outlined in our strategic

plan, 2020 Vision. Our third objective is to be a Well-Run,

Financially Stable, and Viable Organization. This covers a wide

range of NCSLI initiatives, including using NCSLI resources

prudently, financial oversight by the Board of Directors, Increase

memberships, improved financial visibility and reporting, and to

pursue additional revenue streams.

To meet our financial objectives, NCSLI uses a quarterly

dashboard that provides to board members with both quantitative

and qualitative results. We have put in place a reporting

mechanism that is both timely and accurate, and that transforms

the accounting data we have into financial information, the most

important purpose of which is to allow the board to make sound

business decisions. We compare our financial results both to the

previous year and budgeted amounts to ensure we stay on track.

On the balance sheet side, we maintain our stability by ensuring

we have the equivalent of 9 to 12 months expenses as a safety

reserve. On the income statement side, we strive to generate a

small profit just above breakeven to ensure we are viable going

forward. Always keeping our member’s best interest in mind,

we focus on efficiencies and cost saving measures to be able to

provide the highest level of services, publications, training and

other benefits to provide maximum value for your membership

investment.

I look forward to seeing you in Jacksonville!

[email protected]


The NCSLI Board of Directors held

its summer meeting just prior to the

annual 2015 NCSLI Workshop &

Symposium in Grapevine, Texas. A

total of 29 people attended over the

course of the two-day meeting. In

addition to the NCSLI Operational

and Division Vice President

presentations, the list of presenters

included Jim Olthoff (NIST United

States), Georgette MacDonald (NRC Canada), Salvador Echeverria-

Villagomez (CENAM Mexico), Andy Henson (BIPM Paris), Pavel

Neyezhakov (COOMET Ukraine), Kamal Hossain (EURAMET

United Kingdom), Chuck Ehrlich (OIML United States), and Pete

Loftus (IET United Kingdom).

Reports from the NCSLI Operational and Division Vice

Presidents highlighted various committee and section activities

as well as the upcoming move of the NCSLI Business office. The

board also reviewed and approved a proposal for the creation

of a new committee, Military Test & Calibration Outreach. This

committee will be established under the Industrial Programs

(150). In our International activities, the Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with EURAMET was re-signed.

As part of the required board activities for this summer

meeting, Roger Burton, President, re-appointed Ingrid Ulrich as

the NCSLI Treasurer for the 2016-2017 term. Also, as many of

our international liaisons were in attendance at this meeting, the

president noted the appointments that had been re- confirmed at

the February 2015 board meeting. A listing of the international

liaisons can be found in the NCSLI Who’s Who Volunteer Directory

posted on the NCSLI website.

The Board also continued to discuss activities surrounding the

proposed revision of ISO/IEC 17025. Updates were shared from

Jeff Gust (VP Standards and Practices and NCSLI Representative to

ILAC), Tim Osborne (VP Operations and an NCSLI Representative

to ISO/CASCO under the NCSLI Liaison A status), and Georgette

Macdonald (SCC Representative) on the activities of the ISO/

CASCO Working Group 44. It was noted that the committee

draft of the revised document is expected later this year.

[email protected]

fromtheboardroom

The Boardroom

NCSLI Board of Directors.

Dana Leaman | NCSLI Secretary


membership

Goldbelt Falcon, LLC860 Greenbrier Circle Suite 410Chesapeake, Virginia 23320Contact: Brian MacDonald [email protected]

Goldbelt Falcon, LLC is an SBA-certified Alaska Native Corpora-tion with headquarters in Chesapeake, Virginia. Our vision is to be a leading independent preferred provider of, logistics, scientif-ic, engineering, and technical services to the Homeland Security (USCG), Defense (USAF, USN/DLA & USA), FDA, and Aerospace marketplaces. More than ever, these organizations face new prob-lems with increasing complexities that span organizational bound-aries, involving emerging scientific technologies, and demanding cost efficient solutions. We have helped these organizations make important progress in rapidly changing environments. Our lead-ership team is committed to helping all customers achieve their mission requirements. We provide customers reliable, high-qual-ity scientific, engineering and management services in the fol-lowing domains: Program/Project Management, Systems Engi-neering, C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, sensors, and reconnaissance), Test & Evaluation, Validation and Compliance, Sensors Integration, Acceptance Test-ing and Certification, Database Development, Verification and Management, Logistics/Warehousing, Metrology, Calibration Maintenance and Repair, Research and Genetics, and Training.

Hamilton Sundstrand1 Hamilton Road M/S 1-M-J39Windso Locks, Connecticut 06096Contact: David Coache [email protected]

Laerie Incorporated332 Mountain View Road Unit 2Berthoud, Colorado 80513Contact: Scott Winston 970-532-7990 ext. [email protected]

Laerie Inc. has provided calibrations (traceable to NIST) to over 600 customers in its 20 years of business. The company was formed in 1995 by Carol Lowe (owner), Larry Armfield (president) and Win-ston Scott, newly retired after 35 years serving NIST as Engineer (Electrical and Safety). Laerie, Inc. has grown over the years to ten employees using over 500 standards to serve customer needs. Laerie, Inc. chooses to be accredited both to ISO /IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2008, which exceeds most customer needs, but pro-vides double assurances for compliance by independent audits to ISO standards.

American Gage1131 S. Richfield RdPlacentia, California 92870Contact: Roger Arnold [email protected]

American Gage is a leading metrology laboratory in Southern Cal-ifornia meeting specific calibration, repair and instrument acquisi-tion needs of clients in various industries for over 30 years. We are a distributor for major instrument manufacturers providing third party NIST traceable calibration certification for both client test equipment and instrument sales. We offer personal and prompt service covering a wide range of capabilities in our environmentally controlled laboratories as well as at customer facilities (on-site ser-vice). We gained our Certificate of Accreditation for compliancy with ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (which includes applicable ISO 9001:2008 re-quirements) and ANSI/NCSL Z540 through the International Accred-itation Service (IAS is recognized globally including NVLAP & A2LA). Our calibration system is designed to comply as required with ISO 10012 and the former MIL-STD 45662A. Our laboratories are equipped with state of the art equipment and reference standards traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

BAE Systems ES Metrology65 River RoadHudson, New Hampshire 03051Contact: Jason Butler 603-885-0514

We’re building on our strength as a global provider of defense and secu-rity products to shape support services that meet the changing needs of our customers. From sophisticated cyber services and military support, to mission critical electronic systems and protection equipment, we aim to be at the forefront of defense technology and science.

C-6 Inc. Metrology Services1264 Rangeview Rd.Estes Park, Colorado 80517Contact: Charlie Beninati [email protected]

C-6 Metrology Services combines extensive manufacturing knowl-edge with over 30 years of precision calibration expertise. Our turn-around times average about a week and expedite services are available to avoid long downtimes. At C-6, we serve our customers through personal, specialized care. We are real people with a passion for quality. We strive to develop strong business relationships, giv-ing individual attention to your equipment.

DRS Environmental Systems Incorporated7375 Industrial Rd.Florence, Kentucky 41042Contact: Keith Kruse [email protected]

membership

McCrometer3255 West Stetson AvenueHemet, California 92545Contact: Cameron Moyer 951-652-6811, www.mccrometer.com

McCrometer is a leading global flow instrumentation specialist. We specialize in the design, manufacture and testing of flow me-tering solutions. McCrometer’s flow technologies serve in a wide range of applications and markets. Our application engineers, researchers and designers apply their expertise in flow physics and real-world operating dynamics. The results are some of the most accurate, innovative and trusted flow meters on the market.

Process Measurement Company2475 W 2nd Ave.Denver, Colorado 80223Contact: Aaron Fugita 720-810-7106, [email protected]

PMC offers calibration services to a wide variety of industries, including food and agriculture, utilities, electrical contracting, building safety, manufacturing, medical and aviation. Based in Minneapolis with offices in Denver, Kansas City and Omaha, we calibrate and certify electrical, mechanical, dimensional and physical measuring equipment using NIST-traceable standards. Our full service lab and highly trained staff can calibrate RF equipment, oscilloscopes, multimeters, torque, pressure, rulers, micrometers, and much more. We also offer field services, bringing our capabilities to customers’ facilities, which provide maximum efficiency of customer equipment use. PMC’s certification management software program gives you online access to all of your equipment certificates and provides asset

management tools to help fulfill your needs. We offer in-house calibration with quick turn-around times. PMC is ISO9001:2008 certified and adheres to the ANSI Z540-1 lab procedure guidelines.

Singapore Technologies Electronics Ltd.24 Ang Mo Kio Street 65Singapore, Ang Mo Kio Dist 569061Contact: See Chee Foong 65-6413-1902, [email protected]

Established in 1969, Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (ST Electronics) is a leading Information Communications Technolo-gies (ICT) System provider in the region. The company’s strategic thrust is in the three key business areas of Satellite & Broadband Communications (satcoms); e-Government and e-Enterprise; and Eco-enabling ICT. Its core capabilities lie in its design, development and integration of advanced electronics systems for commercial, industrial, defense, government and public services applications worldwide. With its satcoms, e-Government and e-Enterprise, and eco-enabling ICT capabilities and expertise, ST Electronics offers wired and wireless communication solutions, rail and traffic man-agement systems, real-time C4I (command, control, communica-tion, computing and intelligence) solutions, modelling and training simulation, intelligent building management systems, homeland security solutions and managed services. It undertakes continuing research and development to help create cost-effective purpose-built products at both system and sub-system levels for customers.

Turbocam607 Calef Highway, Barrington, New Hampshire 03825Contact: Philip Honigfield, [email protected]


Two Days of Measurement TrainingConducted by Experts in the Field of Metrology!

FEBRUARY 1 - 2, 2016 IN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

NCSL INTERNATIONAL | 5766 CENTRAL AVENUE, SUITE 150 | BOULDER, COLORADO 80301 | 303-440-3339 | NCSLI.ORG

PRICING AND REGISTRATIONTraining Member Non-Member

1/2 Day Training $180 $205

1 Day Training $360 $410

2 Day Training $720 $820

Registration Includes: • Materials Bag • Breakfast, Lunch and Expert Measurement Training for

that day!

HOTEL INFORMATIONOMNI JACKSONVILLE HOTEL

245 Water Street, Jacksonville, Florida 32202

904-355-6664

NCSL International Room Rate: $149 Call for Reservations

1-800-843-6664

Group Name “NCSL International Technical Exchange”

Join Our Exhibitors — Tabletop Exhibits Available

The NCSLI Technical Exchange will build and enhance specific hands-on skills in the calibration of measurement and test equipment. This two-day training will also teach best practices along with introducing new and innovative calibration hardware, software and calibration services. Each training session is taught by measurement science experts from throughout the industry.

MONDAY AND TUESDAY FEBRUARY 1 & 2, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 2 DAY CLASS An Introduction to Instrument Control and Calibration Automation in LabVIEW™ Logan Kunitz, National Instruments Corporation

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 12:00PM | 1/2 DAY CLASS Industrial Pressure Calibration and MeasurementsJon Sanders, Additel Corporation

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASS ISO/IEC 17025 Laboratory AccreditationRob Knake, A2LA

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASS Calculating Uncertainties in Testing LaboratoriesDilip Shah, E=mc3 Solutions

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASS Understanding RF Power Sensor CalibrationsCharlie Sperrazza, Tegam

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASS Infrared ThermometryFrank Liebmann, Fluke Calibration

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASS Industrial Platinum Resistance ThermometryDawn Cross, NIST

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASSProficiency TestingBarbara Belzer and Tom Hettenhouser, NVLAP

MONDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASS Flow Measurements and Uncertainties John Wright, NIST

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 8:00AM - 12:00PM | 1/2 DAY CLASSFundamentals of Force CalibrationHenry Zumbrun, Morehouse Instruments

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 1:00AM - 5:00PM | 1/2 DAY CLASSRF Microwave BasicsRon Ginley, NIST

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASSTemperature Effects in Dimensional MetrologyDr. Hy Tran, Sandia National Laboratories

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASSStatistical Analysis of Metrology Data Dilip Shah, E=mc3 Solutions

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASSGood Weighing PracticesIan Ciesniewsk and Dave Cirullo, Mettler Toledo

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASSConducting an Effective Internal AuditDana Leaman and Kari Harper, NVLAP

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASSStating Compliance to Specifications with Confidence: In-Tolerance, Out-of-Tolerance, Indeterminate and GuardbandingJeff Gust, Fluke Calibration

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 2, 2016 8:00AM - 5:00PM | 1 DAY CLASSSo – You think you know DC Resistance and Current Measurements!Mark Evans, Senior Engineer, Guildline

TECHNICAL EXCHANGE TRAINING PROGRAM

NCSLI.ORG FOR UPDATES AND CURRENT INFORMATION

MEASUREMENT SCIENCE

AND THE

OF

LIFE

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

BY PAUL PACKEBUSH, NCSLI CONFERENCE VPWelcome readers! In July NCSL International hosted its annual Workshop & Symposium at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine Texas. The Event offered fantastic opportunities to network with peers, participate in training activities, and learn from an exciting array of over 100 technical papers and presentations. An impressive collection of exhibitors provided exceptional value by educating us on new products and services, while more than 18 NCSLI committees and working groups met to review, update, improve and discuss NCSLI technical publications. Overall, more than 700 measurement professionals took advantage of our conference.

This year we provided focused tracks on “Measurements in Energy” and continued a popular track from NMI leaders, “Amazing Stories of Measurements.” Both of these events were supported by an array of keynote speakers. Opening session featured Dr. Chris Greer of NIST and Steve Russell of Duke Energy leading us from the larger vision of the Internet of things to the “boots on the ground” complexities of implementing measurement improvements in the existing power grid.

Ending our week of measurement education, Dr. Carl Williams and Jennifer Lee of NIST, provided an exciting and entertaining view of transition of the kilogram. Keynote speaker, Amy Young of Illinois Wesleyan University, closed the event with a fascinating discussion of her documentary on the people behind the program to replace the kilogram.

Conference ReviewWORKSHOP & SYMPOSIUM | JULY 19 – 23, 2015


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

We understand that as an organization we can provide value beyond our tutorial program, technical papers and meetings. Building relationships and interacting with peers is important to personal and career growth. To this end we hosted several networking mixers, geared to help you meet and interact with colleagues and exhibitors.

With a focus on serving our membership, this year’s conference provided a special all day workshop on the updates of ISO/IEC 17025. Led by Tim Osborne, Trescal and Jeff Gust, Fluke Calibration, the workshop provided insight on changes to the standards and educated us on the process of acceptance by the global community. In addition they sought feedback

from the NCSLI membership in order to better represent our interests at the international level.

As we move into the second half of 2015 many of us are already looking forward to the 2016 Technical Exchange Measurement Training Event on February 1-2, 2016 at the Omni Hotel in Jacksonville, Florida and beyond to the 2016 Workshop & Symposium in Saint. Paul, Minnesota. I hope to see many of you again at these two events, and as always, I urge you to share your knowledge and experience by submitting papers, provide measurement training, sponsoring, exhibiting or simply attending to expand your personal and career growth.

[email protected]

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Chris Greer, NIST Senior Executive for Cyber Physical Systems and National Coordinator for Smart Grid Interoperability.

Steve Russell, DMS/DA Project Director for Duke Energy Carolinas and the Alstom DMS product within Grid Modernization.

Screenwriter Amy Young is a filmmaker with strong experience in communicating science to a general audience.


MEASUREMENT SCIENCE

AND THE

OF

LIFE

Dr Hector Nava JaimesWILDHACK AWARD WINNER

Congratulations to the 2015 Wildhack Award Winner, Dr. Hector Nava Jaimes, President National Academy of Engineering 1993-1995.

After completing his studies in Commu-nications and Electronics Engineering at the National Academy of Engineering in 1959, Dr. Jaimes started his professional activities as Assistant Researcher at the Institute of Physics at UNAM.

His first task was to develop a system sim-ilar to that of Dr. Willard F. Libby, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960 for radiocarbon dating, the method of using carbon-14 for age determination in archaeology, geology and other branches of science. This was his first contact with metrology.

in 1969 Dr. Jaimes obtained his doctorate in Electronics at the Faculty of Sciences d’Orsay University in Paris. In 1970 he joined the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of the IPN as a researcher in the Department of Electrical Engineering. He served as the head of this department from 1972 to 1982. During this time he was respon-sible for the Multinational Engineering Proj-ects CINVESTAV-OAS and the Special Project Mar de Plata OAS for the establishment of a Metrology Laboratory in Mexico, which con-tributed to the training of specialized per-sonnel in metrology who were in charge of the National Center of Metrology (CENAM) project (1976-1982).

In addition to the various activities as a Research Professor, he was an advisor on several undergraduate, master and doctorate theses. He was the Director General of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies of

the IPN, from December 1982 to December 1990 and steered the Center towards excel-lence. During his tenure, new units were cre-ated in Mérida, Irapuato, Saltillo and Guada-lajara, and developed the first international project related to metrology culminating in a Metrology Laboratory, CENAM precursor.

In 1986 he received the National Award for Integral Standards, issued by the Ministry of Commerce and Industrial Development, in recognition of his contributions to the devel-opment of metrology in Mexico.

