© copyright 2013, ncsl international · 2015-11-02 · january 2013 : metrologist 1 table of...

NCSLI WORLDWIDE NEWS

Publisher NCSL InternationalEditor Linda Stone, NCSL InternationalContributing Editors Prof. Horst Czichos, BHT Berlin, University of Applied Sciences Georgia Harris, NISTMichael Lombardi, NISTEditorial Committee Craig Gulka, NCSLI Executive DirectorRoger Burton, Sandia National Laboratories How to Reach Us:NCSL International2995 Wilderness Place, Suite 107Boulder, CO 80301-5404 USAPhone 303-440-3339 • Fax 303-440-3384

© Copyright 2013, NCSL International. Permission to quote excerpts or to reprint any articles should be obtained from NCSL International. NCSLI, for its part, hereby grants permission to quote excerpts and reprint articles in this magazine with acknowledgment of the source. Individual teachers, students, researchers, and libraries in nonprofit institutions and acting for them are permitted to make hard copies of articles for teaching or research purposes. Copying of articles for sale by document delivery services or suppliers, or beyond the free copying allowed above is not permitted. Reproduction in a reprint collection, or for advertising or pro-motional purposes, or republication in any form requires permission from NCSL International.

®

Publication ISSN #1940-2988Vol. 6, No. 1, January 2013

Metrologist is published byNCSL International and distributedto its member organizations.

www.ncsli.org January 2013 : Metrologist 1

table of contents

pg. 14

pg. 18pg. 22

CONTENT

2 from the President

3 the boardrooom

4 ncslI new Members

5 ncslI calendar

6 from the treasurer

8 ncslI Workshop & symposium

20 train the trainer

22 Pop culture

26 nMI Reports

30 Msc liaison Report

32 ncslI Regional news

39 International news

43 In Memoriam

44 letter from europe

48 Advertisers’ Index

FEATURES

14 Toward a Metrology Information Infrastructure Standardize and Automate

Mark Kuster, Pantex Metrology

18 CENAM Simposio de Metrologia Dr. Vicente González Juáre

40 National Laboratory Association – South Africa Georgia l. Harris, ncslI Immediate Past President

2 Metrologist : January 2013 www.ncsli.org

by lonnie spires, ncslI President

Wow is it really 2013! So, how many of you

are like me and think that the 80’s were

just a couple of years ago? It is hard to be-

lieve how fast things change. That is why

we have chosen the theme “Metrology in

a Fast Paced Society” for this year’s confer-

ence. I first began my career in metrology

in 1985 and it is amazing how much tech-

nology has advanced during this period

of time. Please make plans now to attend

the conference this year in Nashville as we

tackle this theme.

I am honored to have the privilege of

serving as your President for the next two

years. I intend to focus on a goal of growth;

growing measurement (metrology) aware-

ness. NCSLI must be the leader in this

initiative; it is vital for our members, part-

ners, and industry. Over the past 50+ years

NCSLI has become known as a leader in

our community. We have authored numer-

ous documents ranging from white papers

to internationally recognized standards. It

is time now for us to grow the awareness

on the importance of making sound quali-

ty measurements.

Let’s take a moment to think about all

the ways measurements affect our lives. Try

to think about how many different mea-

surement domains are required to drive

your car, purchase groceries, go to the doc-

tor, or fly to Nashville for the NCSLI con-

ference. Having trained professionals in

these areas is vital to our well-being and it

does touch our daily lives.

Our industry is facing the challenges

of an aging workforce, increased com-

plexity of instrumentation, compliance

regulations and globalization of the mar-

ketplace. We must strengthen the NCSLI

membership by providing our technicians,

engineers, and managers with current up-

to-date documents and training programs

that will enable them to succeed. We will

continue to improve our collaboration

with partners, and expand outreach efforts

to heighten understanding in academia

and industry of the importance of measure-

ments in our curriculums.

The board and I will be working hard

to accomplish these goals in the coming

months. However, we cannot do it alone!

We need everyone’s continued support.

NCSLI is a volunteer organization, and we

are dependent on our volunteers to accom-

plish our mission. In 2012 we held our

first annual “Volunteer Appreciation Re-

ception” to express our thanks for all the

hard work and support. We shall continue

to recognize everything that the volunteers

do for our organization.

Please make plans now to attend our

annual Workshop & Symposium in Nash-

ville, Tennessee on July 14 – 18, 2013. We

anticipate one of the best conferences we

have held in recent years: there are some

wonderful tutorials and outstanding papers

being presented by our industry leaders.

NCSLI committees will be holding meet-

ings and working to accomplish our objec-

tives. Please join us; we need your help and

contributions!

Let me take this opportunity to thank

you for your support and for allowing me

the privilege of leading this amazing or-

ganization. I would like to encourage our

members and potential members to pro-

vide us with feedback on how we are do-

ing. Please feel free to submit notes to us

at [email protected] or, if you prefer, con-

tact me directly at [email protected]. We

look forward to hearing from you..

[email protected]

fRoM tHe PResIDent


JACKSON HOLE, WYOMINGby Jack somppi, ncslI secretary

On September 30th, 2012 the NCSL Inter-

national autumn board found itself meet-

ing in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a city with

a strong western motif, located in the beau-

tiful Grand Tetons. The aspen were near

their peak colors and the area was transi-

tioning into its coming new season. Sim-

ilarly the board of directors was preparing

for a transition too. This was the last board

meeting for this particular leadership team

lead by Georgia Harris. Participating were

16 voting members of the board and three

guests for the two and a half day event. All

attendees were from the USA with no in-

ternational delegates present to participate.

As is customary, our board meetings

cover topics from both the region/section

and committee aspects of NCSLI. Far more

items are discussed in the board meeting

than I can address here, but these are the

highlights and a recap of the official ac-

tions taken.

The executive committee considered

several items, some of which went before

the board. A Code of Ethics was reviewed

and presented to the full board where it

passed to become an official NCSLI docu-

ment. Also board member qualifications

were reviewed and discussed. As were po-

tential bylaw changes with respect to the

number of VP positions with the future

consideration given for better addressing

some areas of membership and operations.

Along with the regular aspects of Rich-

ard Ogg’s treasurer’s report, the Education

Development Fund was discussed. Action

items were taken to insure the VP of Learn-

ing and Development gets a regular report

on donations. Along with this the VP of

L&D was to make sure the processes are in

place and followed regarding these monies.

VP Roger Burton’s presentation of the

operations and marketing areas discussed a

variety of topics. Noted among these was

an ad hoc committee to visit the website

capabilities related to today’s functional-

ity and future viability. A report back is

planned in May of 2013.

