2007 MSC opens technical sessions
2007 Measurement Science Conference, January 22-26, Long Beach, CA.
Martin Rowe, Senior Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 1/26/2007 11:20:00 AM
LONG BEACH, CA. The Measurement Science Conference (www.msc-conf.com) continued on Thursday with the keynote address and technical sessions.
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2007 MSC underway; exhibit hours expand MSC 2007 sessions to cover a wide range of measurement topics |
The day opened with the keynote address from Andrew Willard, director of BIPM, the organization that holds the world standard for metric measurements including the kilogram, the last Systeme Internationale (SI) unit still defined by an artifact. Willard is one of three people with keys to the vault containing the world standard kilogram, which is located in France.
In his address, Willard explained the BIPM's mission—worldwide measurement uniformity. The organization works with national labs such as NIST toward that goal. "It all comes down to trade," Willard said to the audience. He explained how worldwide measurement traceability is important for trade, but will take on more importance for measurements involving global warming. He also spoke of the need for improved chemical measurements to measure small amounts of drugs in the human bloodstream. "Bad measurements can affect careers, especially in the case of a false positive," he said.
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| Dr. Howard Castrup, Dave Deaver, and Dr. Dennis Jackson (L-R) accepted the 2007 Woodington award for their contributions to analytical metrology. Photo by Marie Roberts, courtesy of the Measurement Science Conference. |
During lunch, the MSC presented its annual Woodington award to Dr. Howard Castrup of Integrated Sciences Group, Dave Deaver of Fluke, and Dr. Dennis Jackson of the US Navy's NSWC Corona, CA, facility. This marked the first time the Woodington award has been granted to three people. All were cited for their contributions to analytical metrology.
Next, MSC President Bob Fritzsche presented the conference's first student achievement award to Shay Edwards, a high school sophomore in California. Edwards received the award for his measurement work. He presented his project report later that afternoon.
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High school sophomore Shay Edwards displays his student achievement award with Measurement Science Conference president Bob Fritzsche. Photo by Marie Roberts, courtesy of the Measurement Science Conference. |
I caught up with MSC president Bob Fritzsche after the awards. When asked why MSC moved to Long Beach this year after several years in Disneyland, Fritzsche replied "It was time for a change. The advantage of Disneyland is that we know how to work with the people there and they understand our needs." Next year, MSC returns to Disneyland, but no decision has been made about 2009.
Fritzsche noted the large number of new faces at this year's conference. He attributed that to engineers coming from Asia and from industries new to the conference. "We're seeing people from the medical industry coming here. ISO 17025 is forcing people to come here to learn about measurement uncertainty." When he asked the group at lunch how many were attending MSC for the first time, Fritzsche saw about 40% of attendees raise their hands.
For comments about the Long Beach and Disneyland venues, see my measurement blog, "Rowe's and Columns."