Dr. Jaimes is the founder of the Inter-American Metrology System, SIM and

the elected president of 1977 and for the period 1996-1998.

In the early 70s he participated in sev-eral meetings in Latin America, to establish guidelines for the creation of centers of excel-lence in engineering, sponsored by the OAS and the UNESCO-Montevideo.

He was President of the National Academy of Engineering (1993-1995) and President of the Mexican Academy of Engineering (1999-2001). At the end of his tenure the two acad-emies were merged.

He is the recipient of the Academic Palms in Rank of Officer, awarded by the Ministry of Universities of France (1981) and the Com-memorative Medal at the Centennial of the Central Metrology Laboratory of the Elec-trical Industry in France (1982).

He served as Deputy Director General of Applied Research in the Mexican Petroleum Institute (1991-1993) and Coordinator of Research and Planning of the Mexican Petro-leum Institute (1994-1996).

In June 1996 he was appointed by the President of Mexico as Director General of the National Centre of Metrology, his cur-rent position, which has allowed the devel-opment and competitiveness of Mexican industry, through metrological support provided to their systems quality and pro-duction.

On June 26, 2008 Dr. Naves was appointed member of the International Committee for Weights and Measures, which includes 18 internationally renowned personalities. He was the second Mexican who has achieved this recognition. The first was Dr. Manuel Sandoval Vallarta. The Centennial Com-mittee members hold five Nobel prizes.


Georgia L. HarrisEDUCATION AND TRAINING AWARD WINNER

By Vernon Alt, Jr. Learning and Development VP

It was a great pleasure for me to announce Georgia L. Harris as the 2015 recipient of the NCSLI Education and Training Award, given annually to an individual or group of individuals for outstanding contributions to the field of metrology education and training. Please allow me to tell you some of the accomplish-ments which brought Georgia’s name to the top of this year’s nomination list.

Georgia began her career in metrology as a Minnesota State Metrologist in 1984. In 1985 she became a highly active member of NCSL International and in 1990 moved to Maryland to work at NIST. During a still active career at NIST she has authored and co-authored numerous technical publications. Georgia has been the Program Leader for the State Laboratory Program since 1990 and the Technical Advisor to the National Con-ference on Weights and Measures since 1990. NEMAP, SEMAP, SWAP, MidMP, WRAP, and CaMAP are the six Regional Measurement Assurance Programs — the regional groups of state and industry labs conduct annual training and interlaboratory comparisons. Georgia conducted training at each of them every year except one (2013) since 1990, although in 2013, she oversaw the devel-opment of the agenda and content for the training and supervised the contractors and staff who provided the training. And for 12 years was the NIST Liaison to the Measure-ment Science Conference coordinating annual NIST seminars and tutorials at MSC conferences. Currently Georgia is the Sec-retary for the American Society for Quality — Measurement Quality Division.

Georgia has received two Bronze Medal

Awards, the highest honorary recogni-tion given by NIST, the first in 1992 and the second in 2008 as well as the Andrew J. Woodington Award in 2003, the highest honorary given by the Measurement Science Conference and in 2003 the Arthur S. Flem-

ming Award which honors outstanding fed-eral employees and is recognized by the Pres-ident of the United States. At NIST, she was instrumental in their office obtaining accred-itation of their training program through the International Association for Continuing Education and Training or IACET.

From Education and Training perspective, Georgia has taught tutorials at MSC, NCSLI, CENAM Symposium, and at a Metrology Congress in Colombia South America and has also provided training for NIST Office of Weights and Measures instructors, more than 1,200 participants and 59 unique sem-inars and webinars, with more than 50 pub-lications supporting education and training or laboratory procedures in mass, volume, and lab quality/administration in the past 20 plus years.

To say Georgia has been active with NCSLI is a gross understatement, Section Coordi-

nator for the Twin Cities, Liaison to the National Conference on Weights and Mea-sures, a leader in the design and development of the Metrology Careers website (www.MetrologyCareers.com), presently chairing the committee on Higher Education Aca-

demic Outreach, representing NCSLI at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Conference and service within the Division of Exper-imental and Laboratory-Ori-ented Studies of the ASEE. She has been working on the team to persuade the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to inte-grate metrology/calibration job descriptions and labor statistics into publications and processes and is currently leading the effort to implement activities

identified in the metrology education and training roadmap to help meet metrology workforce challenges. Georgia has presented numerous papers, tutorials and workshops on learning and development subject matter at NCSLI, MSC, NLA South Africa, CENAM Simposio, and at ASEE conferences and has won best paper awards from MSC, NCSLI, and ASEE. Recently our recipient has ended a nearly 20 year stint on the NCSLI Board of Directors beginning in 1993 (with a short interim gap in the late 1990’s), performing in the positions of: Eastern Division VP, Measurement Science and Technology VP, Publications VP, Learning and Development VP, Operations VP, Executive Vice President, President and most recently Immediate Past President.

Congratulations and Thank You Georgia for all you have done and continue to do for the field of Metrology Education & Training.


MEASUREMENT SCIENCE

AND THE

OF

LIFE

BEST PAPER AWARDSPresented by Kevin Rust, Best Paper Chair

Kenneth Hill (not pictured) and Alan Steele, National Research Council of Canada (NRC), “The International Temperature Scale: Past, Present, and Future” (Presented by Mike Lombardi, NCSLI Measure Managing Editor)

Overall Best Paper AwardPaul Reese, Baxter Healthcare Corporation, “Instrument Adjustment Policies”

Craig Shakarji, NIST, “Ramifications of Proposed Changes to Decision Rules in 3 Standards within ISO and ASME”

Steven Yang, Standards & Calibration Laboratory, Hong Kong, “Calibration of Defibrillator Analyzers at the HKSARG Standards and Calibration Laboratory”

Nigel Jou and Wanji Yang (not pictured), APLAC, Taiwan Accreditation Foundation, “Insight into the APLAC Member Survey on Report Credibility”

EDITOR’S CHOICE AWARD

10 YearsAmosh Kumar, Mitutoyo CorporationVal Miller, NISTMark Ruefenacht, Heusser Neweigh

5 Years Michael Bair, Fluke Calibration Jeff Bennewitz, Thunder Scientific CorporationJeff Gust, Fluke Calibration Mike Hamilton, Thunder Scientific CorporationFrank Liebmann, Fluke Calibration Bill Williams, Morehouse Instruments, Inc.Rob Knake, A2LA Henry Zumbrun, Morehouse Instruments, Inc.Gordon Skattum, Mitutoyo Corporation

TUTORIAL LONGEVITY AWARDSIn appreciation for continued support of the NCSLI Conference Tutorial Program.

Presented by Dilip Shah, Tutorial Program Chair

NCSLI President Roger Burton, Rob Knake, Jeff Gust, Dilip Shah


Amazing StoriesOF Measurement

EDUCATION AND TRAINING


MEASUREMENT SCIENCE

AND THE

OF

LIFE


Thank You SPONSORS & EXHIBITORS!

ONLINE CONFERENCE PHOTO GALLERY COMING SOON TO NCSLI.ORG



learning+development

Students from Great Bay Community College – Advanced

Technology and Academic Center (GBCC-ATAC) and Spaulding

High School’s R. W. Creteau Regional Technology Center, both

in Rochester, NH and one student selected from a group of

more than 450 young ladies who participated in the 2015 New

Hampshire Girls Technology Day were provided an opportunity

to see how STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) fits into

the design, operation and safety of a 1,244 Megawatt (electric)

world class nuclear power plant. The photo above shows the

students learning the basics of nuclear power as they tour NextEra

Energy Seabrook Station’s Science and Nature Center. Additional

participants included school chaperones, school career counselors

and industry partners who volunteer in education outreach events

at the schools.

Upon arrival at the Science and Nature Center, the students

and the station staff supporting this event were introduced

to each other followed by “Nuclear Power 101” presented by

Anders Oberg, a member of the Seabrook Station Operations

department. Meghan Haidul, site Fire Protection Engineer and

keynote speaker for the New Hampshire 2015 Girls Technology

Day, co-hosted the tour.

Students were taken through the exhibits in the Science and

Nature Center starting with a description of the construction

of the approximately 3-mile long intake and discharge tunnels

that provide cooling water to the plant auxiliary systems from

the Atlantic Ocean. Aquarium displays house live specimens

of sea stars, crabs and other species found in the waters around

the station.

The students interacted with various scientific displays followed

by construction and design information related to the reactor

containment building. The theory of nuclear fission and core

design is presented in several automated displays with animated

graphics and vocal descriptions. This is followed by descriptions

and examples of the materials used in the construction of the

reactor plant, steam plant and the turbine system. The final area

of the Science and Nature Center provided discovery of radiation

theory, several historical videos and knowledge assessment of the

material presented during the tour.

By William HintonNew Hampshire statewide Metrology Ambassador

OutreachSTEM and Seabrook Station Metrology

Education



Safety requirements associated with the site and the facilities to

be visited were presented to the group. Safety is first and foremost

at an operating facility such as NextEra Energy Seabrook Station.

Students were then escorted to the Metrology Laboratory.

The Metrology Laboratory manages, calibrates, repairs and

distributes all of the station measuring and test equipment (MTE).

Four qualified Metrology Technicians with deep STEM related

skills and experience perform thousands of calibration every year.

The students were given a tour of the laboratory then paired up

and placed at one of several calibration stations. The metrology

laboratory staff had prepared a portion of a calibration related

task at each station. The technicians, using portions of station

procedures, demonstrated the process and engineering associated

with the calibration to the student pair, at which point, one

student became the performer with the other student acting as

a peer coach. Once the first student completed the calibration,

the duties were reversed and the other student performed the

calibration before the pair moved to the next calibration station.

Frequency measurement was employed at one of the stations

where a digital strobe tachometer was calibrated. This calibration

operates the tachometer at selected rates and the strobe flashes are

detected by an optical sensor that provides an input to a frequency

counter. The students are familiar with this the strobe unit which

is typically part of the equipment collection brought to each of

the NCSLI education outreach events during the school year. This

activity closes the loop for these students who are now aware of

the calibration of this item of Measuring and Test Equipment as

well as its field use.

The infrared thermometer is another item that is often brought

to the schools for outreach events. At this calibration station, the

students learn about the “black body” source and how the actual

temperature is measured by laboratory standards allowing this

device to be used to calibrate the infrared thermometer. Students

at this station calibrated the infrared thermometer as well as

experimented with a FLIR infrared imaging camera. The FLIR was

familiar to one of the students who had an opportunity to use

this device at the metrology workshop during the New Hampshire

2015 Girls Technology Day.

The physical and dimensional laboratory is a self-contained

room with its own air conditioning system designed to maintain

the length standards close to their desired 20 C (68 F) bases

temperature. Here the students were shown how a caliper is

calibrated using the gage blocks. Students also performed a

torque wrench calibration using the torque standard that is also

maintained in this room. The torque standard STEM relation in

this space is directly related to length and mass – N-m (lb-ft).

Students inspect a simulated nuclear fuel pellet. Note the simulated fuel bundle behind students.

Student performing micrometer calibration using a NIST traceable gage block.

“The interactive equipment displays managed by their [technicians] went above and beyond my expectations.

The whole experience was priceless.”

- Gwen DeYoung-Reynolds, recent GBCC graduate



Performing a strobe tachometer (strobotac) calibration by measuring the frequency.

Student uses blackbody source to calibrate an infrared thermometer and check a FLIR camera operation.

“Real world use piques my interest so seeing in-use tools…gave three dimensional meaning to what had been relatively dry knowledge.”

- Community College Student

Imagine maintaining and protecting smart grid reliability through testing and calibration.

THAT’S US.

IMAGINE A CONFORMITY ASSESSMENT program to provide testing of phasor measurement units’ (PMU’s) compliance with respect to IEEE C37.118.1™ Standard for SynchroPhasor Measurements for Power systems.

IMAGINE THE POSSIBILITIES.

The ability to test and calibrate PMU’s that provide real-time measurement data for electric power grids, allows operators to make quick, accurate decisions based on sound, detailed data with respect to the condition of the grid.

AN INDUSTRY CHANGING IMPACT.

Consumers Energy Laboratory Services and IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) are working together to provide PMU conformance testing.

THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING.

To learn more, call Consumers Energy Laboratory Services at (800) 736-4147, or visit www.LaboratoryServices.com.



The final calibration station was a timely analysis of analog versus digital

pressure instruments. In light of the recent NFL “deflategate” and the NextEra

Enegy Seabrook Station proximity to the New England Patriots, students were

presented with an opportunity to collect data using equipment similar to that

specified by the NFL then compare that data using a precision digital pressure

gauge (Crystal XP2I). The last step of this activity required the student to

inflate the football to prescribed pressure based on the “feel” of the ball. The

students closest to the proper pressure were presented with the football, pump

and pressure gauge. The data distribution was quite interesting.

Lunch was provided by NCSL International Metrology Ambassador William

Hinton (Hinton Technical Services) at the site General Office Building,

located in a portion of the owner controlled area with vistas of the natural

surroundings and wooded marshland. This facility also allowed the students

an opportunity to see another side of the site organization and to mingle with

station personnel.

This student is wringing gage blocks in preparation for a caliper calibration.

The student receives instructions for the torque wrench calibration bench from the technician.

Winning students with their prizes.

From the NFL RulebookThe Ball must be a “Wilson,” hand selected,

bearing the signature of the Commissioner

of the League, Roger Goodell. The ball shall

be made up of an inflated

(12 1/2 to 13 1/2 pounds) urethane

bladder….

The Referee shall be the sole judge as to

whether the balls offered for play comply

with these specification.

A pump is to be furnished by the home

club, and the balls shall remain under the

supervision of the Referee until they are

delivered to the ball attendant just prior to

the start of the game.



Lunch was taken at the scenic General Office Building.

Students positioned at various control board stations for normal operations. Student “tripping the reactor” as part of simulator drill scenario.

Simulator Manager Dana Merrill welcomes the group to the control room.

The control room simulator was the final stop on the tour and

was hosted by Dana Merrill, Simulator Manager. This is a rare

opportunity for the members of the tour group. The students,

instructors and guests were brought onto the simulator’s control

room operating floor and provided with an in-depth discussion

of the layout and purpose of this simulated plant control room as

well as the mission of the simulator.

Students were then placed at the various control board

operating positions and the simulator was activated. Several

normal operating transients were simulated and Dana walked the

students through the required responses, allowing them to operate

the control board switches and controls.

After getting some operating experience under their belts, the

students were then subjected to simulated plant transients ranging

from plant equipment failures up to and including a Fukushima

style earthquake with rumbling and vibrations that could be felt

through the control panels.

The focus of the day’s events was STEM with emphasis on

metrology. We can see metrology in the Science and Nature

Center where calibrated instruments are used to maintain the

electrical functions in the displays and building and to maintain

the aquariums that support the health and safety of the live

specimens. The metrology laboratory demonstrated all aspects

of metrology to the participants ranging from traceability of



standards to uncertainty, failure analysis (OOT or OOS) and asset

management. The simulator runs scenarios for the training of

operators that control the plant. Metrology is used to ensure that

the computer, control board instrumentation and communication

systems are functioning correctly. Every aspect of the day’s

event was connected to metrology and the breadth and depth of

metrology’s impact was made quite clear to the students and other

participants.

[email protected]

William Hinton

NextEra Energy Retiree and Owner of Hinton Technical Services, LLC

in Rochester, NH. An NCSLI member since1996, Hinton is a past

NCSLI Board Member currently engaged in writing NCSLI documents

and is a New Hampshire statewide Metrology Ambassador.

REFERENCES1. NextEra Energy – Seabrook Station Safety, System and General Information,

http://www.nexteraenergyresources.com/pdf_redesign/seabrook.pdf

2. NextEra Energy – Seabrook Station public portal, http://www.nexter-

aenergyresources.com/what/nuclear_seabrook.shtml


Metrology Ambassadors participated in the 8th year of

outreach at the American Society for Engineering Education

(ASEE) in June 2015 in Seattle. The Metrology Careers

booth is a cooperative effort between NCSL International

Education Liaison and Outreach Committee and the ASQ

Measurement Quality Division.

Post cards about the www.metrologycareers.com

website as well as materials from NCSLI and ASQ-MQD are

distributed at the booth. The team answers many questions

for professors about useful resources for integrating

metrology concepts into the engineering curriculum. One of

the most exciting things that we have observed since beginning

our outreach efforts is that professors now seek out resources at

the booth and ask questions about metrology, instead of asking

why a “weather” related community (aka meteorologists) is at

the conference. This year the outreach team included: Georgia

Harris (NIST), Maria Isabel Peña (Doxa International, NIST Guest

Researcher), Jack Somppi (Measurements International), Tony

Reed (Boeing), and Jason Koehn (Boeing). We reach between 300

and 500 engineering professors as well as about 15 to 20 students

(who attend to participate in the robotics competitions) each

year – in a conference of 5,000 to 6,000! Every year, we also have

a drawing at the booth for two copies of the ASQ “The Metrology

Handbook.” Numerous professors also take the catalogs for

obtaining copies of the handbook in the event that they don’t

win the drawing.