Jim Olthoff, our NIST representative, as

well as our CPEM liaison, reported on the

successful CPEM 2012 event held in early

July. NCSL has been a critical element in

supporting NIST’s managing and operating

this conference. The board is now consid-

ering requests of a longer term, possibly

permanent relationship with NIST with re-

spect to CPEM. It was moved and passed

that we pursue a long term relationship in

this area.

In the international arena, NCSLI’s re-

lationships and pending participation at

various events were discussed. A motion

passed to sign an MOU with AFRIMETS.

The SIM General Assembly was discussed

along with our offer for special member-

ships to NMIs in this organization.

In the areas of our operational commit-

tees, Vernon Alt presented a Lab Manage-

ment Document addressing leadership

skills development. This was voted on and

approved.

VP Karen Semer reported on items related

to conference management. Karen updated

the board on various contact points con-

cerning the upcoming 2013 Conference.

Executive VP Lonnie Spires held a Strate-

gic Planning and Budget Workshop. Look-

ing towards the future several new VP posi-

tions were established and plan to become

active during Lonnie’s term as president.

A VP of marketing position was proposed,

voted on and passed, as was a position for a

new Canadian Division VP.

That concludes the highlights. Everyone

is always welcome to attend any of our

board meetings.

[email protected]

ncslI board of Directors.

fRoM tHe boaRDRooM


neW MeMbeRs

WELCOME NCSLI NEW MEMbERSNational Association for Proficiency Testing901 Twelve Oaks Center Dr., Suite 920Wayzata, MN 55391 USAContact: Charles J. Ellis - [email protected]

Cyberonics Inc.The Cyberonics Building100 Cyberonics Blvd. Houston, TX 77058 USAContact: Margaret Butler - [email protected]

PLC Electronic Solutions Ltd Calibration DivisionUnit #9, 3871 North Fraser WayBurnaby, BC V5J5G6 CanadaContact: Marc Alfonso - [email protected]

Covidien R&MS6135 Gunbarrel AveBoulder, CO 80301 USAContact: Marty Mattson - [email protected]

National Voluntary LaboratoryAccreditation Program (NVLAP) 100 Bureau DriveMS: 2140, Gaithersburg, MD 20899 USAContact: Dana Leaman - [email protected]

Mb InstrumentosCasma 637A, Lindavista norte07300 México, D.F. MexicoContact: Marco Cabrera - [email protected]

At MB Instrumentos our mission is to offer optimal measurements solutions with quality products and professional service to people and companies who need to measure well. We represent and distribute high quality mea-surement equipment brands in Mexico. We have been selective with our suppliers since we know that customers need reliability, accu-racy, warranty and technical support whenev-er they buy a good measurement instrument. The measurement areas we cover with the in-struments we offer are: electrical, energy, dis-placement, flow, frequency, force, humidity, pressure, sound, temperature, time, torque, air velocity and vibration among some others.

Ceradyne, Inc. 3169 Red Hill Ave. Costa Mesa, CA 92626 USAContact: Tibor Toth Torma - [email protected]

Ceradyne, Inc. is a worldwide leader in the development and production of advanced technical ceramics. Vertically intergraded manufacturing facilities produce advanced ceramic solutions for the most demanding applications in automotive/engine, oil and gas, nuclear power, solar, industrial, medical, electronic and defense industries. Because of the unique characteristics of advanced ceram-ics—ability to withstand extremely high tem-peratures; hardness; light weight; resistance to friction, wear and corrosion; and special elec-trical properties - Ceradyne components and systems offer considerable advantages over those made of conventional materials, such as steel, other metals, glass and plastics. Founded in 1967, the Company continues to develop new uses for advanced ceramics and offers a diversified line of high-performance ceramic products for a wide variety of markets.


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ncslI calenDaR

NCSLI Workshop & Symposium

July 14-18 Gaylord opryland convention center nashville, tennessee

NCSLI board Meetings

February 4-5, 2013charlotte, north carolina sheraton charlotte airport

May 6-8, 2013Vail, colorado lodge at Vail

July 13,14 and 19, 2013nashville, tennessee Gaylord opryland convention center

November 5-7, 2013Vancouver, canada sheraton Grand

NCSLI Region Meetings

February 21, 2013ncslI twin cities sectionst. louis Park Rec center 3700 Monterey Drive st. louis Park, Mn Harry spinks 763-574-5693, [email protected]

March 25, 2013ncslI albuquerque section MeetingUniversity of New Mexico Science & Technology Park 801 University blvd se albuquerque, nM 87106 Hy tran 505-844-5417, [email protected]

May 10, 2014ncslI Mid-Western Region Meetingcourtyard by Marriott – fort Wayne Downtown 1150 south Harrison street fort Wayne, In 46802 Matthew Denslow 740-788-7129, [email protected]

NCSLI Training Events

May 9, 2013ncslI Mid-Western training eventcourtyard by Marriott - fort Wayne Downtown 1150 south Harrison street fort Wayne, In 46802 Ryan fischer 260-637-2705, [email protected] sponsor contact: lloyd baker 810-225-4601, [email protected]

May 9, 2013ncslI Mid-atlantic training eventncslI Mid-atlantic Regional training event Rob Knake 301-644-3218, [email protected] Morehouse Instrument company1742 Sixth AvenueYork, Pa 17403Henry Zumbrun 717-843-0081, [email protected]

Important Dates

for complete meeting information visit:the ncslI Metrology and calibration events calendar at www.ncsli.org.


NCSL INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REVIEWby Richard ogg, ncslI treasurer

NCSL International is primarily an educa-

tional organization. Education is delivered

in many forms: presentations at local meet-

ings, tutorials at the annual Workshop &

Symposium, “road show” technical ses-

sions, and technical papers presented at the

conference, publications such as recom-

mended practices and laboratory manage-

ment guides, and even through committee

work. NCSL International also facilitates

businesses working together to strengthen

their business through documentary stan-

dards and similar work.

As interesting and exciting as all of that

can be, in order for this to happen a few of

us must work on the business side. Our or-

ganization is a corporation registered with

the Secretary of State in Colorado under

the name National Conference of Stan-

dards Laboratories. We have also registered

as doing business under the name “NCSL

International.” Furthermore, we filed with

the Internal Revenue Service (IRS, part of

the U.S. Department of Treasury) and were

granted permission to operate as a tax-ex-

empt organization under the Internal Rev-

enue Code section 501(c)(3).

