MSC 2007 sessions to cover a wide range of measurement topics

Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 1/17/2007 7:40:00 AM

The 2007 Measurement Science Conference will take place next week, January 22-26, in Long Beach, CA. The final two days feature technical sessions on many aspects of measurement and calibration. Topics include basic measurement, lab accreditation, measurement uncertainty, calibration intervals, metrology education, and equipment management. To get a preview of this year’s conference, I spoke with Mark Kaufman, the MSC technical program coordinator. I will attend the conference and report on technical sessions and new products.

Q: I see from the MSC 2007 program that there are two technical sessions on measurement uncertainty. Is that more than usual?

Whenever there’s a new standard from NCSLI, people will write papers about the topic and so we have more papers on it. Then, the interest wanes until another issue comes up. We have more papers on uncertainty this year than last year, but it goes in cycles.

Q: Does that occur with other topics?

A: I’ve found that the same thing happens with accreditation. If there are changes to the basic way accreditation is performed, there’ll be dozens of papers and discussions about it. That lasts until everyone figures it out.

Q: I didn’t see much on lab automation this year. Why not?

A: It depends on which end of automation you’re looking at. A year or two ago, we had several sessions on lab management software. The issue has been decided for now. People who were thinking about automating have either decided to automate or not. If, for example, Fluke issues an update to its automation software, the company will want to present a paper or two about it. It usually takes some small change for people to jump on the automation bandwagon.

Q: How are the Thursday and Friday (January 25 and 26) technical sessions organized?

A: We usually have sessions on the basics: DC/low frequency, temperature, and pressure, although pressure is missing from this year’s schedule. Physical and mechanical measurements often appear, too.

Then we have what we call “lab processes,” which covers accreditation and education. They’re at a higher level than sessions for the person sitting on the bench. Lab processes also includes recommended practices. We also have panel discussions on practices such as accreditation and setting of calibration intervals. The last piece is for the upper-level managers and those people looking to move up. I call it “business processes.” One paper is about applying the theory of constraints to a calibration environment. These sessions also cover management trends.

Q: When you say “managers,” do you mean lab managers or positions higher up?

A: Metrology labs are usually under the QA function, so QA people may attend MSC to see what the metrology people are doing. Typically, managers aren’t interested in the measurement specifics. They’re more interested in the accreditation and business processes. They want to know how to make the metrology function more efficient.

Q: Is this a sort of “chicken and the egg” thing, where people show up looking for topics and then the papers come, or do the papers come first?

A: This is the fifth time I’ve organized the MSC technical sessions and I can’t predict what topics people will find interesting.

A few years ago, we had a session on best practices and I put it in a room for 150 people—it was overflowing. The following year, I wanted to have an update on the topic. Less than 50 people attended the session. I just can’t predict attendance. In 2006, there was no session with such a large attendance. Generally, attendance numbers were kind of on a bell curve. Some had slightly more than the mean and some slightly less. If I could better predict popularity, I could do better at assigning rooms.

Also, I don’t like to put presenters into the last slot on Friday because people start leaving. But, I looked in on one session and there were perhaps ten people in the room. I came back about 20 minutes after the session ended and eight of the ten people were in the front of the room talking. Ten minutes later, all eight were still talking. I call a session a success if it engages people in conversation and they stay after the presentation and they talk and exchange business cards. Calibration people tend to be quiet, but when they care about something, they speak up.

Q: It’s good to see that you measure success in ways other than just number of attendees.

A: If you have a room with 200 people, one person talks and the others just sit. It’s a one-way exchange of information. If the presenter makes a mistake, it’s good if someone in the audience calls you on it so you don’t perpetuate the mistake. I’d rather be in a small group and have a discussion.

Q: You’ve been organizing MSC technical sessions long enough to have some history. What do you see as trends?

A: I’m seeing a steady increase in foreign participation, especially from Asia. This is the second year where we have a session on dynamic calibration parameters, a technique that originated and is heavily used in China.

Q: What do you mean by “dynamic calibration?”

A: It’s a mathematical “calibration as you go” approach.

Q: Which other countries are represented this year?

A: This year we have three presenters from Japan. We also see attendees from Germany and Britain. European participation seems static or slightly declining, but Asian participation is increasing. The people asking about the conference throughout the years tend to be from Asia. I also work on Autotestcon, and I’ve seen the same increase in Asian participation. One of the Japanese participants discovered MSC through an online search. Asians seem to be looking for conferences to attend. Most of the MSC papers are domestic in origin, but I see that changing.