This was the first time for Maria Isabel Peña to participate

in our engineering outreach efforts. She has a background of

biomedical engineering and her work as a Guest Researcher

included education liaison and outreach as one of the three key

areas of her work while at NIST. She was very excited to learn

about the Metrology Ambassador efforts of NCSLI and has been

an ASQ Certified Calibration Technician (CCT) for a number

of years. Though she has finished her Guest Researcher efforts

at NIST, she is looking forward to continuing her efforts as a

Metrology Ambassador!

By Georgia L. HarrisNCSLI Education Liaison and Outreach Chair


Metrology and EngineeringOutreach at ASEE Conference

Georgia Harris and Maria Isabel Peña at Boeing Store.

Maria Isabel Pena at Metrology Careers Booth.



Past sessions at ASEE have also included technical papers

and presentations on metrology that have been well-received,

including a best paper award in 2013 by Georgia Harris on

Incorporating Project Based Learning in a Fundamentals of

Metrology course at NIST. Papers have also been presented by

John Fishell (retired Navy), Doug Sugg (Navy), Elizabeth Gentry

(NIST), Mark Lapinskes (while at Sypris), Helga Alexander (while

at Keithley) and include numerous topics of mutual interest in the

ASEE Division of Experimental and Laboratory Oriented Studies

(DELOS) who have sponsored the metrology papers presented

at the conference. Georgia Harris also sits as a member at large

for the DELOS Division and reviews abstracts and papers to

champion the interests of metrology.

This year was the third year for the Division to sponsor a

Bring Your Own Experiment (BYOE). In 2014, Joe Fuehne, from

Purdue participated in the BYOE session when the conference

was held in Indianapolis. Charles Andrews (Eli Lilly) and

Joe and his son, along with Dilip Shah worked the booth in

2014. Participating in the BYOE session enables the metrology

community to ask many questions and make suggestions

about metrology concepts that can easily be integrated into

the laboratory experiments that the professors are using in the

curriculum. Encouraging the DELOS members to reach out to

the local metrology community in their areas is another one

of our objectives.

In addition to local NCSLI and ASQ-MQD representatives

helping staff the booth each year, we are also able to coordinate

local laboratory tours. In 2014 we toured the Eli Lilly metrology

laboratory as a part of the visit to Indianapolis. This year, Tony Reed

arranged for us to tour portions of the Boeing metrology laboratory

in Seattle.

We were also able to meet with Susan Bradshaw, Mary Ann

Gillis, and David Cunningham about the metrology curriculum

that is being developed at the Aerospace Center of Excellence in

the Seattle area and is part of the Everett Community College and

a DACUM study that was completed a couple of years ago (with

numerous industry partners from the Seattle area). (Note: this

was one of the programs that received a NIST Standards Education

Grant in 2014). While meeting with the college representatives,

two ideas were presented for additional follow up:

Hold a special workshop for continuing education for university

professors (like the SIM Summer School or the NIST Summer

Institute for Middle School Science Teachers). This would be a

2-week seminar for to serve the need for continuing education

for professors/instructors and enable laboratory tours and hands-

on activities at NIST in the research laboratories. A grant was

proposed to fund this kind of an effort.

Develop standardized national metrology course descriptions

(along with job descriptions) along with course content or

recommended resources/references and even text books. [The

college representatives suggested that NIST should be the one to

publish such a recommendation and resources; however, through

discussions, it was suggested that a partnership of professional

associations like NCSLI, ASQ-MQD and the Coordinate Metrology

Society (CMS) would be the best way forward].

In 2016, the ASEE conference will be held in New Orleans the

last week of June – where we hope to again count on the local

metrology community to help staff the booth and maybe even

arrange for another laboratory tour! Metrology Ambassador efforts

and outreach to school and universities often take many years of

metrology champions engaging in these other communities to

integrate metrological thinking into what they already do. Only

a few of those in the other communities are likely to “come to

us” but we can reach many more people by having champions

engage as Metrology Ambassadors in their local areas. Also,

stay tuned for the results of a recent survey conducted among

the NCSLI contact schools the members of the ASEE DELOS

division regarding integration of metrology concepts into the

engineering curriculum.

Please share your Metrology Ambassador stories, please fill

out the ongoing survey at this link (https://www.surveymonkey.

com/r/Metrology_Ambassadors), and send articles to Linda Stone

at [email protected]! Please send contact information at local

colleges and universities to Georgia Harris, the current chair of

the 164, Education Liaison and Outreach committee and 164-1,

University Outreach at [email protected].

Roger Beardsley at BYOE on BioDiesel Experiment..


By William HintonNew Hampshire statewide Metrology Ambassador

Magnetsthe Star Attraction forMcClelland First Graders



Magnets and magnetism were the topics of discussion, dialog and discovery for the first grade students (soon to be second graders according to the students in the class) in Davita Fortier’s class at the McClelland elementary school in Rochester, New Hampshire. This event was scheduled to coincide with the 2015 World Metrology Day and was a first for NCSL International Metrology Ambassador William Hinton considering that his traditional student body for such an event consists of high school and community college students. Davita Fortier, a neighbor to William, requested assistance in collecting magnets of various styles and applications for an end of school year science presentation. Enough magnets and related hardware had been collected to fill a 90-minute presentation and after some discussion, William offered to extend education outreach to the very beginning of the education process…these future STEM professionals. And so we begin.

The collection of magnets was typical for

what one would find around the house

with small ceramic magnets taken from

the tool box and off the refrigerator.

These were augmented with several high

strength magnets on flexible wands used

to retrieve errant parts dropped into

openings while repairing the family car.

Another magnet application consisted of

a small steel pan mounted to a magnet

to hold steel parts close at hand and

preventing their escape. This collection

eventually included a very large bar

magnet often used on construction

sites to collect nails dropped on

the ground during construction or

renovation.

The collection really took off when

it was decided that we would not limit

the size, type or style of magnets and we

added several “rare-earth” neodymium

magnets, high strength fixture mounting

magnets with lifting power in excess of

45 lbs. (20.4 kg) and two, hand wound,

electromagnets each powered by two

C-cell batteries.

A set of learning objectives, appropriate

to the age and experience of the students,

was created to not only focus the students

but the presenter as well. They were

simple, concise and well suited to the

audience:

1. discuss the poles of a magnet and how they interact with each other,

2. explain the earth as a magnet and why a compass works, and

3. Identify two uses for magnetism/magnets.

Students at this age are very tactile

in their learning and it was important

to provide them with experiences as

well as some challenges. There were

plenty of magnets but the more powerful

neodymium magnets were under strict

control of the metrology ambassador,

teacher Davita Fortier or the classroom

teaching assistant. These items were

powerful enough to potentially cause

pinched fingers. One of the larger

neodymium magnets was magnetically

attached to an iron block and the students

were challenged early in the class period

with the promise of a prize for anyone

who could get the magnet off the block.

More on that later.




After the ground rules were explained to the students, the

basic theory of magnets and magnet poles was explained and

demonstrated.

Describing the magnetic lines of flux is a difficult concept to

grasp. Drawings on the white board look good but they don’t

make it a physical representation for such young students. The

answer was simple, build two wooden frames with a high-pressure

laminate panel inside the frame and set each frame over one of the

magnets. Still can’t see the flux? Problem solved with a pepper

shaker filled with iron filings from a local truck repair center brake

turning lath. Not only could the students now see the lines of flux

but they could move the magnet and see how the filings and the

flux follow the magnet.

Now it was time to get their hands on the hardware. It was

discovery time. Four work stations were created by grouping four

sets of student desks into a square. Each station had a lunch tray

and a plastic container filled with many different items – plastic

Construction site bar magnet. Opposite magnetic poles attract.

“I learned the biggest magnet is the earth. And there’s two poles on the magnet.”

-McClelland Student

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beads, a piece of steel chain, a golf ball, wooden biscuits, several

coins, brass fittings, steel nuts and washer, paperclips, wooden

knob and a large nail. The students were assigned to one of the

four stations and they took turns with a magnet, separating the

items in the container into two pockets of the lunch tray as to

magnetic or non-magnetic. They continued this until every

student had completed the task.

Two visual effects using the magnets really amazed the students.

A laboratory magnetic stirrer was used to demonstrate the coupling

between magnets, one in the stirrer base and the other in the Teflon

stirrer in the beaker, and with a high enough spin-rate, the students

were able to create a “tornado” right in the classroom. Every student

was allowed to operate the stirrer and create their own tornado.

The second visual effect was pure magnet magic to the students.

The high strength neodymium magnets, while not attracted to

copper tubing, will induce an eddy current in the tubing, often

called Lenz’s Law, producing an opposing magnetic field to that

of the magnet. When the magnet is dropped into the opening of

the 12-inch tube, the magnet drifts down the tube and drops from

the bottom end in approximately four seconds while freefall from

this height in open air is less than one-half second. The students

would drop the magnets into the opening and watch it drift down

the length of the tube doing it again and again and again. One

student spent most of his free exploration time dropping and

timing the magnet drift rate.

Reveal lines of magnetic flux.

A Jr. Scientist with her “tornado”.

Initial engagement to determine what is magnetic and what is not.

Changed the color and now turning on the stirrer.



The topic of electromagnetism was presented as an initial foray

into the science of electric power and it was tied to something that

most of the students had seen on television, the electromagnet

attached to the crane in an auto salvage yard. The explanation was

kept very simple, staying away from turns ratios and left-hand-

rule for coils. It was enough that they grasped the connection

between completing the power circuit and the coils ability to

attract paperclips from the end of the iron (steel) core.

The creativity of this group was wonderful. Several of the

students devised a game pitting the ability of the large area

construction debris pickup magnet against the smaller, but more

powerful, high strength wand style machinist magnets. One

student would collect the paperclips then broadcast them across

the padded activity floor area then the student with the large

magnet raced the other two to see who gets the most paperclips.

This game was created entirely by the students themselves with

no adult input.

Now back to our earlier challenge of removing the high

strength magnet from the iron block. One of the students

figured out that sliding the magnet, albeit with some effort, to

the edge of the block, allowed the magnet to be removed from

the block.

Eddy current magnetic effects on magnet. Timing the drift of the magnet through the tube.

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4243 Metrologist 2015_4139 Metrologist 2015 6/16/15 10:23 AM Page 1



She told two friends who told two friends and by the end of

the event, every student was able to remove the magnet. The

metrology ambassador came prepared with two dozen “Wooly

Willy” magnet toys and every student and the teachers received

one of the toys to remind them of their day being drawn to

magnets and magnetism.

[email protected]

William Hinton

NextEra Energy Retiree and Owner of Hinton Technical Services, LLC

in Rochester, NH. An NCSLI member since1996, Hinton is a past

NCSLI Board Member currently engaged in writing NCSLI documents

and is a New Hampshire statewide Metrology Ambassador.

Sliding the rare-earth magnet to the edge for removal.

Electric power converted to magnetic attraction. Peer says “Push it with the bottom of your hand.”

Connecting the batteries to the coil assembly.

REFERENCES1. Governor Hassan’s Statement on the STEM Task Force Report,

Communications Office, January 13, 2015

http://governor.nh.gov/media/news/2015/pr-2015-01-13-stem.htm

2. Neodymium Magnets (aka Rare-Earth Magnets)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet

3. Lenz’s Law and Neodymium magnets.

http://www.education.com/science-fair/article/copper-magnetic-affect-falling-magnet/

“I like sins [science] you did a good job teaching us Mr. Hinton.”

-McClelland Student

internationalnews

By Dr. Patrick Rourke and Dr. Andrew ToddNational Research Council of Canada (NRC)

Primary Thermometry at NRC

In the coming years, the Système

international d’unités (SI) base unit of

temperature, the kelvin, will be redefined

from its current definition, which is based

on the triple point of water, in terms of

the SI derived unit of energy, the joule, via

a fixed value of the Boltzmann constant.

With this upcoming redefinition and the

further possibility of a new or revised

temperature scale, there is an increased

need to know not only the temperature

as approximated using the International

Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) but also

the true thermodynamic temperature.

At the National Research Council of

Canada (NRC) we have been pursuing two

primary thermometry methods to measure

thermodynamic temperature, T, and its

difference from temperature as defined by

the ITS-90, T90. Below 300 K, microwave

refractive index gas thermometry (RIGT)

is being developed and above 1300 K

absolute radiation thermometry is the

method of choice.

To measure T below 300 K, we use

light at GHz microwave frequencies to

do RIGT in a hollow copper resonating

cavity with microwave antennas mounted

in the walls. The interior of the cavity is

machined to be an almost perfect sphere,

but slightly elongated in two axes so

that each microwave resonance mode is

split into a set of three resonance peaks. The

frequencies of the resonance peaks are set by

the size and shape of the cavity, combined

with the speed of light inside the cavity.

The microwave resonances are measured

using a vector network analyzer with

its time-base frequency reference signal

provided directly by a cesium frequency

standard that is a part of the NRC

clock ensemble. The use of the cesium

frequency standard gives traceability to

the SI second, and eliminates the need

for regular network analyzer time-base

calibration. The network analyzer allows

the microwave resonance frequencies

Dr. Patrick Rourke with the NRC refractive index gas thermometry (RIGT) apparatus for measuring thermodynamic temperature below 300 K. The NRC copper resonating cavity can be seen at left, hanging beneath the cryogen-free pulse-tube cryocooler, while the microwave resonance peaks of this resonating cavity are shown on the network analyzer screen in the background.


of the copper resonating cavity to be measured with parts per

billion accuracy.

When the RIGT system is operated in vacuum, the speed of light is

a universal constant, so the microwave resonance frequencies allow

precise measurements of the size and shape of the cavity1. Putting

helium gas into the resonator at a carefully-controlled pressure

refracts the microwaves, like light through a prism, changing the

speed of light and shifting the frequencies of the resonance peaks.

By measuring these frequency shifts and combining the data with

quantum mechanical calculations of the properties of helium, the

refractive index and density of the helium gas are measured. Then

the thermodynamic temperature of the gas is obtained from the

gas density by using the ideal gas law PV = nRT (and corrections)

and pressure measurements traceable to the SI. Since the molar gas

constant, R, is equal to the product of the Boltzmann constant and

the Avogadro constant, there is a direct link to the new Boltzmann-

constant-based definition of the kelvin.

The resonator’s ITS-90 temperature, T90, is monitored continu-

ously during the microwave measurements using a capsule stan-

dard platinum resistance thermometer (CSPRT) that has been

calibrated in NRC’s adiabatic cryogenic fixed point facility. This ar-

rangement enables direct, real-time comparison of T and T90. The

resonator and gas pressure vessel are mounted on a cryogen-free

pulse-tube cryocooler, which allows the resonator’s temperature to

be precisely controlled between 300 K and 5 K.

The measurement of T above 1300 K is achieved using a silicon de-

tector-based radiation thermometer that has been calibrated traceable

to the watt and the meter using a high temperature blackbody and

a filter radiometer. The radiation thermometer and the filter radiom-

eter detect light in the visible part of the spectrum (650 nm, which

is red). The amount of light detected at this wavelength changes as

the temperature changes according to Planck’s law of radiation. This

allows a change in temperature to be equated to a change in signal

as measured by the radiation thermometer or filter radiometer. Trace-

ability to the watt is achieved by using an absolute standard for opti-

cal power: an electrical substitution radiometer which can determine

the power in a beam of light by measuring the equivalent amount of

electrical power (which can be measured very accurately). Traceability

to the meter is achieved through two apertures with known areas

separated by a distance that has been determined by a gauge bar. Both

the aperture areas and the gauge bar length have been calibrated with

traceability to NRC length standards.

Close-up of the NRC refractive index gas thermometry (RIGT) copper resonating cavity.

Dr. Patrick Rourke adjusting the microwave antennas and connections to the NRC copper resonating cavity for use in refractive index gas thermometry (RIGT).

Putting helium gas into the resonator at a carefully-controlled pressure refracts the microwaves, like light through a prism,

changing the speed of light and shifting the frequencies of the resonance peaks.

1 P.M.C. Rourke and K.D. Hill, Progress Toward Development of Low Temperature Microwave Refractive Index Gas Thermometry at NRC, International Journal of Thermophysics 36, 205 (2015).

internationalnews


internationalnews

With the geometry and the optical power measurements

made with traceability to the SI, T of a suitable source, usually a

blackbody, can be measured. This method of realizing temperature

can provide the most accurate measurements of T but, because

it requires regular calibration of the filter radiometer using

an electrical substitution radiometer and is very sensitive to

alignment, it is more practical to use a method based on the

(temperature invariant) phase transitions of materials – generally

referred to in thermometry as fixed points. Additionally, the

radiation thermometer has been calibrated to measure T90 using

the freezing point of copper and knowledge about the spectral

transmittance of its filter and other optical components.

NRC has recently participated in an international collaborative

research project to determine, with the lowest possible

uncertainties, the melting transitions of the metal-carbon eutectic

fixed points of Re-C (2748 K), Pt-C (2011 K), Co-C (1597 K), and

the freezing point of Cu (1358 K)2. In this work, NRC, along with

eight other leading national metrology institutes, measured the

phase transitions of these high temperature fixed points using the

absolute method described above. Using this primary thermometry

technique, the phase transition thermodynamic temperatures

have been determined and will be used as more practical

temperature reference points, either to realize thermodynamic

temperature directly, or, as part of a set of defining points in a

future temperature scale.