One of our business requirements is to

annually have our finances and business

procedures audited by a Certified Public

Accountant (CPA) who is in good stand-

ing with the Colorado Board of Accoun-

tancy. With this process is the preparation

of our annual tax return that is filed with

the IRS. We also are to report the results of

our audit to the members (who represent

shareholders of the corporation). The law

requires us to hold an annual member busi-

ness meeting which we hold at the Annual

Symposium. At that meeting I presented

an overview of our business practices and

finances, but that was before the audit was

completed. Now I can update our members

with the final results.

One issue we have worked on over the

last few years is the accounting related to

the creation of invoices and renewal no-

tices. This began with the move to iMIS in

2009 for our business operations. During

the conversion we were at times challenged

to get timely financial information report-

ed, that associated financial conversion is

now complete.

Our income since 2001 is shown in Fig-

ure 1. Note that our membership dues rev-

enue has been generally flat over that peri-

od. In comparison, the annual expenses are

shown in Figure 2. Note a general down-

ward trend over the last few years with the

exception of 2011.

At this point we need to focus a moment

on a very significant item – the Conference.

If you look at Figure 1 you will quickly ob-

serve that the Conference is the largest

source of revenue for the organization. The

associated expenses are significant too, and

expenses depend upon the location where

fRoM tHe tReasUReR

figure 1. Income (Gross Profit on store sales).

figure 2. Expenses.


the Conference is held. In 2011 we held

the Conference in Washington D.C. That

is one of the more expensive venues to use,

but the Board of Directors thought it was

still appropriate for our 50th Anniversary.

Figure 3 shows the net profit derived from

the Conference.

The bottom line is shown in Figure 4.

Our conversion expense to iMIS in 2009

exceeded the amount that we were nega-

tive by around $11,000, so this clearly ac-

counts for the 2009 negative results, and

otherwise it would be positive by about

$11,000 for that year.

As you can see, 2011 was our lowest

profit year. (That is the year for which we

just completed our audit.) It was a diffi-

cult year for us, and thankfully 2012 does

appear much better. (Results for 2012 are

preliminary and have not yet been audit-

ed.) Your board is fully aware of the over-

all situation (see comments in the October

Metrologist “From the Boardroom” article)

and our 2013 budget reflects some signifi-

cant decreases.

We are just now beginning to work with-

in the redefined membership structure.

The details of those changes were previ-

ously addressed, but in brief the new mem-

bership structure allows small distributed

teams within a company to work under

a single membership. But it also requires

large organizations, which early in our his-

tory were required to maintain multiple

memberships, to again purchase multiple

memberships. This will fit some members

much better, but in a few cases will increase

the number of memberships purchased.

We will have to wait to see what the im-

pact of that is.

After a lot of detail, let me now look to

summarize the picture. We all know that

not many years ago our economy went

through some difficult times. We also rec-

ognize that all those troubles are not yet be-

hind us, but to a large extent our organiza-

tion took the brunt of that economic cycle

in 2011. In general the economy is starting

to do much better, and businesses are run-

ning better too. Your Board of Directors has

responded through these difficult times.

They had the wisdom to maintain some

buffer to help us through such a business

cycle, which is always going to come. And

there are some exciting things happening.

The work and growth in Canada is excit-

ing. The education outreach for metrology

is penetrating our schools and generating

some interest. There is plenty to be excited

about, and plenty to get involved with. I

want to encourage you to find a commit-

tee that fits your work and dig in. Then tell

your peers what is happening when you

attend your next local meeting.

If you have any questions concerning

our finances, please direct those to me; I

can be reached by email.

[email protected]

figure 3. conference net Profit.

figure 4. net Profit.

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2995 Wilderness Place, Suite 107 | Boulder, CO 80301 | www.ncsli.org | 303-440-3339

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Friday, July 12 8:00 AM — 12:00 pMT1 — Train the Trainer: Creating an Excellent

Training ProgramGeorgia Harris, NIST, Weights and MeasuresThis session will cover the elements associated with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) standard and the associated activities of several organizations in moving toward compliance with this benchmark. Resources and examples will be shared for each element of the standard. This session will be especially useful for training directors and leaders in the metrology training community to become more familiar with this standard and then to develop and implement compliant programs.

Friday, July 12 1:00 pM — 5:00 pM T2 — Train the Trainer: Making Effective PresentationsDilip Shah, E = MC3 SolutionsTechnical Subject matter experts are frequently required to train a broad spectrum of individuals, including co-workers. They frequently think that facts, statistics and data speak for themselves. Facts require analysis, assessment, and evaluation. Facts require translation and interpretation from their knowledge base to that of the audience. The key to successfully presenting complex information is not what they say or do but what their audience hears and sees. Their ability to communicate simply, passionately and clearly will often determine whether the audience understands the content being delivered. This workshop shall demonstrate some effective presentation techniques with hands-on exercises that will change the way one makes their presentations in the future.

Saturday, July 13 and Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM — 5:00 pM, 2-dayT3 — An Introduction to Instrument Control

and Calibration Automation in LabVIEW™Logan Kunitz, National InstrumentsAutomation of instrument calibration improves repeatability of service, reduces manpower requirements, and improves service margin. Many calibration laboratories understand the benefits of automation, but feel they lack the appropriate software development skills to perform coding tasks. Modern programming environments and tools are extremely powerful, but can seem daunting to laboratory engineers. Alleviating these concerns, a number of software companies supply simplified tools and libraries to ease the interactions between calibration standards and automation software. Additionally, programming tools exist that are designed with the automation engineer in mind. During this two day hands-on tutorial, session participants will explore the LabVIEW™ environment, learn to develop, instrument control, data-logging, and measurement analysis applications. At the end of the course, they will be able to create applications using basic design templates and architectures to automate processes, acquire, process, display, and store real-world data.

Saturday, July 13 and Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM — 5:00 pM, 2-day T4 — Balance Calibration and Use in an Analytical

EnvironmentMark Rueffenacht, Heusser Neweigh and Val Miller, NISTThis NIST Seminar will discuss the sources of weighing errors in analytical environments, methodologies for quantifying the errors, and computation of balance calibration uncertainty. The concepts and materials previously used in a one-day NCSLI tutorial will be expanded. Attention will be given to error sources, selection of standards, and various calibration and testing

Peter Unger is President and CEO of the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA).

Mr. Unger has been involved with national laboratory accreditation since 1978. Prior to attaining his current position in April 1996, Mr. Unger served as Vice President of the Association and prior to that, was Associate Manager of Laboratory Accreditation at the National Bureau of Standards.

Mr. Unger serves as Chair of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) for 2010-2014. Mr. Unger has a BS degree in systems engineering from Princeton University and a masters in environmental management from George Washington University.