Both of these methods use light – microwaves in the temperature

range from 5 K to 300 K and visible light in the temperature

range above 1300 K – to measure thermodynamic temperature.

These measurements of T and comparisons to T90 will enable

temperature measurements with better connection to temperature

as it will be implemented once the kelvin is redefined in terms

of the Boltzmann constant and ensure a smooth transition from

ITS-90 to any future temperature scale.

Contact:

Dr. Patrick Rourke

[email protected](refractive index gas thermometry)

Dr. Andrew Todd

[email protected](radiation thermometry)

Mr. Donald Woods aligning the apertures for the filter radiometer using a gauge bar.

NRC thermodynamic temperature (above 1300 K) measurement setup including the high temperature blackbody, the radiation thermometer, and a filter radiometer.

2 E.R. Woolliams et. al, Thermodynamic temperature assignment to the point of inflection of the melting curve of high temperature fixed points, Accepted in Philosophical Transactions A.


Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements

This biennial conference is the premier international forum for the exchange of information on precision electromagnetic measurements.

JULY 10-15, 2016OTTAWA, CANADA

www.cpem2016.com Hosted by the National Research Council Canada

2170_CPEM_ad_8.375X10.875_e_v1_HR.pdf 1 2015-01-22 8:43 AM

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Toward aMeasurementInformationInfrastructure Smart Certificates, Part 2

By Mark KusterPantex Metrology, Contributing Editor

Greetings once again, Colleagues. Our last installment considered the information that test or calibration certificates supply, the functions they serve, and the ways we currently (manually) use them in our business. Based on that, we mapped out a high-level MII certificate data model that would facilitate automating our certificate-related business and technical processes and reap the rewards thereof. This installment finishes that model sketch.



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Map ReviewWe left off with a fairly comprehensive data model that captured the

certificate’s administrative information: organization identifiers,

accreditation info, dates, signatures, amendments and the like. We

also included some basic technical information on environmental

conditions and mentioned ways to generate the human-readable

version with graphics and adapt to the local language. Without the

next lower level detail, the model looked like:

Certificate

• System Identifier• Customer Identifier• Measuring Entity• Service• Accreditation (optional)• Qualification• Environmental Conditions• Measuring Instrument 1 Results• Measuring Instrument 2 Results ⋮

• Measuring Instrument NI Results• Locale-Language• Human-Readable Document• Visual Aids Script

To a reasonable level, we then detailed everything except one

important missing piece, namely the calibration or test results

themselves, without which the certificate has no purpose. Notice

that the top-level certificate structure includes Measuring Instrument

Results for any number, NI, of instruments since we may calibrate

or test a measuring system comprising several separate instruments

(or just one). So a given certificate may simply repeat the Measuring

Instrument Results structure as required, each instance with its own

detailed data. Let’s hike down that path now.

A Measured PaceAs previously discussed, the three main MII vehicles (certificates,

spec sheets and accreditation scopes) should carry measurement

information in a standardized format so that software may

fully leverage it, transform it, and seamlessly pass it along. For

example, we would like MII instrument specifications to describe

an instrument’s designed performance parameters in such a way

that MII software may link measurement results to each function

and range of interest to create an MII certificate, and draw from

measurement standards’ MII spec sheets to derive the certificate’s

uncertainties. Similarly, other MII software will want to compare

certification results with accreditation scopes and instrument

specs. Only our imaginations and logistics will limit an MII’s

utility. The data itself will travel back and forth from document

to document and organization to organization, with each step

adding some further value. As Dave Wiseman, a former metrology

technician, enjoyed quoting, “Round and round she1 goes; where

she stops, nobody knows.”

Based on that certificate-spec sheet-accreditation scope synergy,

we therefore begin the Measurement Results structure by describing

and identifying the object of interest as we did for the instrument

specifications and accreditation scopes. So, taking another look at

identifiers, we have:

System or Instrument Identifier (revised)

• Make-Model Unique ID (UUID2, hash, URL3, DOI4, etc.)• UUT Specific Unique ID• UUT Serial Number• Lab-Assigned ID• Owner-Assigned ID

Function or Range Identifier

• Unique ID

The identifier structures uniquely identify the instrument features

to which the measurement results apply via the make-model specific

Instrument, Function and Range Unique IDs and the unit-specific

Unique ID along with its (newly added) Serial Number and the human-

readable ID numbers the laboratory and the owner assign. The latter

two elements strictly interest humans viewing the instrument; the

machine-readable Unique IDs serve any MII software comparing or

processing specified, certified and accredited measurements. In time,

we might even imagine measuring instruments connected to the

Internet of Things or otherwise having embedded Unique IDs and

thus obviating the human-readable ID labels. National Instruments

recently began exploring similar ideas for its products.

We revised the System Identifier structure covered in the previous

article in order to remove redundant information already contained

in another document, the instrument nomenclature in this case, and

did likewise for the Function and Range Identifiers. We will continue

that strategy as we go. However, a human-readable certificate may

well want to show tolerances, nomenclature, etc. from the spec sheet

so an actual MII certificate implementation might in fact duplicate

the spec sheet information as a self-contained one-stop reference,

or it might link to the relevant MII documents hosted on the Web

as indicated here, or package a copy of those documents with the

certificate delivered to the user. Either case would require transparency

and unique identification of the spec sheet version used.

Continuing down the trail, we build a multi-level Measurement

Results structure that further mirrors the instrument specs and

accreditation scope structures:

Measuring Instrument Results

• Instrument Identifier• Measuring Function 1 Results• Measuring Function 2 Results ⋮

• Measuring Function NF Results

Measuring Function Results

• Function Identifier• Quantity Kind

1 The wheel spun to determine the contestants’ performance order in the 1930s radio show “The Original Amateur Hour”

2 Universally unique identifier3 Universal resource locator4 Digital object identifier

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• Range 1 Results• Range 2 Results ⋮

• Range NR Results

Measuring Range Results

• Range Identifier• Results Descriptor• Measurement Result 1• Measurement Result 2 ⋮

• Measurement Result Nm

This layout organizes one or more test point results

(Measurement Results per the VIM5) by Range, groups Ranges into

Functions, and Functions under Instruments; though with the

various identifiers, an actual file format may or may not store the

data hierarchically. The Results Descriptor would comprise ordinal

values representing defined qualifiers: As-Found (pre-adjustment),

As-Left (post adjustment), and perhaps others.

Now we have a semantic structure but still no actual

measurement results other than the placeholders. So extending

our VIM terminology usage, we drill down as follows:

Measurement Result

• Measured Quantity• Influence or Input Quantity 1• Influence or Input Quantity 2 ⋮

• Influence or Input Quantity Nq

• Measurement Uncertainty

Quantity

• Quantity Symbol• Nominal Quantity Value• Reference Quantity Value• Measured Quantity Value

The MII certificate then contains all the Measurement Results and

each one relates back through its Range Identifier to the corresponding

measurand in the instrument spec sheet, where we find the primary,

influence, and input quantity definitions identified by their Quantity

Symbol and all the other required information to properly qualify the

measurand. Refer back to the April 2014 installment for more detail

or download the model from the MII Community page at www.ncsli.

org. Each Quantity indicates its nominal, reference, and measured

values, from which we may calculate the measurement bias as the

Measured Value minus the Reference Value.

That does it. Or does it?

Tracing StepsThe observant reader will have noticed that each Measurement

Result contains a Measurement Uncertainty element that we have

not yet covered, without which we have neither a Measurement

Result nor traceability. At this point we have many divergent

options corresponding to the various uncertainty expression

guides: GUF6, GUM S17, current derivative works, and future

variations and potential enhancements. An MII certificate model

might define a default model structure and alternates to handle

any or all options. We noted early on in this column that we would

like an extensible MII document format and that various existing

technologies, such as XML8, support that, so it would suffice to

develop data models for the most commonly travelled roads and

add alternatives as desired in the future.

Since each measurement result in the certificate has an

uncertainty data element, perhaps the simplest option (01) would

just capture the routinely reported uncertainty information in a

single measurement result context:

Measurement Uncertainty Opt01

• Uncertainty Value• DOF• Report Coverage Probability

Uncertainty Value represents the combined “standard”

uncertainty, DOF the effective degrees of freedom, Report Coverage

Probability the value MII software would use for calculating

a coverage interval or “expanded” uncertainty to report on the

human-readable document. MII software would consider a valid

finite DOF entry to indicate a t-distribution and reduce that to a

normal distribution if given infinite DOF.

Option 01 excludes GUM S1 results but would otherwise handle

the vast majority of certificates as generated today. Why? Because

contrary to GUM guidance, most certificates today do not report

correlations between multiple measurement results. The MII would

overcome that humanly convenient shortcut because the extra infor-

mation presents no significant burden or confusion when automati-

cally generated, transmitted, and consumed. So, let’s add correlations:

Correlation List

• Correlation 1• Correlation 2 ⋮

• Correlation Nc

Correlation

• Instrument Identifier 1• Function Identifier 1• Range Identifier 1• Quantity Symbol 1• Instrument Identifier 2• Function Identifier 2• Range Identifier 2• Correlation Coefficient

With this structure, MII software may report and use the

correlations between any two measurement results at will. Using


5 International Vocabulary of Metrology6 GUM uncertainty framework—the GUM and its Supplement 2 extension to

multiple output quantities

7 GUM Supplement 1—uncertainty propagation via Monte Carlo methods8 eXtensible markup language


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MII certificates and the GUF, MII software would seamlessly pass

correlation down the traceability chain. For space efficiency, only

non-zero correlations would appear in the list. Since the correlations

apply system-wide we would place the Correlation List element in

the MII certificate’s top level after the Measurement Results.

JCGM9 published GUM S1 some time ago (2008), so we assume

metrologists use it often enough to want the first MII certificate

model to handle it also. In that case, an Option 02 structure might

simply carry a histogram:

Measurement Uncertainty Opt02

• Bucket 1• Bucket 2 ⋮

• Bucket Nb

Bucket

• Quantity Value• Relative Frequency

Option 02 encapsulates the measurement error distribution

in a step function form, from which MII software may derive

coverage intervals or use as inputs into uncertainty analyses in

succeeding traceability steps. In the limit, each “bucket” might

simplify to a single sample from the Monte Carlo procedure

though that would drive file sizes higher.

Other perhaps more attractive options exist. UncertML10

captures uncertainty in the form of statistics, data samples, or

probability. Options 01 and 02, with or without correlations,

irretrievably collapse information from previous traceability steps

just as current human-readable certificates do, a deficiency we

have previously mentioned. At least two other traceability options

might solve that problem by retaining all traceability information

accumulated in MII certificates from SI unit realizations down to

the certificate at hand: Vector uncertainty analysis as described in

“Metrology: Standardize and Automate!”11 or the METAS12 UncLib

uncertainty storage and propagation format.

What of uncertainty budgets, distributions, sensitivity

coefficients and Type A-B designators? The vector uncertainty

and METAS methods inherently capture the information

required for uncertainty budgets and so MII software would

easily generate budgets for human-readable certificates or other

documents. Options 01 and 02 would require that our model add

similar information.

Finally, as we discussed in the January 2014 installment,

instrument models fitted to calibration data would allow the

measuring system owner to compute a correction and uncertainty

at any measurement point in the system’s measurement space

without recourse to or concern for instrument MPEs13. The

instrument spec sheet would define the measurement model or

measurement function and calibration would determine the

parameter values. The MII instrument specs data model allows a

measurement model at all hierarchy levels (system, instrument,

function, range) as appropriate, so we complete the concept by

allowing a Correction Model at any level in the MII certificate:

Correction

• Parameter Quantity 1• Parameter Quantity 2 ⋮

• Parameter Quantity Nq

The resulting correction may then range from a simple additive

constant, a multiplicative factor, a regression, or anything else

resulting from an interpretable equation or coded algorithm of

any complexity. See the MII instrument specification model for

more information. A computation engine similar to Dr. Blair Hall’s

GUM Tree Calculator (GTC) would handle the algorithmic option,

interpreting and executing the spec sheet’s code to propagate

the calibration measurement results to the measuring system’s

measurement results during use.

Given the computing power already present in some measuring

systems, the instrument itself might implement its own model and

store its own MII certificate. It might then correct its outputs (long

ago done in many instruments via internally stored correction

parameters), indicate its measurement uncertainty, and estimate its

measurement reliability in order to determine its own calibration

due date. This scheme would work similar to TEDS14 but with full

MII compatibility.

Marching OnwardThat takes care of smart certificates for now. A bit of information

overload but thankfully, standards and software would part the

trees so we may view the important scenery. The certificate model

does not explicitly contain some information that certificates

might report, such as those related to verification or conformance

testing. Instead, the Measuring Entity’s (lab’s) and the customer’s

MII software would report or calculate coverage factors, in-tolerance

indicators, guardbands, MPEs, decision rules and such from the

other certificate information and the UUT’s15 MII spec sheet.

Once someone begins testing this model with a variety

of example certificates we will no doubt find a few things

to tweak or add, but we’ll worry about that then. In the

meantime we have plenty of other subjects to address, like

the advantages and disadvantages of particular data formats

for storing MII data, mechanisms like web services for

automated MII data exchange, and ontology frameworks for

standardizing terminology.

We hope you enjoyed the NCSLI Workshop & Symposium in

Grapevine, Texas. The tutorials, technical program, committees and

exhibitors all proved valuable and worthwhile. As we look forward to

the Tech Exchange in Jacksonville, please email us your MII ideas or

post them on the MII community discussion forum or wiki at www.

ncsli.org and then Committees | Communities | MII from the menus.

[email protected] Joint Committee for Guides in Metrology10 Uncertainty markup language (October 2014)11 Cal Lab, April 201312 The Swiss national metrology institute

13 Maximum permissible errors14 Transducer Electronic Data Sheet (See the October 2014 installment.)15 Unit under test

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specialfeature

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the use of

Technical Report NEI 14-05, “GUIDELINES FOR THE USE

OF ACCREDITATION IN LIEU OF COMMERCIAL GRADE

SURVEYS FOR PROCUREMENT OF LABORATORY CALIBRATION

AND TEST SERVICES,” REVISION 1. Nuclear facilities and suppliers

in the US that are subject to the quality assurance requirements of

10CFR50, Appendix B may use laboratory accreditation as a basis

for approving calibration and testing laboratories as part of the

commercial grade dedication process. Under the guidance of NEI

14-05, calibration and test laboratories can be utilized based on

their accreditation without the need to perform a commercial

grade survey provided the Accreditation Body (AB) is a signatory

to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC)

Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). This major change does

include testing and accreditations by national and international

AB’s. Previous to this change the NRC limited the use of calibration

laboratories accredited by 6 of the US based AB’s A2LA, NVLAP,

IAS, L-A-B, ACLASS and PJLA.

This is a major milestone for accreditation and measurement

science moving the world closer to “tested once accepted

everywhere.”

For more information go the NRC website. http://www.nrc.gov/

reactors/new-reactors/oversight/quality-assurance/qual-assure-

safety.html

Comments: Richard Timmons, President Guildline Instruments a Canadian companyThe NRC SER for NEI 14-05, allowing use of domestic and

international labs accredited by signatories to ILAC MRA, is an

important ruling for the Nuclear Power industry and for ISO/IEC

17025 Accredited Labs like Guildline Instruments. This ruling

provides US nuclear customers access to a wider range of ISO/IEC

17025 Accredited Labs, potentially improving their measurement

capabilities. It will also reduce operating and maintenance

costs associated with NUPIC (i.e. Nuclear Procurement Issues

Committee) Supplier Audits and Surveys. Non-domestic ISO/IEC

17025 Accredited Labs, like Guildline, can now offer services to

a wider range of US based nuclear customers. This ruling also

provides material cost savings to non-domestic ISO/IEC 17025

Accredited Labs. For example prior to this ruling Guildline typically

undertook one or two NUPIC Supplier Audits/Surveys each year in

addition to an annual ISO/IEC 17025 Reassessment and Renewal

of Accreditation. I would also like to thank the NCSLI Utility

Committee which I feel was instrumental in this NRC ruling.

Comments: Peter Unger, ILAC Chair and A2LA President and CEOILAC is very pleased to have its peer evaluation and recognition

process for accreditation bodies accepted by the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission. The due diligence exercised by the Nuclear Energy

Institute (NEI) on behalf of NRC to provide the justification for

this acceptance was really appreciated. NEI personnel witnessed

the peer evaluations of a few accreditation bodies and the decision

process carried out by ILAC’s recognized regional cooperation,

the Asia-Pacific Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation. NEI is an

ILAC stakeholder member of ILAC and intends to monitor ILAC

for continual improvement and ongoing that internationally

recognized accreditation can be trusted.

Comments: Nick Serafin, Quality Manager Consumers Energy Laboratory ServicesKnowing from personal experience the scrutiny that comes

from an assessment to ISO/IEC 17025, we are confident that this

expansion of acceptance by the NRC will provide a broader base

of competent vendors to meet the needs of our laboratory as we

provide calibration and testing services to our clients.

Comments: Jeff Russell, National Research Council Canada, Calibration Laboratory Assessment Service (NRC-CLAS)CLAS is very pleased that Canadian accredited calibration

laboratories have been recognized by the Nuclear Regulatory

Commission. This is an important step for recognition of labs

accredited under the ILAC MRA. Canadian labs will benefit from

increased international opportunities. US nuclear facilities will benefit

from access to labs accredited by Canadian accreditation bodies.

By Robert Sawyer and Georgette Macdonald

A MAJOR MILESTONEfor Accreditation

NCSL INTERNATIONAL | ncsli.org5766 Central Avenue, Suite 150 | Boulder, CO 80301 | (303) 440-3339 | [email protected]

2016 NCSLI WORKSHOP & SYMPOSIUM

JULY 24–28, 2016Saint Paul RiverCentre Saint Paul, Minnesota

2016 CALL FOR PAPERS


CALL FOR [email protected]

EXHIBIT [email protected]

SPONSORSHIP [email protected]

ADVERTISING [email protected]

GENERAL REQUIREMENTSAbstracts are required for all proposed papers, panels and workshops.

ABSTRACT REQUIREMENTS AND DEADLINEAbstracts must be 350 words or less and be submitted electronically using the NCSLI Abstract Management System on the NCSLI website no later than December 1, 2015. Submitters may edit and track their abstract using the NCSLI Abstract Management System. Speakers will return to this page to upload their manuscripts once accepted.

ABSTRACT ACCEPTANCE DATESpeakers will be notified on or before December 30, 2015 if their abstract has been accepted. Once abstracts are selected for the NCSLI Technical Program, authors will be provided manuscript instructions.

MANUSCRIPT REQUIREMENTS AND DEADLINEAll manuscripts must be uploaded by March 17, 2016. All papers received by the manuscript deadline will be included in the NCSLI Conference Proceedings CD.

SPEAKER DISCOUNTS • All speakers who upload their abstract by the December 1, 2015 deadline (and are accepted) will receive a $150 discount o� of registration. • All speakers who upload their manuscript by the March 17, 2016 deadline will receive a $350 discount o� of registration. • All deadlines must be met to receive the speaker registration discount of $500.

BEST PAPER AWARDSA Best Paper Award will be presented in each track. The overall Best Conference Paper will then be awarded to the paper which receives the overall highest point total. To be considered for the Best Paper Award, all deadlines must be met.

The NCSL International 2016 Workshop & Symposium theme is Measurement Accuracy and the Impact on Society. Measurements in science are important because they are used to express results and make conclusions for just about everything; therefore accuracy is crucial. Even the slightest error in measurement can render impractical data.

Accurate measurements not only impact us through technological innovations, but also through other aspects of our lives. For example, accurate measurements are needed as they ensure that the weight and volume of goods sold in the market are correct, thus maintaining a fair playing field between competitive buyers and sellers.

Please consider sharing your metrological experiences regarding Measurement Accuracy and the Impact on Society.


By Professor Andrew WallardDirector Emeritus, International Bureau of Weights and Measures

The metrology world was deeply saddened to hear of the death of Seton Bennett on 14 September. He had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and coped bravely and with innate fortitude as the illness took a hold.

It is impossible to fit Seton into a single category as he was not only an excellent scientist with numerous papers and innovations to his name but he took part in, and led, a multitude of international activities with flair, distinc-tion, infectious charm, and ent husiasm. The ability to bridge the gap between researcher and “manager” is not a skill always relished and mastered by many but Seton took to it naturally. Unlike many whose career took a turn like this, he always maintained a deep understanding of, and love for, his science and brought it into management matters. I was present on many an occasion when his quietly spoken and courteous inter-vention in a meeting hit the nail on the head and led to a more sound scientific and administrative decision.

A f t e r l e av i n g O x fo rd University, Seton started life as a laser and optical physics scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, joining just a year before I did. He imme-diately showed that he had the skill to marry physics and engineering, and many of his innovations changed, quite dramatically, the ability to make precise measurements. Seton’s diplomatic skills were called on early in life as he persuaded tradi-tional metrologists to adopt “new fangled” techniques. There are several instruments at the NPL and in metrology labs world-wide that were developed from the principles that he intro-duced. Automated measurements and data processing speeded up processes and replaced subjective judgements with objective,

physical-based techniques. At that time, many of us were devel-oping laser-based wavelength length standards that were even-tually used to replace the kryton lamp realisation of the metre. I was developing the NPL’s red Helium Neon laser but, typically, Seton saw an alternative approach which took him, for a year,

to work at the Labratoire de l’Horloge Atomique in Orsay, France where he developed the first wavelength stabi-lized Helium-Neon laser, which used the saturated absorption technique, in the green region of the spectrum. It immediately had a practical application as it was more powerful than the red laser on which the realisation of the redefined metre was even-tually based, and therefore more suited to Seton’s activi-ties in engineering metrology. Nevertheless, his scientific paper on green lasers, is still — 30 or more years later — part of the official “mise en pratique” of length and wavelength standards.

Returning to the NPL, Seton was asked to take on t he management of t h e L a b o r a t o r y ’ s n e w researc h prog ramme on micrometrolgy and, building

on his specroscopic and laser experience, he also set up what is now NPL’s world-leading team in the use of trapped ions as wave-length and frequency standards. His skills were much in demand and he then took on the leadership role of one of the NPL’s largest teams devoted to mass, force and pressure research and routine calibration services. Part of this was the design and oper-ation of the NPL’s new kilogram balance and Seton’s practical eye focused on the need to investigate the surface properties of the kilogram standards using surface analysis. This continues to play a major role in the understanding and maintenance of mass standards and is something that is now of immense importance

A TRIBUTE TODR. SETON BENNETT

(1945 – 2015)

IN MEMORIAM


internationalnews

as we plan for a new kilogram definition and its realisation.Then he took his first step into a major national manage-

ment role when he was invited to become the Deputy Director and, subsequently, the Director and Chief Executive of the UK’s National Weights and Measures Laboratory. With practical and engineering metrology at its heart, Seton took to it like a duck to water and his increasingly acknowledged managerial and diplomatic skills saw him take on the UK’s leadership of negotiations on a variety of Directives and Regulations from the European Union as well as the International Organization of Legal Metrology where he became a member of its International Committee as well as its Presidential Council. His reputation as an international leader was, by now, well established, and he chaired WELMEC, the European Association of cooperation on legal metrology where he worked closely, and highly effectively, with the European Commission as well as national authorities. This was to stand him in good stead for future challenges.It was hardly a surprise, then, with this multitude of experi-ence to offer, that he became NPL’s Deputy Director and Director of Inter national Metrology. This appointment coincided with the rapid devel-opment of the grouping of European National Metrology Institutes, EUROMET, into EURAMET and a partnership with the European Commis-sion which led to the launch of a large collaborative research p r o g r a m m e b e t we e n t h e National Metrology Institutes. Welding together the European labs into a single, goal-driven, European Metrology Research Programme or EMRP, was tricky but Seton’s role was crucial. Throughout his career he had a knack for understanding people as well as the motiva-tions of organisations. This was never more important than in the EMRP. To succeed, he had to give everyone, not just the larger research based labs, a slice of the attractive and appetising cake. His trick was that he recognised the qualities and competences of many of the Directors and staff of the smaller labs and giving them leadership and responsibility in EMRP which helped to cement them all into a common programme in which all saw, and enjoyed, the benefits. I have seen a comment from another good friend of NCSLI, Andy Henson, then part of Seton’s team and himself a major factor in initiating the Programme. It epitomises Seton: “Seton was an excellent boss and a real gentleman. Under his wise guidance... the initiative transformed measurement research in Europe.”

He was, rightly, and worthily, recognised through his election to the world’s top metrology committee — the International Committee of Weights and Measures, where he led an important study into traceable metrology in materials science. Nationally, he became a Member of the UK’s Worshipful Company of Scien-tific Instrument Makers — one of the famous livery companies of the City of London and was just about to become its Master when his illness struck. The Company elected him as Master Emeritus and through its activities he was able to enjoy one of his great loves — the history and tradition of science, and metrology in particular. He was also a Fellow and Council Member of the Institute of Physics, and Member of the small, but elite, Physical Society of London. Her Majesty the Queen recognised his work by appointing him a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2006.

Seton was greatly in demand to join a range of national and international committees, including regular attendance at

NCSLI. All wanted him for his metrological and managerial knowledge but, equally if not more importantly, his people skills. It’s impossible to list all he achieved but in all he did, he brought courtesy, modesty, wise advice, respect, and, of course, sound scientific knowl-edge. Seton was never a “flashy” person and never r uffled feathers. He succeeded by quiet persuasion, good sense, and a gift for understanding people and cultures. He could fit in wherever he went and was a much sought after, and entertaining, dinner and social companion. His influence was widespread and I suspect that he didn’t know how persuasive and highly regarded he was.

There were other sides: a marathon runner; a strong c hurc hman; a Chair and Trustee of at least two Christian

charities; and a family man with strong ethics.Seton had so much more to give. He hardly had time to enjoy

a retirement in which he was looking forward to spending more time with his wife Lesley, who helped care for him in his illness, and his two sons Tom and Adam of whom he was so proud. He set us an example of a good man who was a privilege and pleasure to know and count as a friend.

In creating this short but inadequate note, I am gratefulfor help and contributions from Peter Clapham,

Jonathan Williams, and numerous friends and colleagues from the NPL and the BIPM networks.

It is impossible to fit Seton into a single category as he was

not only an excellent scientist with numerous papers and innovations

to his name but he took part in, and led, a

multitude of international activities with flair,

distinction, infectious charm, and enthusiasm.


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People & EURAMET

EURAMET is delighted to announce that Dr Beat Jeckelmann, the Delegate of METAS (the Federal Institute of Metrology of Switzerland), has taken over the position of EURAMET Chairperson. He was elected by the General Assembly in 2014 and started his three year term in June 2015.

EURAMET: Beat, what is your vision for

EURAMET during your term and what are

the biggest challenges?

Beat: My vision is that the Metrology Re-

search Programmes (EMRP and EMPIR)

bring us closer to sustainable, coordinat-

ed and integrated metrology research in

Europe. This is a prerequisite to meet the

challenges lying ahead of us. Coordinated

research is the basis for the development of

a coordinated metrology landscape which

will naturally lead to distributed centres

of excellence for metrological services and

expertise. It is also equally important to

support the EURAMET members and asso-

ciates in the development of an appropriate

metrology infrastructure in their countries

and to support especially new and evolving

National Metrology Institutes (NMIs).

EURAMET: What is, in your view, the

importance of metrology?

Beat: Lord Kelvin is quoted as saying

“If you cannot measure it, you cannot

improve it”. Metrology is an essential tool

for scientific research and development and

for technological innovation. It underpins

modern industrial competitiveness and

supports the development of new products

and processes. Accepted measurements and

standards are essential for global trade and

regulations. In summary, metrology is an

indispensable part of the foundation of a

modern state. Sometimes the importance

of metrology is not fully recognized by the

public and by policy makers. It is, thus, a

priority for EURAMET to make the benefits

of metrology better known.

EURAMET: What are you most excited

about and looking forward to in your term?

Beat: EURAMET membership spans the

whole continent. The diversity of cultures

is huge, as is the range of capabilities and

development status of the NMIs. It is a

challenge but at the same time a great

enrichment to work in such an environment.

I am looking forward to working with many

highly committed colleagues and to spread

the word about metrology throughout our

stakeholder groups. With our metrology

research programmes we have a unique

opportunity to fundamentally change the

metrology landscape in Europe and this is

very exciting.

EURAMET: Being EURAMET’s Chairperson

in addition to your role as Chief Science

Officer of METAS is a challenging task. How

do you find a personal balance?

Beat: It is very important to be well organized

and to have good collaborators. I can count

on a dedicated team of professionals in the

EURAMET Secretariat and the MSU who

do all the operational work. In my private

life, I am fortunate to live in a beautiful

area. I enjoy my free time with my family:

cooking, gardening and hiking give a good

balance to the professional activities.

Euramet’s new Chairperson: Beat Jeckelmann from Switzerland

About BeatIn his early career Beat studied physics at the University of Fribourg in Switzer-land and having obtained a PhD in ex-perimental particle physics he worked at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA. Beat joined the Electricity Sector of ME-TAS in 1989 and became Head of the department in 1999. Since 2011 to the present he has had the role of Chief Science Officer and member of the ex-tended management board where he is responsible for the research and devel-opment programme of METAS.

Beat has around 25 years’ experience working within the EURAMET com-munity: Beat has been the Chair of the Technical Committee (TC) for Elec-tricity and Magnetism, TC Contact Person and Subcommittee Convenor. He is currently a Representative in the EMRP and EMPIR Committees and the Research Subcommittee and since 2010 has been a Member of EURAMET’s Board of Directors.

Beat is well known on the international circuit, being not only a Swiss represen-tative in the Consultative Committee for Electricity and Magnetism of the Metre Convention but also a technical expert, peer reviewer, referee, speaker and lecturer.


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Highly committed, focused and visionary.

This is how Beat Jeckelmann described,

Kamal Hossain, his predecessor as

EURAMET Chairperson, when taking over

the mandate in June 2015.

Kamal is the International Director at

the National Physical Laboratory (NPL,

United Kingdom) and started his term as

EURAMET Chairperson in 2012.

“I would like to thank EURAMET for

giving me the privilege of being the

Chairperson during one of the busiest

periods of development. I had the chance to

work with the most wonderful set of people,

all talented and with great enthusiasm.

I enjoyed enormously the job and the

challenge. I have every confidence in Beat,

my successor, and I wish him all the best.”

During his term of office Kamal has

been the initiator of crucial strategic

developments and improvements at

EURAMET. He was the main driver behind

EURAMET’s 2020 Strategy, including the

Association’s strategic objectives aimed

at improving the European metrology

infrastructure. Kamal further developed the

close cooperation between the Technical

Committees and the Board of Directors,

two important bodies of EURAMET. He also

facilitated more focussed communication

both externally, between EURAMET and

external associations and stakeholders, and

internally. One of the major achievements

for EURAMET within the past three years

was the launch of the new 600 Million

Euros European Metrology Programme for

Innovation and Research, EMPIR. “Such

major achievements were the result of the

efforts of many people and of excellent

teamwork”, said Kamal.

“With Kamal’s leadership EURAMET was

able to improve its governance and built

new strategic partnerships. We appreciate

Kamal’s effort and engagement. He spent

a lot of his personal time working for the

benefit of the Association. On behalf of

EURAMET I would like to express my

sincerest thanks to Kamal”, says Beat.

As Past-Chairperson Kamal Hossain

remains on the Board of Directors until

June 2016.

“I enjoyed the job and the challenge”Kamal Hossain - EURAMET’s Past-Chairperson

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Liaison Report

NCSL InternationalISO/CASCOWorking Group 44

By Jeff Gust and Tim OsborneNCSLI Liaison Representatives

ISO/IEC 17025 Workshop in Grapevine, Texas (July 24, 2015)Warren Merkel (NVLAP Chief and WG44

co-convener), Jeff Gust (VP Standards &

Practices) and Georgette Macdonald hosted

the ISO/IEC 17025 Workshop at the con-

clusion of the Annual Workshop & Sym-

posium. Approximately 50 people attended

the workshop representing accrediting bod-

ies, calibration laboratories, defense person-

nel, educators, end-users, industry, national

laboratories and testing laboratories. The

objectives of the meeting included: the in-

troduction of the ISO/CASCO process to the

NCSLI members, the education of the mem-

bers on the philosophy behind the structur-

al changes to the document, and the provi-

sion of membership to ask questions about

the document, the review process, its impact

on the community as well as the obligatory

changes and the ISO 9001 options.

The presentation included the following

subjects:

1. History of the Revision & NCSLI

Position Paper

2. Many of the ISO management

system, conformity assessment

and normative references are being

revised (9001, 17025, SI, GUM, VIM,

etc.)

3. Who can participate

4. ISO Standards Development

Ground Rules

5. ISO Standards Development Stages

6. Structure for CASCO documents

7. Common Elements of ISO/CASCO

a. Obligatory language

b. Recommended language

8. How would an AB assess 9001

requirements?

9. Key Points of View of Impact on QMS

for laboratories

a. AB – not designed as an

accreditation standard; cleaner

b. NMI – CIPM/MRA; transfer and

dissemination of traceability; not

applicable for R&D; streamlining

processes

c. OEM – Option B advantageous (ISO

9001 registration/certification);

flexibility in reports; issues with

competitor reporting

d. Labs – concerned with cost of

change

10. When Can I Comment? DIS/FDIS

through P-Member

a. Canada – SCC (Daniel Ethier)

b. USA – ANSI/ICAC Secretariat (Nora

Moudiyne-Schweniger)

11. Implementation

a. Target release is October 2017

b. Non-accredited laboratories –

customer demand

c. Accredited laboratories – within 2

years of release

Jeff Gust

Tim Osborne


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WG44 Meeting Geneva, Switzerland (August 18-20, 2015)Jeff Gust (VP Standards & Practices) and Tim Osborne (VP Oper-

ations) attended, with approximately 60 other experts, the third

meeting of the ISO/CASCO working group (WG 44) to revise

ISO/IEC 17025 “General requirements for the competence of testing

and calibration laboratories.” In summary, the progress of WG44

remains on target for an October 2017 release to the general public.