How important is Accreditation in a Fast Paced Society?

How important is Accreditation in a Fast Paced Society?Calibration service providers, office sales teams, directors, managers, they’re all working fast and competitively to provide timely and cost effective services, how does all this play out? Does accreditation matter?

By the 1980s calibration laboratory accreditation was well established in Europe, Asia and Australia (Australasia). In the United States, however, it was non-existent. Since then, accreditation has grown dramatically in the U.S. as well as worldwide and continues to be a hot topic with ISO/IEC 17025 General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories. The NCSLI played a leading role in this by developing accreditation in North America and providing 17025 supplements and the Z540 Standards. Accreditation to calibration documentary standards has driven requirements for accredited calibration services, thus stimulating the growth of accreditations.

With technology moving at the fastest pace in a decade, industry too has had to keep up. We’re modeling uncertainties on our phones; we’re exchanging data over the internet. Customers are verifying accreditation and scope 24/7. Corporations must continue to respond and adapt to this globally. The need for authenticating metrological traceability is a driving force. ILAC and BIPM have established principles for the determination of internationally acceptable paths for metrological traceability and technical barriers to trade.

This keynote address will provide some history on accreditation and the future development of accreditation in the U.S. and worldwide including the roles played by industry organizations and industry groups. Although not a panacea, accreditation has been helpful in improving calibration services. I will provide an overview of current ILAC requirements for accreditation of calibration laboratories, how accreditation requirements should be specified and my thoughts on accreditation becoming a de facto credential for providing calibration services to the marketplace.

KeYNote Address



procedures used in the balance industry. Time will be spent in hands-on exercises calibrating a variety of balances, accumulating data, and developing uncertainty budgets. The focus will then move to use of balances in an analytical environment where compliance with pharmaceutical (FDA/USP) and international requirements will be discussed and practiced. Methodologies for process measurement assurance techniques in analytical weighing will also be covered. Participants should leave with a working knowledge of balance calibration methods, uncertainty estimation, measurement assurance concepts and minimum balance load computations that can be applied directly to their applications. This NIST Seminar is designed for beginner to advanced users of balances or calibration managers wanting a better understanding of balances and associated uncertainties in organizations where analytical weighing is an integral part of operations. Limited to 30 participants. (Laptop with spreadsheet capability and/or scientific calculator strongly encouraged.)

Saturday, July 13 8:00 AM — 5:00 pMT5 — Fundamentals of Calibration in Dimensional

MetrologyJim Salsbury, Amosh Kumar, Gordon Skattum, Mitutoyo CorporationThis tutorial provides an overview of calibration techniques and key issues in dimensional metrology. This tutorial will include a variety of hands-on practical calibration exercises. All the major types of dimensional calibrations will be discussed. We will start by studying the calibration, use, and traceability issues of the standards used in the field, such as gage blocks, ring gages, optical flats, thread wires, and length standards. We will then discuss the calibration of common small measuring tools such as micrometers, calipers, dial indicators, and height gages. Hands-on exercises in the calibration of small tools will include procedures, worksheets, and certificates. We will also discuss the field calibration of major instruments such as optical comparators and coordinate measuring machines. In addition to presenting specific calibration methods, a goal of the tutorial is on developing understanding of the principles behind the dimensional calibration methods thereby giving the attendee the necessary tools to extend the tutorial concepts to other types of calibrations. With that goal in mind, not only will recommended procedures be presented, but also optional methods, sources of errors and methods to reduce them, and techniques for estimating the uncertainty of measurement.

Saturday, July 13 8:00 AM — 5:00 pM T6 — Understanding ISO/IEC 17025 Requirements and

Most Common DeficienciesPam Wright, A2LAThis full-day tutorial covers ISO/IEC 17025 requirements as well as the ten most commonly cited deficiencies for laboratories that are currently accredited, are in the process of obtaining their ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation or for those who are interested in applying the ISO/IEC 17025 requirements in their laboratory. Learning objectives for this full day workshop include:• Introduction of the conformity assessment hierarchy• Introduction of important words and phrases of the

ISO/IEC 17025 standard • Introduction of the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025• Applying ISO/IEC 17025 requirements in the laboratory

through team exercises• Introduction of the most common

ISO/IEC 17025 deficiencies and their root causeThis workshop is targeted for anyone who is interested in an overview of the ISO/IEC 17025 standard and how it is applied in an audit setting.

Saturday, July 13 8:00 AM — 12:00 pMT7 — Fundamentals of Gas Flow MeasurementBob DeRemer, CSA InternationalThe main thrust of the “Fundamentals of Gas Flow Measurement” tutorial will be the comparison of volumetric flow meters and mass flow meters used in gas flow measurement applications. Specific topics that will be covered will include principles of operation of various types of flow meters, factors that influence when to choose a mass flow meter or a volumetric flow meter, how to interpret performance specifications, how the various types of meters are calibrated, and an example of measurement uncertainty.

Saturday, July 13 8:00 AM — 5:00 pMT8 — Pressure MetrologyMike Bair, Fluke CalibrationThis full day tutorial covers all the fundamental challenges of calibrating pressure instruments. The first half of the tutorial concentrates on the physics that have an effect on pressure measurement, including measurement modes, engineering units, the equation for a dead weight pressure gauge, the ideal gas law, surface tension and viscosity. The discussion includes practical considerations such as hardware selections, environmental concerns and data acquisition for all modes, fluids and ranges. The second half applies those concepts to hands-on exercises with equipment supplied by the instructor. All participants will have the opportunity to take low pressure gas and high pressure oil calibrations. Error analysis and sources of uncertainties are discussed that are relevant to the hands on exercises.

Saturday, July 13 8:00 AM — 5:00 pMT9 — Running the Effective Laboratory Better –

Data Driven Improvements that MatterJesse Morse, Morse Metrology and Malcolm Smith, WesCan CalibrationToday’s business and organizational climates have usurped traditional “seat-of-the-pants” calibration management by insisting on continuous improvement and the use of data based management decisions. Caught up in this new paradigm are independent calibration companies and calibration laboratories operating within and servicing their own organizations. This “How To” tutorial focuses on getting your calibration operation to maximum operational effectiveness, which will lead you directly to improvements in efficiencies. The tutorial covers five areas where performance measurement is critical in running an effective calibration operation. The five areas are: 1) customer satisfaction, 2) quality, 3) service levels, 4) productivity, and 5) finance. You will learn a range of necessary metrics and tools to help establish baselines and laboratory performance over time, which you can use to establish goals and monitor performance in each of the five mentioned areas. Suggestions on how you might use these tools in practice will be provided. Also, the tutorial includes examples of measurements you need for process improvement projects, along with examples of real life, practical experiences in implementing the many new ways of thinking associated with the paradigm. Anyone involved in or responsible for calibration management should take this tutorial.

Saturday, July 13 1:00 pM — 5:00 pMT10 — Microwave Network Analysis and Power CalibrationsBart Schrijver, Agilent TechnologiesThis tutorial will focus on an introduction to microwave measurement concepts and specifically on network analysis and RF power measurement. The measurement architecture of both types of measurements will be shown and described in detail. In addition, topics like signal flow diagrams, S-parameters, network analyzer calibration, calibration techniques, uncertainty analysis and traceability for both network analysis and power measurements will be reviewed.

Saturday, July 13 1:00 pM — 5:00 pM T11 — Root Cause AnalysisRob Knake, A2LAThis half-day tutorial will provide tips and tools that can be used to identify the true root cause for identified problems/nonconformities. Many standards such as ISO/IEC 17025 and ISO 9001 require your quality management systems have a procedure for investigating and eliminating the root cause of a nonconformance during the corrective action process. Learning objectives for this half-day workshop include:• Tips on how to start a Root Cause Analysis (RCA)• Principles of RCA• How to identity the different types of causes• General process for performing a RCA• Tools and Techniques for performing a RCA• Pitfalls to avoid when performing a RCA• Examples of RCAsThis workshop is targeted for anyone who is interested in improving their Root Cause Analysis techniques to ensure that their corrective actions are effective and resolve the identified problems/nonconformities.

Saturday, July 13 1:00 pM — 5:00 pM T12 — Control Charts and Stability Analysis for

Calibration Laboratory Reference StandardsJeff Gust, Fluke CalibrationThis tutorial provides instruction on how to develop control charts for reference standards utilized in the calibration laboratory. The tutorial will primarily discuss electrical standards, but the application is valid for any metrological discipline. The primary focus will be an in-depth discussion of using linear regression to have a more complete understanding of all sources of uncertainty associated with reference standards. The tutorial also provides ideas about using control charts for daily use of check standards for calibrations that may perform a single measurement such as gage blocks. Real world examples of Laboratory Reference Standards will be used during the tutorial. • The mathematics of linear regression• The mathematics to determine the uncertainty of the

regressed value• The mathematics to estimate the uncertainty for

predicted values based on linear regression• How to build your own spreadsheets and control charts

in Excel• Analyzing data from a regression analysis• Outlier detection and data purging techniques• Consideration for accounting for uncertainty of

reference standards that do not appear to be stable• Using control charts in daily work for a more complete

understanding of the measurement uncertainty for a given process.


Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM — 12:00 pMT13 — Measurement UncertaintySuzanne Castrup, Integrated Sciences GroupThis half-day tutorial provides an overview of important uncertainty analysis principles and methods contained in NCSLI RP-12-2013 Determining and Reporting Measurement Uncertainty. Best practices, procedures and guidelines for applying these principles and methods will be discussed and illustrated. This tutorial is intended for metrology and quality assurance personnel responsible for estimating and reporting measurement uncertainty.

Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM — 12:00 pMT14 — Fundamentals of Temperature CalibrationMike Coleman, Fluke CalibrationThis presentation is a review of the fundamentals of temperature calibration. Topics include calibration equipment, calibration techniques, curve fitting issues, and the mathematics important to thermometry. Types of thermometers covered include platinum resistance thermometers, thermistors, thermocouples, and combined thermometer/readout systems. This segment is intended for those who are new to temperature calibration, those who need to validate what they already know, or those who just have some nagging questions that need to be answered.

Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM — 5:00 pM T15 — Calibration of Microwave Power SensorsAndy Brush, Tegam CorporationSensors that measure low-power (below 100 mW) levels of guided RF energy in the frequency range from 100 kHz to over 100 GHz have a wide range of industrial uses. Traceability of these sensors to the SI units is complicated, involving conversion of RF energy to thermal energy and substituting DC energy. Additionally, measurement of RF scattering parameters is required to reduce error in calibration transfer. When the measurand is calculated from complex scattering parameters, DC voltage and DC resistance, the propagation of uncertainty is particularly involved. This tutorial starts with a theoretical basis for the transfer of RF power, then explains the practice of actually calibrating and adjusting RF power sensors, including the measurement of power nonlinearity. After a theoretical foundation is established, practical examples will be worked, showing students how to create their own uncertainty budgets for RF power calibrations. Multiple methods for estimating uncertainty will be presented. To cap the tutorial, a common RF power sensor will be calibrated and adjusted using commercial automation software, and the setup and output will be explained from the perspective of the lab technician. This class is suitable for most technicians or engineers with a basic knowledge of RF equipment. Complex numbers and differential calculus are employed, briefly, however skill with these concepts are not required for this course.

Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM — 5:00 pM T16 — Applying LEAN Techniques in a Calibration

Laboratory EnvironmentDean Williams, Duke Energy and Tom Knight, Invistics CorporationThis hands-on and practical interactive one day tutorial provides participants with a basic knowledge of the history and principles of LEAN and how those principles might apply to a calibration laboratory environment. The tutorial will also present examples of actual recent LEAN initiatives applied at the Duke Energy Standards Lab which reduced waste and calibration turn times while streamlining overall operations. The participants will then use this background knowledge to identify and develop strategies for application to their own specific calibration operation. All participants will be provided

with a student workbook which documents the information that was presented, contains useful exercises, and provides a list of helpful resources for future reference and study.The participants will be able to:• Identify the basic tenants of LEAN• Define key LEAN terminology (e.g. Jidoka, Muda, Mura)• Create and evaluate simple Value Stream Maps• Identify the different types of “waste” within their laboratory• Apply basic PULL and related LEAN principles to improve

throughput and reduce turn times and inventory needs.• Optimize inventory levels of various instrument types

using LEAN methods, to prevent excessive testing requirements while ensuring availability of all necessary instruments

• Utilize existing data to improve flow and implement LEAN pull methods.

Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM – 5:00 pMT17 — Auditing, Traceability, and Auditing TraceabilityBarbara Belzer and Kari Harper, NVLAP, Isabelle Amen, SCC This tutorial will be of interest to managers and staff of laboratories with new or mature quality systems. It will cover what constitutes objective evidence by stepping through the internal audit process, including skills that an auditor needs to have to be effective. The tutorial will emphasize the importance of records for all aspects of the management system including reference documents, method validation and their interdependency with metrological traceability and reporting results. Using the described internal audit process prior to an on-site assessment companies new to the accreditation process as well those with mature quality systems will be able to prepare better for an upcoming on-site assessment.

Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM – 12:00 pMT18 — Intermediate Dimensional MetrologyTed Doiron, NISTThere are a large number of books on dimensional metrology, and a few classes and tutorials, but nearly all of them are at the beginner level — how to use the instruments for inspection. Thermal expansion, elastic deformation, stability, refractive index of air, closure and reversal methods, and the large collection of tricks-of-the-trade that make up Dimensional Metrology are generally ignored. This tutorial will be an overview of important techniques and concepts not covered in books and classes. Each concept will be presented with examples of how the techniques make measurements more accurate, and in some cases, more efficient.

Sunday, July 14 8:00 AM – 12:00 pM T19 — Fundamentals of Torque CalibrationHenry Zumbrun and William Lane, Morehouse Instruments This presentation is a review of the fundamentals of torque calibration. Topics include an overview of torque standards including ASTM-E2428 and BS7882, uncertainty of torque calibration standards, Type A and B uncertainty analysis, torque calibration equipment, calibration and testing of torque transducers, proper calibration techniques, error sources associated with torque calibration, and why proper torque measurement is more than just a traceable length and mass calibration. This segment will cover torque transducers as well as proper torque wrench use. There will be a “hands-on” demonstration on how to properly use a torque wrench and the errors associated with improper handling. This segment is intended for those who are involved with torque calibration, those wanting to minimize the errors associated with improper use of torque equipment, and for those who have questions that need to be answered.

tutoriAl progrAm Sunday, July 14

Sunday, July 14 1:00 pM — 5:00 pMT20 — Measurement Decision RiskDr. Howard Castrup, Integrated Sciences GroupThis tutorial presents methods for the analysis of measurement decision risk (MDR). These methods include classical analysis, Bayesian analysis and confidence level analysis. In addition to MDR analysis methods, a number of special topics are outlined, including estimating alternative measurement quality metrics, the development of test guardbands, the analysis of “true” vs. “observed” in-tolerance probability, developing risk-based confidence limits, uncertainty growth and MDR during use. A brief summary of related uncertainty analysis concepts and methods is also presented.

The tutorial is built around NCSLI’s RP-18, Estimating and Evaluating Measurement Decision Risk. It is intended for individuals with a need to develop and apply tools for the control of MDR, with attention given to compliance with Z540.3. Although some college level math will be employed, related concepts will be fleshed out to ensure comprehension by attendees with moderate mathematical training.

Sunday, July 14 1:00 pM — 5:00 pMT21 — Force CalibrationMike Tovey, Tovey EngineeringForce calibration is a special discipline with many considerations not common to other areas of metrology. Often measurement uncertainties are underestimated due to the omission of significant error sources. Metrologists must consider both mechanical and electrical boundary conditions to achieve calibrations with low measurement uncertainties. Factors such as second order material responses, and interaction of undesired parasitic loading due to fixture characteristics, misalignment of load frame components, stiffness, etc. can have significant influence on the measurement result. This tutorial will cover the characteristics of force transducers, force calibration methods, force calibration standards (E74 and ISO 376) and measurement uncertainty models for primary standards, secondary standards and field transfer standards. The tutorial begins at a basic level and leads to discussion of more complex issues.

Sunday, July 14 1:00 pM — 5:00 pMT22 — Fundamentals of Radiation Thermometry

CalibrationFrank Liebmann, Fluke CalibrationThis presentation is an overview of the basic knowledge necessary to perform radiation thermometer calibrations. The presentation is divided into two parts. The first part is a lecture covering the basics of radiation temperature measurement and infrared thermometry calibration. The second part is a hands-on portion which covers the steps necessary to make a calibration measurement, plus a number of tests to determine measurement uncertainty, and the computation of uncertainties following international standards. The attendee will be provided with a spreadsheet to facilitate the computation of uncertainty. The type of radiation thermometer covered in this presentation is an infrared thermometer with a thermopile detector and an 8 — 14 µm bandwidth. However, the principals taught are applicable to other classifications of radiation thermometers to include radiation thermometers with pyroelectric detectors and thermal imagers. The presentation is geared to those who are new to radiation thermometer calibration, those who need a refresher on the subject, and to those who would like to perform better calibrations.

A2LA — American Association for Laboratory Accreditation

A.K.O. Inc. Tourque Specialties Div.

Additel Corporation

Agilent Technologies

Ametek Test & Calibration Instruments

Andeen-Hagerling, Inc.

ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board/ACLASS

AssetSmart

ASQ-MQD

BAE Systems, Inc.

Bios International Corporation

Bruel & Kjaer North America Inc.

Calibrate, Inc.

Cal-Matrix Metrology, Inc.

CONDEC

Data Proof

Edison ESI/Southern California Edison

Essco Calibration Lab

EURAMET

Exelon PowerLabs

FasTest, Inc.

Fluke Calibration

GE Measurement & Control

Guildline Instruments

Heusser Neweigh

IEEE

INSCO Metrology, Inc.

Interface, Inc.

International Accreditation Service

Isotech North America

K&S Associates, Inc.

King Nutronics Corporation

Laboratory Accreditation Bureau

Lockheed Martin Global Training & Logistics

Lockheed Martin Technical Operations

Mahr Federal, Inc.

Martel Electronics Corporation

Measurement Science Conference

Measurements International

MEATEST s.r.o.

Mensor Corporation

Mettler-Toledo, Inc.

Michell Instruments, Inc.

Mitutoyo America Corporation

Morehouse Instrument Company

National Association for Proficiency Testing

National Instruments

National Metrology Institute of Japan (AIST)

National Research Council of Canada

National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditraion Program (NVLAP)

NIST Measurement

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Ohm-Labs, Inc.

On Time Support, Inc.

Pond Engineering Laboratories, Inc.

Pratt & Whitney Measurement Systems

Precision Environments, Inc.

Quality Vision Services, Inc.

Radian Research, Inc.

Ralston Instruments. LLC

RH Systems, LLC

Rice Lake Weighing Systems

Rotronic Instrument Corporation

Sartorius Mechatronics Corporation

SIM

SIMCO Electronics

Tegam

Tektronix, Inc.

TestEquity LLC

The Bionetics Corporation

The Boeing Company

The Modal Shop

Thunder Scientific Corporation

Tovey Engineering, Inc.

Transcat, Inc.

Transmille Calibration

Trescal

Vaisala, Inc.