The objectives of this meeting focused on:

• Reviewing and editing Working Draft (WD 2),

• Determining the release date of the Committee Draft (CD) to

the member bodies for review,

• Confirming the Writing Group participants, and

• Establishing the convening date for the Writing Group to

address the comments from the member bodies on the CD.

At the conclusion of the meeting, unanimous consent was

achieved such that Working Draft 3 (WD 3) met the requirements

for reclassification to Committee Draft (CD 1) and should be

made available this October for P- members (ANSI in the U.S. and

SCC in Canada) to review and comment over a 3-month period.

[Category ‘A’ liaisons (NCSLI) are not allowed to review or

comment in this stage.] It is important to note that all comments

submitted by P-member stakeholders have to be addressed and

formal responses provided to the commenters. This might lead

to additional CDs as long as membership and ISO agree that

additional clarity is required.

Basic Structure of CD Notable Points:

1. There is active discussion on whether to allow sampling as

a standalone process, that is, independent of testing and

calibration activities.

2. Top Management is not the CEO, but local decision makers

3. Much of the traceability discussion, informational matter,

has been moved to Annex A

4. Clarification of the relationship between ISO/IEC 17025 and

ISO 9001 management system requirements were added as

Annex B.

ISO/CASCO P-Members:

1. Canada – SCC

2. Mexico – DGN

3. United States – ANSI

See http://www.iso.org/iso/home/about/iso_members.htm for

your country’s P-member.

[email protected]

Section Sub-Section*

1. Scope

2. Normative References

3. Terms & Definitions

4. General Requirements 4.1 Impartiality

4.2 Confidentiality

5. Structural Requirements (Organization)

6. Resource Requirements 6.1 General

6.2 Personnel

6.3 Accommodation &

Environment

6.4 External Supplies & Services

6.5 Equipment

6.6 Metrological Traceability

Section Sub-Section*

7. Process Requirements 7.1 Review of Requests & Contracts7.2 Sampling7.3 Handling of Items7.4 Measurement Uncertainty7.5 Reporting Results7.6 Assuring Quality7.7 Methods7.8 Nonconforming Work7.9 Technical Records7.10 Control of Data7.11 Complaints

8. Management Requirements

8.1 Options8.2 Management System Documentation (Option A**)8.3 Control of Documents (Option A**)8.4 Control of Records(Option A**)8.5 Improvement(Option A**)8.6 Corrective Action(Option A**)8.7 Internal Audits (Option A**)8.8 Management Review(Option A**)



liaisonreport

Report onthe Activities of theInternational Organizationof Legal Metrology (OIML)By Dr. Chuck EhrlichOMIL Liaison

The Office of Weights and Measures (OWM) of the National

Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is responsible for

coordinating U.S. participation in the International Organization

of Legal Metrology (OIML) and other international legal

metrology organizations.

Learn more about OIML at the website www.oiml.org and

about the NIST Office of Weights and Measures at the OWM

website www.nist.gov/owm. Dr. Charles Ehrlich, Program Leader

of the International Legal Metrology Program (ILMP) and US

CIML member, can be contacted at [email protected] or at

(301) 975-4834.

Please note:

• OIML publications are available without cost at

http://www.oiml.org

• The OIML and NCSLI have signed a document that

recognizes the mutual benefit of exchanging information

and encourages joint activities.

I. Highlights of Selected OIML Activities

This section reports on recent activities and the status of work in

the OIML Technical Committees (TCs), Technical Subcommittees

(SCs), and Project Groups (PGs) of specific interest to members of

the NCSLI. Schedules of future activities of the TC/SC Secretariats,

PG Conveners, the U.S. National Work Groups (USNWGs),

and the International Project Groups of the TCs and SCs are

also included.

TC 3/SC 5 Conformity Assessment (United States)

The OIML Basic Publications B 3:2011 Certificate System and

B 10:2012 Mutual Acceptance Arrangement (MAA) are the core

documents underpinning the OIML Certificate System. An

amendment to B10 was approved by the CIML that allows for the

voluntary use of test data from manufacturer’s test laboratories

(MTLs) under specially supervised conditions.

An MAA workshop was held in conjunction with the 2013

CIML Meeting (in Vietnam) to gather experiences of the various

MAA stakeholders in the MAA. Based on the outcome of this

workshop and MAA discussions at the 2013 CIML Meeting, OIML

has established an Ad-Hoc Working Group (AHWG) consisting

of interested CIML members, Committee on Participation

Review (CPR) members, and representatives of manufacturers’

associations. This working group was tasked with reviewing the

structure, rules, and procedures governing the operation of the MAA

(and the role of Utilizing Participants), with a view to increasing

the efficiency of the operation of the MAA, and, if necessary,

amending their internal (MAA) documents and suggesting to

TC 3/SC 5 appropriate amendments to OIML Publication B 10.

This Ad-Hoc Working Group is chaired by the CIML first Vice-

President Dr. Roman Schwartz of PTB (Germany), and held its

first meeting on 20-21 March 2014, at NIST. Three Task Groups

were established that looked into 1) improving the international

awareness and use of the OIML MAA, 2) developing a more robust

model for operation of the CPR, and 3) evaluating the impact that

termination of the Basic System for categories already covered by

the MAA (currently these are load cells, NAWIs and water meters)

would have on all stakeholders.

At the CIML Meeting in November 2014, in Auckland, New

Zealand, the Committee encouraged the AHWG, and its three Task

Groups, to present concrete proposals at the 2015 CIML meeting

and instructed the BIML to provide all necessary support to help

the AHWG achieve its objectives. The Committee also requested

that CIML Members inform the BIML about their experience and

knowledge as to whether or not OIML certificates (Basic or MAA)

and OIML Test Reports are accepted in their countries as the basis

for national or regional type approval, and the reasons in cases

where they are either not accepted, or not completely accepted.

A sub-group of the AHWG met in March 2015, to review a

proposal that could significantly change the way that the OIML

Certificate System is structured, managed and operated. This


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proposal includes the creation of an OIML Certificate System

(called OIML-CS) that would be managed by a Management

Committee instead of by the BIML. Advisory Committees to

the Management Committee are also envisioned. A full AHWG

meeting was held in June 2015 to finalize a proposal that will be

put forward to the CIML at its meeting in October 2015. Until the

new OIML-CS is approved by the CIML, the current Basic and MAA

systems will continue and will be supported by the BIML.

A new OIML document entitled The Role of Measurement

Uncertainty in Conformity Assessment Decisions in Legal Metrology

has passed its 2CD vote. A preliminary ballot of this document

was distributed for CIML vote and comment in July 2015. For a

copy of this document or for more information on the activities of

this subcommittee, please contact Dr. Ehrlich at (301) 975-4834 or

[email protected].

TC 5/SC 1 Environmental Conditions (Netherlands)

OIML D 11 General requirements for measuring instruments -

Environmental conditions has been published. This is a very

important document in the OIML system and is used by all of

the OIML TCs as a general reference for technical and testing

requirements on all measuring instruments. Highlights of this

recent revision cycle include: expanding the terminology section,

updating several testing sections to reflect the latest International

Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) reference standards, and

including a new environmental class (“E3”) for a non-mains local

source of electrical power supply. Please contact Mr. Ralph Richter

at (301) 975-3997 or [email protected], if you would like

additional information on TC5/SC1 or OIML D 11.

TC 5/SC 2 Software (Germany and BIML)

The OIML D 31 General Requirements for Software-controlled Measuring

Instruments has been published and now serves as guidance

for software requirements for type evaluation in International

Recommendations by OIML TCs. The United States participated

in the technical work on this document and submitted votes and

comments on several drafts of the document. A new project on

software verification was approved by CIML, and the United States

is waiting for the first draft of this document. Please contact Dr.

Ambler Thompson at (301) 975-2333 or [email protected] if you

would like to discuss OIML software efforts.

TC 6 Prepackaged Products (South Africa)

The first draft of a new project Guidance for defining the system

requirements for a certification system for prepackages was discussed

at a TC 6 meeting in Seoul, South Korea, in September 2014. This

guideline is being developed to assist countries in establishing

reciprocal agreements to accept the test results on prepackaged

goods. It is expected that the 2CD of this guidance document will

be distributed in the second half of 2015.

A revision of OIML Recommendation R 87 Quantity of Product in

Prepackages (the OIML equivalent to NIST Handbook 133: Checking

the Net Contents of Packaged Goods) includes a comprehensive

overhaul of the statistical requirements and sampling plans (the

revisions were prepared by Blaza Toman of NIST’s Statistical

Engineering Division) to correct errors discovered by a statistician

from Asia a few years ago. The U.S. and several other countries were

successful in opposing efforts by several European Union countries

to add drained weight test procedures and packaging requirements

utilized in that region to the new edition of R87. Those procedures

were rejected primarily because they failed to recognize drained

weight test methods that have been in use around the world for

decades and which have been adopted by Codex Alimentarius.

The US voted “yes” and submitted comments on the 3CD of R 87

in October 2014. CIML vote and comments on the preliminary

ballot of R 87 will close in September 2015.

The US voted “yes” on the CIML Preliminary Ballot of OIML R

79 Labeling Requirements for Prepackaged Products in June 2015. It

is expected that R 79 will receive final CIML approval in October

2015. For more information on the activities of this committee,

and to participate in the U.S. review of these documents, please

contact Mr. Ken Butcher at (301) 975-4859 or [email protected] .

TC 8 Measurement of Quantities of Fluids (Japan)

The Japanese Secretariat for TC 8 distributed a questionnaire in 2014

concerning several projects in TC 8. Based on responses received on

the questionnaire, Japan decided to cancel a project to combine and

revise R 40, R 41 and R 43 into a single standard entitled Standard

volumetric measures. Japan also decided to delay the project to revise

R 63 Petroleum Measurement Tables (1994) until the corresponding

ISO standard is next revised. The Secretariat plans to start the

revision of R 119 Pipe Provers for Testing of Measuring Systems for

Liquids Other Than Water (1996) -- this document is important

for other OIML recommendations involving liquid measurement.

Please contact Mr. Ralph Richter at (301) 975-3997 or ralph.richter@

nist.gov, if you would like copies of any of these documents or to

participate in the project to revise R 119.

TC 8/SC 1 Static Volume and Mass Measurement (Germany)

The United States chairs the Project Group that has drafted new

sections of OIML R 71 Fixed Storage Tanks and R 85 Automatic

Level Gages for Measuring the Level of Liquid in Fixed Storage Tanks

to add specific requirements for specialized tanks. A committee

draft of OIML R 80-2, Road and Rail Tankers, Test Methods has been

developed by Germany. The Secretariat has also initiated the effort

of revising OIML R 95 Ships’ Tanks. A meeting to move all of these

subcommittee projects forward was held in Germany in December

2014. Please contact Mr. Ralph Richter at (301) 975-3997 or ralph.

[email protected], if you would like copies of the documents or to

participate in any of these projects.

TC 8/SC 3 Dynamic Volume and Mass Measurement for Liquids

Other Than Water (United States and Germany)

New annexes for measuring systems for foaming potable liquids,

for pipelines, and for aircraft refueling have been added to OIML R

117-2, Dynamic Measuring Systems for Liquids Other Than Water, Part

2, Test Methods. The 2CD of R117-2 was approved by the Project

Group in March 2014 with over 300 comments. The 1CD of

R117-3 Part 3, Test Report Format was distributed in March 2014. A

meeting of the R117 International Project Group was held in April

2014 in Chicago. International comments on the 2CD of R117-2

and the 1CD of R117-3 were discussed and new committee drafts

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of both documents were created and approved at the meeting.

Representatives of major manufacturers of these systems and

liaison organizations actively participated in the meeting. These

technical experts provided a depth of experience and technical

expertise that proved highly valuable during the meeting.

Both R117-2 and R117-3 passed their CIML preliminary ballots

with 100% consensus in July 2014; they also received final

CIML approval with 100% consensus in November 2014. Both

documents were published in April 2015. The CIML also approved

a new project for an “immediate revision” of all three parts of R

117. This new project will fully harmonize all three parts and add

new annexes to R 117 for several complete measuring systems,

including: (a) measuring systems for the unloading of ships’

tanks and for rail and road tankers using an intermediate tank, (b)

measuring systems for liquefied gases under pressure (other than

LPG dispensers), (c) measuring systems for bunker fuel, and (d)

measuring systems for liquefied natural gas (LNG). If you have

any questions or would like to participate in the next phases of

this project, please contact Mr. Ralph Richter at (301) 975-3997 or

[email protected].

TC 8/SC 5 Water Meters (UK)

OIML, the International Standardization Organization (ISO),

and the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) worked

together to harmonize requirements for water meters using OIML

R 49 Water Meters Intended for the Metering of Cold Potable Water and

Hot Water Parts 1, 2, and 3 as the base document. The American

Water Works Association Committee on Water Meters assisted in

these efforts. This new revision of R 49 (which is now harmonized

with the water meter standards from ISO and CEN) was published

in May 2014. Please contact Mr. Ralph Richter at (301) 975-3997

or [email protected], if you would like additional information

on these documents.

TC 8/SC 6 Measurement of Cryogenic Liquids (United States)

The Secretariat for R 81, Dynamic Measuring Devices and Systems for

Cryogenic Liquids has distributed a first working draft (1WD) of R

81 to TC 8/SC 6 members and the USNWG for their review and

comment. Nine members of the R 81 project group submitted

comments on Parts 1 and 2 of R 81. A compilation of those

comments will be distributed in mid-2015, and distribution of a

first committee draft incorporating these comments is also planned

for mid-2015. To obtain more information or to participate in this

project, please contact Ms. Juana Williams at (301) 975-3989 or

[email protected].

TC 8/SC 7 Gas Metering (Netherlands)

All three parts of OIML R 137 Gas Meters have been published.

Extensive United States comments on the 1 CD, the 2 CD, and

the DR were developed in cooperation with the measurement

committees of the American Gas Association. The OIML R

137 document is especially important to the U. S. interests

because the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) B 109

committee on gas measurement is using the published R 137 to

create a new performance-based standard for gas meters in the

United States. Please contact Mr. Ralph Richter at (301) 975-3997

or [email protected], if you would like to participate in these

efforts or if you would like to obtain a copy of any of these gas

measurement documents.

The CIML preliminary ballot on OIML R 139-1 and R139-2,

Compressed gaseous fuel measuring systems for vehicles, passed in

March 2014. This standard is important to US stakeholders,

especially in the effort to maximize harmonization between

domestic and international legal metrology requirements used

for the delivery of alternative fuels such as hydrogen gas and

compressed natural gas (CNG). R 139-1 and R139-2 received

final CIML approval in November 2014, and were published

in February 2015. To obtain more information on this effort,

please contact Ms. Juana Williams at (301) 975-3989 or

[email protected].

TC 9 Instruments for Measuring Mass (United States)

The United States distributed the 3rd Committee Draft of R 60

Metrological Regulation for Load Cells Parts 1&2 (Metrological and

technical requirements and Metrological controls and performance

tests) in August 2014 for comments and voting. The Project Group

decided that R 60 needs further development, and a 4 CD is being

drafted; it is expected to be circulated in the Fall of 2015. A 1

CD of R 60-3 is also planned to be circulated in the Fall of 2015.

For more information on TC 9 activities, please contact Mr. John

Barton at (301) 975-4002 or [email protected].

TC 9/SC 2 Automatic Weighing Instruments (United Kingdom)

All three parts of OIML R 50 Continuous Totalizing Automatic

Weighing Instruments (Belt Weighers) received final CIML approval

in November 2014, and R 50 was published in March 2015. To

receive copies of these documents or to obtain more information

on the work of this subcommittee, please contact Mr. John Barton

at (301) 975-4002 or [email protected].

The TC 9/SC 2 Secretariat distributed a questionnaire

concerning a possible project to revise OIML R 51 Automatic catch-

weighing instruments, which was last revised in 2006. The proposed

international effort to revise R 51 was also announced by the

NCWM. Please contact Mr. Rick Harshman at (301) 975-8107 or

[email protected] if you are interested in the project to

revise this document.

TC 17/SC 1 Humidity (China and United States)

The 7 CD of OIML R 59 Moisture Meters for Cereal Grains and Oilseeds

was distributed for voting in December 2014. OIML officially

closed the online voting in April 2015. The 7 CD was approved,

PG comments on the 7 CD will be resolved, and the document will

be forwarded to OIML as a DR for final voting. Please contact Ms.

G. Diane Lee at (301) 975-4405 or [email protected] if you would

like to participate in this work.

TC 17/SC 8 Quality Analysis of Agricultural Products (Australia)

The 5 CD of a draft document Measuring Instruments for Protein

Determination in Grains was approved by the PG in December 2014.