Vibration Research Corporation

Western Environmental Corporation

WorkPlace Training

Quality Digest

Quality Magazine

Exhibitors

tuesdAY, JulY 16, 2013 6:00 PM — 10:00 PM | General Jackson Showboat

Attire: Casually comfortable Tickets: $50; Guest Tickets: $90

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Main Group Rate: $184 | Main Group Code: NCSL International Government Group Rate: $107 | Government Group Code: NCSL International

All rooms will pay a $15 Resort Fee. Gaylord Hotels have joined the Marriott portfolio of brands. Your stay at Gaylord hotels will receive member benefits including earning points, miles and elite nights, and redeeming for free nights.

2013 NCSLI Workshop & Symposium Registration Rates

Early Rate Ends March 1

Regular Rate Ends May 31

Late Rate Begins June 1

Full Conference Registration (Member / Non-Member)

$1,015 / $1,240 $1,065 / $1,290 $1,165 / $1,390

One Day Registration $450

Extra Luncheon Tickets $35

Banquet Tickets (attendees) $50

Guest Banquet Tickets $90

2013 Tutorial program Rates

Early Rate Ends March 1

Regular Rate Ends May 31

Two Day Tutorial Rate (Member / Non-Member) $700 / $800 $750 / $825

Full Day Tutorial Rate (Member / Non-Member) $425 / $550 $450 / $575

Half Day Tutorial Rate (Member / Non-Member) $250 / $375 $275 / $400

Join us on the General Jackson Showboat the world’s grandest showboat offering delicious meals and world-class entertainment while cruising down the majestic Cumberland River in Nashville, Tennessee. You’ll have an unforgettable time aboard this historic 300-foot-long showboat taking you on a fun-packed journey featuring four decks and music born in Tennessee. Catch everything from bluegrass to soul, a little gospel and, of course, country music! NCSLI will bus you to the dock and back to the hotel.

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Toward a MetrologyInformation Infrastructure

standardize and automate

by Mark Kuster, Pantex Metrology, Contributing Editor

G reetings to everyone this New

Year. This article highlights some

technological opportunities our industry

has to increase the value we and our cus-

tomers receive through calibration. We

plan to develop this line of thought into

a series and perhaps a forum to show-

case ideas to apply computer science

and other technology to streamline our

operations. More than that, I urge that

we realize the ideas in practice, whether

through individual initiative, organiza-

tional goals, NCSLI committees, interna-

tional standards, or other venues. Having

just inherited the NCSLI Metrology Prac-

tices Committee (MPC) from Dr. Howard

Castrup (and finding those shoes un-

surprisingly large), I see an MPC role in

this adventure, and roles for many other

working groups and organizations also.

SPECIAL FEATURESpecial Feature


Opportunity KnocksAs you know, metrology revolves around standards–measurement

standards, normative standards, standard measurement practices,

etc.–to achieve consistent quality results. Metrology, like other in-

dustries, also depends on automation and standardized interoper-

ability to attain and enhance that quality at reduced cost. Witness

the long history of automated calibration software, standardized

instrument communications busses, and the more recent laborato-

ry management systems and forays into wireless instrument com-

munication and flexible measurement standards. We also contin-

ually strive to reduce our measurement uncertainties via improved

processes, techniques, training and instruments.

But metrology comprises more than just instrument calibration

and workload management: Consider documentation, uncertain-

ty analysis, conformance testing risk analysis, equipment and

service procurement, accreditation, interlaboratory comparisons

and proficiency tests, specification use and development, product

inspections, etc. How many such tasks have we standardized and

automated, and how many consume human resources at every

repetition? For example:

• Whydowestillhandlepapercalibrationcertificatesortheirpdf

cousins and manually transcribe their content?

• Whydon’tourcertificatescontainfulltraceabilitychainsallthe

way to the SI and itemize each intermediate calibration process

uncertainty contributor?

• Whydowemanuallysearchandinterpretaccreditationscopes

and instrument specifications?

• How does a customer evaluate a calibrated instrument’s mea-

surement quality over its full range and function set, when we

only provide a finite number of measurement points? For that

matter, how do we know we picked an adequate calibration

point set?

• How much would manually creating and maintaining uncer-

tainty budgets for 40,000 unique test points cost a laboratory?

• Doweprovidecustomersvaluableservicesorjustincreasetheir

overhead costs? Do they know we provide valuable services?

Those and similar questions have a

common answer: Our computing systems

(potential automation) do not “talk shop”;

they share no standard language (semantic

structure) by which to record and interpret

metrology information, and thus the ma-

chine servants leave many routine tasks to

their supposed masters.

Even from an industry viewpoint only

20 years old, today’s global metrology

infrastructure amazes me: Rigorous trace-

ability to the SI, quantum and atomic mea-

surement standards, frequent key compari-

sons between national metrology institutes

(NMIs), measurement science journals

constantly publishing new research and

development, international quality stan-

dards, laboratory accreditation and mutual

recognition agreements, conferences and

trade shows, and a plethora of innovative

instrument manufacturers, all supporting local and worldwide

trade. It seems we widely adopt economical measurement technol-

ogy and quality practices as soon as we characterize or understand

them, but information technology–not so much. Perhaps the glob-

al measurement network lacks one important link: a metrology

information infrastructure (MII or MI2).

A what? A set of standards, data structures, and communication

protocols for advertising, communicating, sharing, and using the

gold mine of information generated by everyday metrology op-

erations. Any metrology software, whether for uncertainty analy-

sis, automated calibration, laboratory management, accreditation

searches, etc., should know how to read and write measurement

data from or for any other metrology system.

Let us imagine how we would use some future MII. Say you

would like to buy instruments for a particular application, find

accredited calibration sources, and procure the calibrations. You

might enter the requirements into your future laboratory manage-

ment system. It would know how to communicate those require-

ments to sites advertising measurement equipment and services,

find instruments that meet your specifications to an arbitrary level

of detail, and locate current scopes of accreditation with the re-

quired parameters, ranges, and uncertainties. Once you make and

execute the purchase decisions, your software loads newly received

electronic calibration certificates, verifies the calibration source and

accreditation validity via the embedded cryptographic signatures,

and automatically feeds the certificate’s administrative and tech-

nical data to your workload management, analysis modules, and

downstream traceability chains. Perhaps no one even touches a

paper certificate or manually transcribes a single number.

Want to calibrate the instruments in-house? Have your software

download the electronic instrument specifications, complete with

the manufacturer’s performance model and perhaps its communica-

tions protocol–everything your software would use to automatically

select test points and generate calibration procedures commensu-

rate with your measurement standards and operating practices.