A DR is expected in 2015. Please contact Ms. G. Diane Lee at (301)

975-4405 or [email protected], if you would like to participate in

this work.



liaisonreport

II. REPORT ON THE 49TH CIML MEETING IN Auckland, new

Zealand IN november 2014

Mr. Peter Mason, CIML member from the United Kingdom

and President of the CIML, opened the meeting and gave the

President’s Report.

Mr. Stephen Patoray, who has been serving as BIML Director

since January 2011, provided several reports on financial and

administrative matters at the BIML. Mr. Patoray also discussed

upgrades to the OIML website and significant improvements to

the BIML headquarters building in Paris.

Based on a proposal by Mr. Mason, and after a lengthy discussion,

the CIML decided that it expects to renew the appointment of the

BIML Director for a fixed term of up to five years at its meeting

in 2015.

The CIML welcomed Cameroon as a re-instated Member State

and welcomed Azerbaijan as a new Corresponding Member.

The Committee noted a report given by the BIML on its

activities in liaison with other international organizations aimed at

developing countries, including the organization of an AFRIMETS

Legal Metrology School in Tunis in October 2014. The Committee

also established an advisory group to carry out wide consultation,

to seek suggestions and to build up links with other bodies with an

interest in promoting the economic development of countries and

economies with emerging metrology systems.

The Committee approved the following draft publications:

• Revision of R 50: Continuous totalizing automatic weighing

instruments (belt weighers)

• R 117: Dynamic measuring systems for liquids other than water –

Part 2: Metrological controls and performance tests; and – Part 3:

Test report format;

• Revision of R 139: Compressed gaseous fuels measuring systems

for vehicles – Part 1: Metrological and technical requirements; and

– Part 2: Metrological controls and performance tests.

The Committee also approved a new project in TC 8/SC 3 for the

“immediate revision” of all three parts of R 117 Dynamic measuring

systems for liquids other than water – and also approved a new

project in TC 8/SC 7 for the revision of all parts of R 140 Measuring

systems for gaseous fuels.

The Committee noted a report given by the MAA Ad-hoc

Working Group (AHWG) chair and CIML First Vice-President,

Dr. Roman Schwartz of PTB in Germany. The Committee

requested that CIML Members inform the BIML about their

experience and knowledge as to whether or not OIML certificates

(Basic or MAA) and OIML Test Reports are accepted in their

countries as the basis for national or regional type approval,

and the reasons in cases where they are either not accepted, or

not completely accepted.

III. Future OIML Meetings

The next CIML Meeting will be held during the week of 19 October

2015 in Arcachon, France. An OIML seminar on “Countries and

Economies with Emerging Metrology Systems (CEEMS)” will be

held in conjunction with the 2015 CIML meeting. The next OIML

Conference will be held in 2016; the venue and dates for this

meeting have not yet been announced.

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liaisonreport

V. Regional Legal Metrology Organizations

A meeting of the Inter-American Metrology System (SIM) General

Assembly is organized annually and is the event where delegates

from National Metrology Institutes of the Americas meet to discuss

important issues. This past year, the SIM General Assembly was

held in November 2014 in Bogotá, Columbia. Mr. José Dajes

Castro, from INDECOPI in Lima, Peru, serves as the SIM President.

The Legal Metrology Working Group is chaired by Mr. Emilio

Löbbe from INTI/Argentina. The organization is working to build

capacity in legal metrology for SIM member countries. In April

2014, INTI and INMETRO held a 3-day Workshop in Brazil on

“Hardware and Software Security in Legal Metrology”.

The 21st Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Legal Metrology Forum

(APLMF) was held November 10-12, 2014 in Wellington, New

Zealand. The People’s Republic of China holds the Presidency

and Secretariat of APLMF. Mr. Changcheng, APLMF President and

Vice Minister of AQSIQ, chaired the meeting. During the opening

comments at the APLMF Meeting, it was announced that New

Zealand planned to assume the APLMF Secretariat in 2015.

The main objectives of APLMF are to coordinate regional training

courses in legal metrology and to provide a forum for exchange of

information among legal metrology authorities. APLMF activities

are facilitated through its seven work groups. The most active

WG is the Working Group on Training Coordination, chaired by

Australia. In the past year, APLMF held training on “Traceability

in Rice Moisture Measurement” in Thailand and “Non-automatic

Weighing Instruments” in Indonesia.

The WG on Training Coordination reported on the results

of a 2013 survey of APLMF member economies that requested

information on the benefits of APLMF training that was conducted

in the period 2005-2013. The results clearly indicated that the more

than 20 courses conducted by APLMF in that 8-year time period were

highly valued by the member economies, promoted harmonization

in the Asia-Pacific region, and frequently led to revised/improved

legislation and regulations in the member economies.

A significant joint project entitled “Metrology Enabling

Developing Economies in Asia” (MEDEA) has been launched

by APLMF, the Asia Pacific Metrology Programme (APMP) and

the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). This four-

year project is being managed by PTB and is primarily funded

by Germany. The project aims to foster and further develop the

capabilities of the APLMF and the Asia-Pacific Metrology Program

(APMP) to support developing economies in the Asia-Pacific region,

to promote metrology systems within developing economies,

and to strengthen the metrology systems/infrastructure within

developing economies. The main first-year accomplishments of

the MEDEA Project were to establish a Coordination Committee

and to survey APLMF developing economies about their legal

and scientific metrology capabilities and needs. Several training

courses are planned through the MEDEA Project for the years

2015-2017.

The United States was represented at the APLMF meeting in

Wellington by Dr. Charles Ehrlich and Mr. Ralph Richter. Dr. Ehrlich

serves as the Chair of the APLMF work group on Mutual Recognition

Arrangements and gave a report and update on the OIML MAA. Mr.

Richter presented the United States Country Report.

The United States will host the next APLMF meeting on 28-30

October 2015 in Hawaii. Please contact Mr. Ralph Richter at (301)

975-3997 or [email protected] for more information on SIM,

APLMF, and the 2015 APLMF Annual Meeting.

[email protected]


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EUROLAB 25 YearsBy Horst Czichos, BHT BerlinEUROLAB Past President

Background: Formation of the EU and EUROLAB

• To facilitate the free movement of goods, persons, services,

and capital – while protecting essential public needs, e.g.

safety, health, environment – the New Approach was

established 1985 in the European Union (EU) as flexible

regulatory framework for market and trade.

• Essential requirements are defined in EU-Directives. CE

marking declares that the product is safe and in conformity

with the relevant EU Directives.

• Harmonised EN Standards define the technical details →

European Standards are valid in the whole EU, conflicting

National Standards have to be withdrawn: “one standard, one

test, accepted everywhere”.

• EUROLAB was set up in Brussels April 1990 in connection with

the formation of the European Union. Since 1998 it is a Legal

Entity under Belgian Law, composed of National Associations

of Measurement, Testing and Analytical Laboratories with

over 2,000 members and about 100,000 technical experts and

laboratory practitioners. EUROLAB represents the laboratory

community regarding political and technical issues, its

members perform confomity assessment services.

EUROLAB Objectives

• Creating awareness among public and political authorities,

industry and other partners of the

• work of the measurement, calibration, testing, inspection and

certification sector.

• Representation by formulating and voicing the opinion of

European laboratories regarding political and technical issues.

• Coordination by interfacing with partner organisations

having activities of interest to the laboratory community.

• Action by providing adequate means for exchange of

information and experience.

• Promotion of cost-effective measurement, testing, calibration

and analytical services.

liaisonreport

EUROLAB Member Structure


liaisonreport

EUROLAB Working Groups, Cooperation RepresentationEUROLAB Working Groups

• TCQA EUROLAB Technical Committee on Quality Assurance

in Testing and Calibration (TCQA)

• JTCPTC Joint Technical Committee on Product Testing and

Certification with CEOC, the International Confederation of

Inspection and Certification Organization

• EEECE Permanent Liaison Group between the Boards

of EUROLAB-EURAMET-EURACHEMCEOC, and EA, the

European Accreditation Cooperation

EUROLAB Cooperation with Standardization Bodies

• CEN European Committee for Standardization Certification

Board (CEN CCB) Standardization and Research (CEN-STAR)

• ISO Conformity Assessment Committee (ISO-CASCO)

EUROLAB Representation within Accreditation Organizations

• ILAC Laboratory Committee, Inspection Committee,

Arrangements Committee, Accreditation Issues Committee

• EA Laboratory Committee, Certification Committee,

Inspection Committee

• EAAB European Accreditation Advisory Board

EUROLAB Activities• Representation in the EU Institutions

• Monitoring selected EU Legislation

• Organising Workshops and Meetings

• Discussion and Position Papers, e. g.

• EUROLAB DISCUSSION PAPER on ILAC Policy on the

Traceability of Measurement Results

• EUROLAB POSITION PAPER on Opinions and

Interpretations in Test Reports

• Promotion of laboratories, e. g.

• EUROLAB COOK BOOK

→ see www.eurolab.org

[email protected]

EUROLAB DISCUSSION PAPER on ILAC Policy on the

Traceability of Measurement Results

EUROLAB POSITION PAPER on Opinions and

Interpretations in Test Reports

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NCSL International LaboratoryManagement Guide LM-15Laboratory Recovery Planning;Disasters and Planned EventsBy James SmithNCSLI Laboratory Operations VP

The new Laboratory Management guide LM-15 “Laboratory Recovery

Planning; Disasters and Planned Events” was developed by the NCSL

International Laboratory Facilities Committee. This guide will assist

members and industry peers who have the responsibility to prepare

their labs for various recovery events. As we see a steady flow of

disasters across the globe those whose livelihoods depend on the

continued success of their business understand that extended loss of

revenue and income cannot be fully covered by emergency support,

nor is limited insurance and government support guaranteed to meet

your needs and those of your employees.

Solid, successful lab operations can be devastated by fire, tornado,

hurricanes or reckless vandalism. This guide is designed to help

leadership take a good look at evaluating their vulnerability, create a

plan to address likely events and consequences then establish steps to

better prepare an accelerated recovery.

Planned events such as a lab relocation, remodeling or consolidation

also present circumstances which can impact a laboratory’s ability to

perform work to accredited criteria thus placing the lab in jeopardy of

greater loss of revenue and customer base.

Doug Cooper, Laboratory Facilities Chair, led the working group

and with the help of members was able to build a diverse team of

industry professionals to prepare this guide.

As with any Guide, soon after release solid feedback raises the

need for revision, if you are interested in participating on this

committee or any of the NCSLI Laboratory Operations Committees

send an email to [email protected].

LM-15 “Laboratory Recovery Planning; Disasters and Planned

Events” is available for download to all NCSLI Member Delegates

or to purchase at ncsli.org.

[email protected]

committeenews


NCSL International Laboratory Management Guide LM-17Leading in the Laboratory: Applying Leadership Principles to Ensure Laboratory ExcellenceBy Gloria NeelyNCSLI Workplace and Professional Development

NCSL International Laboratory Management Guide LM-17

“Leading in the Laboratory: Applying Leadership Principles to

Ensure Laboratory Excellence” was written by the NCSLI Workplace

and Professional Development Committee and provides guidance

on leadership for laboratory personnel currently in a leadership

position or aspiring to leadership. This document explores

personal leadership qualities, models, and roles while providing

information on different aspects of leadership, this LM also helps

to improve one’s ability to form and maintain connected and

empowered relationships with various employees and customers.

Understanding different leadership principles can also help culti-

vate the desire for the development of self and others. In addition, this

document explores the transition into leadership and what strategies

can assist with the transition from laboratory technician to leader.

This document differentiates between leadership and manage-

ment, emphasizing that effective leadership embodies vision, uni-

fies and motivates people, and advances the technical excellence

of the laboratory. Readers of this document will understand that

leaders who effectively promote professional growth and produc-

tivity of both self and employees will encourage efficient organiza-

tion performance and success.

While written for laboratory personnel, the leadership concepts

in this document apply to any business. This document offers an

overview of different leadership approaches as opposed to being a

training manual for a distinct leadership approach.

LM-17 “Leading in the Laboratory: Applying Leadership Principles

to Ensure Laboratory Excellence” is available for download to all

NCSLI Member Delegates or to purchase at ncsli.org.

If you would like more information on the NCSLI Learning and

Development Committees email us at [email protected].

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

committeenews

NCSL International Recommended Practice RP-18Estimation and Evaluation of Measurement Decision RiskBy Mark KusterNCSLI Metrology Practices Committee

This new recommended practice, NCSLI RP-18, “Estimation

and Evaluation of Measurement Decision Risk,” describes and

develops industry best practices for the estimation and control

of measurement decision risk (MDR). The RP accumulates and

focuses the current body of knowledge to provide guidelines for

estimating and managing MDR and for computing measurement

quality metrics by which to evaluate conformance testing.

MDR marks conformance testing at each level in the measurement

support hierarchy (see figure), so RP-18 applies equally well to

product testing, process monitoring and test equipment calibration.

Among other metrics, MDR includes the false accept risk of

accepting non-conforming equipment attributes as conforming

and the false reject risk of rejecting conforming attributes as non-

conforming. False accepts may lead to negative business outcomes

related to calibration and test system accuracies and to end-item

or final product performance. False rejects incur excess costs

for adjustment, scrap, repair and re-test; shortened calibration

intervals; and extraneous out-of-tolerance reports or other

administrative reactions.

The RP explains key concepts and methods and, since little

other specifically applicable literature exists, provides derivations

from first principles in order to serve as a comprehensive reference

for estimating MDR. The RP includes the following topics:

• Background, motivation, and a reader’s guide• Introductory and advanced uncertainty analysis to make the document a

one-stop reference• MDR fundamentals• Conditional and unconditional risk estimates• ANSI/NCSL Z540.3 support and extensions• Step-by-step Bayesian and alternative procedures• Time-of-measurement and process-design-time estimates• Analysis for compensatory measures such as multiple independent or

sequential tests• MDR-based testing and reporting guardband limits• Post-test and post-adjustment error distributions• Basic cost optimization• Additional MDR metrics• True vs. perceived measurement reliability for several error distributions• Numeric algorithms for software implementations• Out-of-tolerance impact evaluation by “feedback analysis”• Risk-based reliability targets• Uncertainty growth effects

In work spanning more than a decade, Dr. Howard Castrup, NCSLI

173.2 MDR Analysis Committee Chair, spearheaded this document’s

development from initial concept through material aggregation,

writing, and multiple review-revision cycles. Many thanks go to

Howard and his supporting cast, including Del Caldwell, Dr. Dennis

Dubro, Dr. Dennis H. Jackson, Greg Cenker (Chair 2007 - 2011),

Jerry Hayes, Jim Wachter, Miguel Decos, Mihaela Fulop, Perry King,

Randy Long, Scott Mimbs, Dr. Steven Dwyer, Suzanne Castrup, and

other NASA personnel and NCSLI members. The NCSLI Board of

Directors approved the RP July, 2014.

RP-18 “Estimation and Evaluation of Measurement Decision

Risk” is available for download to all NCSLI Member Delegates or

to purchase at ncsli.org.

If you would like more information on the NCSLI Standards and

Practices Committees email us at [email protected] .

[email protected]

Test Results Support RequirementsTest Results Support Requirements

Calibration Results Support RequirementsCalibration Results Support Requirements



END ITEMEND ITEMEND ITEMEND ITEM

TEST SYSTEMTEST SYSTEMTEST SYSTEMTEST SYSTEM

C ALIBRATIO N SYSTEM C ALIBRATIO N SYSTEM nnC ALIBRATIO N SYSTEM C ALIBRATIO N SYSTEM nn

C ALIBRATIO N C ALIBRATIO N STAND ARDSTAND ARDC ALIBRATIO N C ALIBRATIO N STAND ARDSTAND ARD

...

The test and calibration support hierarchy.


mailto:[email protected]


committeenews

NCSLI has established a new committee to support young

industry and military professionals. The committee will focus

on career development, networking, technical, and business

training events to enhance measurement science expertise for

early career industry and military professionals. I would like to

introduce a few of our committee members, and their feedback

from the NCSLI Workshop & Symposium in Dallas, Texas.

Matt Aloisio, Metrology Engineer, Radian Research Inc.

I’m excited to see what actions may be taken to try and get the

younger generation more involved in NSCLI.

I’d like to provide you with my feedback from the NCSLI

Conference in July. First, just a bit of background information

about myself: I’m 25 years old and working as a Metrology Engineer

at Radian Research. I started at Radian shortly after completing my

bachelors in electrical engineering and have been working there

for about a year and a half.

This was my first year attending the annual NCSLI Workshop &

Symposium and I was very pleased with the whole experience. As

someone fairly new to the field of metrology, my goals going into

the conference were to simply gather as much new information

as possible by attending the various technical presentations and

networking with other professionals. I was especially happy to see

a featured Energy Track within the technical programs. Initially I

wasn’t sure how much information would be relevant to my work

at Radian Research where we specialize in electrical power and

energy measurements. I was very happy with the different topics

presented and how inviting the various speakers were to further

questions and discussion. This added discussion with some of the

industry experts has me looking forwarded to writing papers of my

own and getting the opportunity to present.

If I had to think of something I didn’t like or felt could use

improvement it would be the lack of interactive events at the

conference. The unfortunate truth is that many people from the

younger generations have a painfully short attention span and

may not be fully benefitting from some of the longer technical

presentations. I think having some sort of program with increased

involvement and interaction would go a long way in sparking

more thought provoking questions and discussion from those

involved.

I had a great time at this year’s conference and enjoyed being

exposed to so much new information in the world of measurement

science. I’m glad I got the opportunity to meet and speak with

so many knowledgeable and helpful individuals and I’m looking

forward to attending again next year.

Cody Luke, Engineering Operations & Technology

Test Resource and Infrastructure Optimization

I graduated from Central Washington University (CWU), with a

degree in Industrial Technology and specialized in Production and

Casting Fabrication. CWU is one of only a small handful of schools

that have a learning foundry which was really neat to be able to

see the process unfold, from creating the mold, to pouring the

molten metal and finally seeing the finished part. After graduation

in the spring of 2011, I started a contract position with Boeing

performing a holistic inventory of all equipment within the lab

test value stream. Upon completion, I was hired by Boeing and

moved into affordability and optimization projects supporting

multiple programs such as F-15 and 777x for Boeing Test and

Evaluation. During this time I have implemented and executed

on strategic plans that has saved Boeing a considerable amount by

conscientiously utilizing their asset base.

Aspects of the conference that I liked were the amount of

presentations and venders in attendance. I attended all three

day sessions and was thinking beforehand that there might not

be enough presentations, panel discussions, and demonstrations

to fill that time. I was completely wrong, there were multiple

events proceeding every hour and it was hard to choose from at

times which one to attend. One of the aspects that I think can be

improved upon is the room accommodates for popular speakers

or topics. I was in one session about, “The Amazing Stories of

Measurement,” and it was so packed that it was standing room

only. I was one of those unfortunate few that were left standing,

behind a column, in the very back of the room, which needless to

say was difficult to listen to what was being talked about.

This was my first NCSLI conference and my first time speaking

at one. I was part of two panels and presented a paper that I co-

wrote with a colleague of mine who was also attending for the first

time. We were definitely the younger members in attendance, but

the seasoned attendees welcomed us with warm gratitude and not

one time did I feel out of place or inept as to my experience.

Leah Lindstrom, MATES

I began my career with Boeing in February of 2014 as a Project

Manager on an enterprise wide affordability project. I am 27.

Originally from Arizona, I received my Bachelors of Science in

Chemistry as well as a minor in both Biology and Spanish from

Northern Arizona University in 2009. I have been abroad many

times including multiple backpacking trips through Europe; I

have volunteered in Costa Rica working with a Leatherback Sea

Turtle Conservation Program; walked the Camino de Santiago,

studied Spanish in San Sebastian, Spain; and lived in Newcastle,

157 Early Career Professionals; Industry and MilitaryBy Jennifer FleenorNCSLI 157 Committee Chair


committeenews

NCSLI Automotive Metrology Committee 155By Marc DevereauxNCSLI Automotive Committee Chair

Marc Devereaux, Lloyd Baker and Bob Sawyer supported the NCSL

International booth at the AIAG Quality Summit in Novi, Michigan.

This evet was attended by over 170 automotive OEM’s and

associated suppliers. The 1 ½ day event featured keynote speaker Dr.

Mark Rosekind the administrator for the National Highway Traffic

Safety Administration (NHTSA), which he highlighted the industry’s

best practices in proactive and preventive engineering and quality

processes, methods, and tools to increase the safety, reliability, and

durability of parts, systems, and vehicles. A range of sessions along

two tracks - Quality and Product Development, enabled participants

to learn about the latest tools and techniques in traceability, new

product quality planning, model-based development, data mining,

and product validation testing.

NCSLI Committee Charter

Establish liaison within all elements of the automotive

products industry, government regulatory agencies, and

other appropriate organizations dealing with applicable

types and aspects of controlled measurements required in the

development and production of automotive products. Serve

as a forum from which metrology and calibration regulatory

requirements, proposed compliance guidelines, techniques, and

knowledge can be shared with industry, regulatory agencies

and professional organizations through NCSL International

publications, Workshops, Seminars, and Member Delegates.

[email protected]

Australia for seven months during a study abroad program. Most

recently, I received a Professional Certificate in Wetland Science and

Management from the University of Washington. I would like to

continue my education to obtain a Master’s degree in a field related to

alternative or renewable energy but have little exposure in that field.

The only reason I am aware of NCSLI or its membership is because

of my previous team lead, Jim “Smitty” Smith. He encouraged our

team to actively participate in the organization in order to expand

our horizons for continuous development and improvement of our

technical and professional skills. With guidance, Cody Luke and

I wrote our first white paper, “Test Lab Asset Utilization; Methods

to Maximize Your Asset Budget,” which was accepted as a Poster

Presentation at the 2015 NCSLI Workshop & Symposium.

The Dallas conference was my first conference and I was not sure

what to expect. From the beginning it was obvious that I was one

of the youngest members in attendance and would have like to

have seen others in my age range. Although it was intimidating, I

was pleasantly surprised when members of NCSLI recognized that

I was new to the organization and reached out to me. Every day

I met a variety of people who asked about our paper and were

genuinely interested in offering feedback. I truly felt welcomed

by the veteran members, but more importantly, I felt included, as

though my opinions and perspectives were important and taken

seriously.

Since the conference, I have begun talking with a small group

of NCSLI members about a marketing and outreach program to

encourage the participation of younger generations. If you are in

a position to mentor someone who would be interested in NCSLI,

please share your experiences because they may be looking for an

opportunity like this and not know where to begin!

[email protected]

QUALIFIED STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO APPLY

$3000 SCHOLARSHIP

Founded in the memory of Joe Simmons to support the study of measurement science

and metrology related quality topics.

For application forms or more information contact your advisor, student aid office, or the Scholarship itself at:

[email protected] www.ncsli.org (search Simmons)

Submit to: Simmons Scholarship

2995 Wilderness Place, Suite 107Boulder, CO 80301

Completed applications are due March 1

Joe D. Simmons NIST (NBS) (1963-1994)

1992 NCSLI, William A. Wildhack award winner. 1995 MSC, Andrew J. Woodington award winner.

Co-founder and Chair of ASQ Measurement Quality Division.

PROMOTINGACADEMIC

EXCELLENCE IN METROLOGY

www.ncsli.org


James Littlefield

Northern Ohioregionalnews

The beautiful drive through rolling hills of western Pennsylvania

almost eclipsed the Ohio/Western Pennsylvania Fall 2015 section

meeting. But the destination could not be better, for our meeting was

being hosted by Butler Community College (BC3), one of the few

schools with a metrology program. Could it get better? Yet it did,

Dilip Shah, E = mc3 Solutions provided two sessions on measurement

uncertainty, geared to students. And Erik Volek, Mettler-Toldeo dove

deep into the weighty science of laboratory weighing.

Our meeting started with a warm welcome from the Butler

Community College staff, led by faculty Kevin Ruediger. BC3

accommodations were nothing but exceptional.

For the morning session, Dilip Shah, led the attack on

uncertainty. The presentation focused on a working understanding

of uncertainty and the end result: an uncertainty budget.

James Littlefield, of Smithers and section coordinator, slipped in

an ad hoc session on uncertainty and how it affects risk (e.g. type

I and type II).

How gorgeous is BC3’s campus? It was a golf course before it

was a school. This of course explains why a special team was sent

out to rescue session attendees after lunch to start the tour.

The tour left everyone with an expectation of what a metrology pro-

gram should be, including all the basics, from dimensions to electronics.

Dilip Shah returned for the afternoon session with a hands-on

lab on creating an uncertainty budget, including conducting a

repeatability and reproducibility exercise. The emphasis was on

current practices of the industry.

Northern Ohio Meeting.


regionalnews

Erik Volek, Mettler Toledo, presented his topic of “GWP (Good

Weight Practices),” but was more like “Everything you would ever

want to know about laboratory weighting,” including the history

of scales, the life cycle of scales, how to select, and proper use.

Other topics covered: accuracy, uncertainty, minimum weight,

low end accuracy limitation, and performance verification.

The meeting wrapped up with Lloyd Baker, of GM and our NCSLI

Regional Coordinator. Lloyd covered NCSLI Updates, including

the upcoming NCSLI Technical Exchange in Jacksonville, Florida

on February 1 and 2, 2016. He reviewed NCSLI‘s mission and

recruited for volunteers.

We hope to return to Butler Community College in two years

and planning is underway for our next meeting scheduled for

spring of 2016.

[email protected]


Jim Salsbury PhDChicagoregionalnews

Baxter Healthcare in Round Lake, Illinois,

hosted the NCSLI Chicago Section meeting

on Wednesday, September 23, 2015. We

were very excited to bring to the Chicago

area two major highlights from the 2015

NCSLI Annual Workshop & Symposium in

Grapevine, Texas.

After short introductions by the Chicago

Section Coordinator, Jim Salsbury, Mitutoyo

America, and Andre Brodsky, Baxter

Healthcare, the Chicago section welcomed

Paul Reese from Baxter Healthcare. Paul’s

paper and presentation on “Instrument

Adjustment Policies” won the Best Paper

Award at the 2015 Workshop & Symposium.

His paper was also quite well-received by

the Chicago section crowd of around 40

attendees. Paul’s presentation addressed

the fundamental question about when is

adjustment beneficial in calibration.

The Chicago section was also excited

to bring another highlight from this past

summer in Grapevine, Texas – the ISO/IEC

17025 Workshop. Tim Osborne, Trescal,

and VP of Operations for NCSLI, and who

is directly involved with the revision of

this standard that is so important to many

NCSLI member organizations, agreed to

lead a shortened version of the workshop

at the Chicago section meeting. Prior to

lunch, Tim discussed the ISO process and

the current status of the revision to ISO/IEC

17025. The timing was perfect, as the first

committee draft (CD) was released just that

morning.

After lunch, Tim continued the ISO/

IEC 17025 Workshop. Tim presented on

many of the key changes being debated

that will impact accredited calibration and

testing laboratories. Not surprisingly, Tim’s

presentation turned into a lively discussion

with lots of questions and comments from

those in attendance. We greatly appreciate

both Tim’s time in coming to speak in

Chicago and also with his handling of all

the questions we threw at him.

In-between Paul and Tim, the Chicago

section welcomed Baxter Healthcare’s

Charles Emken. Charles, who works in

IT for Baxter Healthcare, presented on

“Regulatory Initiatives and their Impact

on Technology.” His presentation focused

on important developments in data

exchange standards with a goal to speed

the delivery of new therapies to patients.

He discussed an organization called the

Allotrope Foundation, which Baxter is a

member company, which is building an

open framework for laboratory data.

We concluded the meeting with news

from the NCSLI Board, including our next

Chicago Section meeting date which is

Wednesday April 20, 2016 at Cole-Parmer/

Innocal in Vernon Hills, Illinois.

After the meeting, the attendees were

welcomed by Baxter for a tour of their

facilities, including their calibration

laboratories. On behalf of the Chicago

section, I would like to thank Baxter

Healthcare and Andre Brodsky for hosting

a very successful Chicago Section Meeting.

[email protected]

Chicago Meeting.


The Michigan sections fall meeting drew 37 attendees (two of which

were students from U of M Dearborn College) to take part in a full

day of measurement training on the topic of “Dynamic Sensors and

Calibration Techniques.” This measurement training was provided

and sponsored by Eric Seller and Bob Auchterlonie from The Modal

Shop, Inc., a PCB Group Company.

The Event began with a warm welcome to all attendees and

presenters. Lloyd Baker from GM gave the NCSLI Board update, also

upcoming events and how to become a member of NCSLI and the

benefits of being a member.

Bob Auchterlonie from PCB began the training section by speaking

on accelerometer types and theory and cabling of an accelerometer,

mounting methods effects of high frequency accelerometers when

performing a test or calibration using accelerometers. He also spoke on

accelerometers vibration in terms of the “G” and sensor applications

and how accelerometers are used in the field. Plenty of demos and

cut away examples of accelerometers were passed around the room

for attendees to examine, while going through presentations.

Eric Seller from the Modal Shop began his presentation discussing

the basics of accelerometer calibration and what is Calibration? His

discussion included how often you should calibrate your accelerometer

and how the user should be included in determining the calibration

cycle. Eric also touched on the uncertainty contributor (systemic and

random component) to the accelerometer calibration. He also gave

an example of the uncertainty budget chart for an accelerometer.

After lunch Eric Seller did a demonstration on accelerometer

calibration using The Modal Shop, 9110D Portable Vibration

Calibrator. In closing Bob Auchterlonie talked about different types

of microphones (Free Field, Random Incident and Pressure) and how

they work and Eric Seller touched on microphone calibration (closed

and open circuitry) and sensitivity.

I would like to thank The Modal Shop for their sponsorship and

providing the excellent measurement training - it was a great success.

[email protected]

Sam DavisMichigan

Michigan Meeting.

regionalnews


regionalnews

Corey GarbersTwin Citiesregionalnews

The Twin Cities NCSLI Section 1311 met

on September 22, at the New Brighton

Community Center in New Brighton, Min-

nesota. The event was sponsored by the

National Association of Proficiency Testing

(NAPT) which is based in Minnesota. This

full day event pulled in 84 attendees!

This was my first meeting as the new

section coordinator. I’m told the first

meeting is always the most challenging,

but there are 13 members on our steering

committee who really help plan and hold

the meetings. I would like to welcome two

new members to our steering committee;

Cory Otto, Boston Scientific and Rashad

Nash, 3M.

The first presentation topic was “Profi-

ciency Testing and Inter-laboratory Com-

parisons” presented by Charles Ellis, NAPT.

Charles has been involved in the adminis-

tration of interlaboratory comparisons in

the metrology community for over 20 years.

Based on that experience, Charles has many

stories and experiences with ILC’s and PT’s.

He reviewed many of the principles of test-

ing and the good and bad practices that he

has seen. One particular interesting thing

is that NAPT provides their application for

ILC’s to the public for free! Anyone can sign

up to use their online application to man-

age their testing and use their QA module.

More information at www.proficiency.org.

The second presenter was Robert Stern

from Keysight Technologies. Bob’s topic

was on “Decision Risk – Balancing False

Acceptance Risk and False Rejection Risk.”

It was a very interesting presentation with

very little math (thank you!). Many people

are looking for more specific guidance

from the next version of ISO/IEC 17025

on how to take measurement uncertainty

into account when making statements of

conformance. This presentation provided

several promising options for taking this

into account. To see the presentation,

search YouTube.com for “Calibration series

for test and measurement equipment.”

This was Part 3 in a 7 part series by Bob.

Twin Cities Meeting.


regionalnews

The third presentation was by David

Harris of Glastonbury Southern Gage. His

topic was “Thread Ring Calibration using

Set Plugs.” David explained in detail how

to use set plugs to inspect and set thread

ring gages. In particular, he covered the

use of truncated set plugs when checking

for wear of the thread ring. It’s not

just used to set the ring gage as some

technicians may think. Inspecting and

setting thread ring gages is as much an art

as it is a science. There is a certain “feel” to

the drag of the set plug when checking the

thread ring gage.

The fourth presentation was by Michael

Turnure from Pace Analytical Services.

His topic was “Clean Room Certification

and Monitoring.” This was an in depth

look at the requirements for a clean room.

Michael covered the basics of what a clean

room is and the standards that govern

them. ISO 14644 and FS 209E define the

requirements for clean rooms. There are

numerous requirements for constructing

and validating a clean room facility. We

found this presentation very pertinent

to our area where there are numerous

medical device manufacturers including

Boston Scientific, St Jude, and Medtronics.

As usual, the meeting concluded with a

door prize drawing. There were so many

door prizes at this meeting that everyone

left with something! The meeting was a lot

of fun and I look forward to our next.

[email protected]

Larry Roden Retirement Tribute:Larry Roden is a seasoned calibration technician working for

Boston Scientific in Arden Hills, Minnesota. He received his 2

yr. associate degree in the field of electronics from Lakewood

Community College. He started his career with Ball Electronics

in Circle Pines, Minnesota where he ran the Calibration Lab for

10 years. Larry then went to work for Cardiac Pacemakers Inc.,

which became Guidant Corporation and eventually Boston

Scientific. While working for CPI at the time, he set up the first

automated calibration process using Fluke MetCal.

Larry has been instrumental in setting up most of the

electrical, temperature and mechanical calibration processes

used at Boston Scientific, Arden Hills, Minnesota. He has

worked his way up to Sr. Calibration Technician during the 30

years working for what is now Boston Scientific.

His calibration skills were learned and honed by attending

the Technical Paper sessions of 14 NCSLI Workshops and

Symposiums held throughout the US and Canada. He also

attends the local NCSLI region meetings to interface with

fellow peers.

After 40 years of working in the Calibration field Larry is

retiring to start a new adventure in life, whatever that might

be, undetermined at this time.

The Twin Cities Section and NCSLI organization would like

to thank Larry for his many contributions to the measurement

science community and for his support of the NCSL

International Membership for 29 years!


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2016 NCSLI WORKSHOP & SYMPOSIUM

JULY 24–28, 2016Saint Paul RiverCentre Saint Paul, Minnesota