Maybe you have a global operation and don’t know how well an

overseas calibration vendor’s measurements and foreign NMI satis-

sPecIal featURe


fy your requirements? Push another button

and let your software mine all the calibra-

tion certificates of interest, their linked in-

ternet sources, and the BIPM Key Compar-

ison Database to verify and list the degree

of equivalence between the measurements

you will make in widely scattered factories

and service centers.

What about product test results? The

right software with your test system’s

electronic calibration certificates might au-

tomatically correct every test result for

known bias, identify results with high false

accept risk, etc. That would provide our

testing community customers immediate

tangible value.

ImplementationStandardize and automate. The ideas above

venture far beyond simple text-based inter-

net and document searches; they require

structured meta-data or other semantics

that delineate measurands, measurement

data, uncertainties, and specifications; thus,

in this context, electronic means much more

than simply paperless. Grounding such no-

tions implies writing normative standards

and software. To grasp at the most difficult

aspect first, effective standards require mul-

tiparty participation, often a slow process

of proposals, counter proposals, reviews

and negotiations. That means we should

start yesterday. The main measurement

communication vehicles I see at this junc-

ture include key comparison databases,

instrument specification sheets, accredi-

tation scopes, and calibration certificates;

we might add interlaboratory comparison

results in general to that list. We should

develop standards that address information

content and format for all these vehicles. As

a searchable database with known meaning

already contains Key Comparison results,

that element leads the others in progress

toward an MII.

A finite, though increasing, number

of quantities and measurement methods

underlie all our work. We should develop

standardized and extensible measurement

scenario uncertainty templates for each of

those. Most metrology organizations use

uncertainty budgets, and though some un-

certainty components in similar scenarios

matter more or less at different traceability

levels, why should every analyst reinvent

the budget structures and components?

Likewise, our instrument specification

language would benefit from a standard vo-

cabulary. VIM1-like guides provide an onto-

logical foundation; ISO and national stan-

dards and recommended practices should

frame the structure. We should define terms

for instrument specifications, qualifiers, pa-

rameters, ranges, functions, etc. that will

support existing methodologies as well as

future electronic vehicles. NCSLI has begun a

recommended practice (RP-5) that overlaps

some of these ideas. Documents such as the

ISO-IEC 80000 series and NIST Special Publi-

cation 811 also serve as source material.

Creative individuals, organizations, and

open-source communities will no doubt

supply the software once we adopt the

standards. The minimum computer tech-

nology required probably existed at least

two decades ago, but meanwhile many

other potentially useful tools have arisen

to broaden the possibilities: URIs (Uni-

form Resource Identifiers), GUIDs (Glob-

ally Unique IDentifiers), XML (eXtensible

Markup Language), peer-to-peer commu-

nications, Web services, SOA (Service-Ori-

ented Architecture), SOAP (Simple Object

Access Protocol), the Semantic Web, OWL

(Web Ontology Language), and RDF (Re-

source Description Framework) to name a

few. Standard calculation libraries for a va-

riety of integrated devel-

opment environments

and specific to analytical

metrology would likely

help software developers

proceed.

We also have some

analytical work to do.

Though our industry has

laid broad foundations

for uncertainty analy-

sis, and perhaps more

narrow footings for risk

and calibration interval

analysis, we only glimpse

other elements on the

horizon. We should de-

velop instrument model-

ing methods to connect

our point-by-point cali-

bration results to an in-

strument’s overall spec-

ification conformance

status, measurement un-

certainty, and reliability,

all adjusted for time after

calibration. We will want

validation requirements

sPecIal featURe


and procedures for such models and our calibration point selec-

tions. Libraries of standardized and extensible instrument models

would aid manufacturers and users alike.

We should also improve our traceability requirements. Cur-

rently, we often reduce multiple traceability chains into a single

measurement result and report the requisite boiled-down infor-

mation: some subset of uncertainty, coverage factor, confidence

interval, and degrees of freedom (DOF). Unfortunately, the typ-

ical reporting process discards upstream correlation and DOF in-

formation that downstream analysts have no way to recover and

use. When traceability chains converge in a measurement process,

then diverge and merge again, correlations between chains be-

come relevant.

When we face complexity, we often make economic or conser-

vative choices and take analytical shortcuts, but with the right

infrastructure, computers remove the obstacles driving those

shortcuts. A simple example: When we only calculated on abaci,

slide rules and napkins, multidigit numbers inconvenienced us

and we invented significant-figures rules. When computers, not to

mention sophisticated software with arbitrary precision arithme-

tic, calculate results and uncertainties for us, dropping insignificant

figures becomes not only irrelevant, but a potentially counterpro-

ductive additional error source. As a community, we haven’t fully

realized and accepted that minor concept yet, mainly because our

computers still communicate through humans, i.e., paper and pdf

certificates and reports, which we attempt to burden only with

significant digits. If we standardize communication formats for

the information our work produces and write the software to use

it, we remove the associated human barriers to performance im-

provements.

Looking ForwardThis article has only scratched the surface and future articles will

likely also confine themselves to big-picture discussions. At the

2013 Measurement Science Conference, I plan to present some

preliminary and tentative technical detail underlying some of

these thoughts. As many concepts mentioned herein sprouted

from conversations with people at conferences and elsewhere, no

doubt you and your associates have related ideas and suggestions,

so please send me any questions or topics you would like addressed

or mentioned in these articles. Perhaps you know a more suitable

term than electronic to describe metrology vehicles that would em-

ploy an MII.

Many of you also have ties to NCSLI committees, national and

international standards organizations, and other related bodies. If

I have piqued your interest and you see an opportunity to assem-

ble a group to tackle one or more of these issues, please do so.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for the next MII installment, in which

we will delve deep into the calibration certificate. Thanks for your

time, and please consider how you might standardize and auto-

mate your manual processes. When opportunity knocks, answer

the door. Your solution will probably also work for many of us.

[email protected]

sPecIal featURe


The Centro Nacional de Metrologia

(CENAM) of Mexico has been spread-

ing metrological culture in benefit of

society in its various forms to promote

scientific and technological progress

and improvement in measurements

and comparisons in an environment

of innovation and improvement. As a

result, one of its most successful events

to promote and disseminate metrology

has been the Metrology Symposium.

In 2012, CENAM presented the 10th

Symposium with the theme of “In-

novation in measurements for better

quality of life.”

CENAM is proud to have succeeded

in fulfilling the mission of the event

which consists of the dissemination

of knowledge and metrological devel-

opment. CENAM invites experts from

various countries, national experts,

authorities, users, suppliers, academics

and students, who shared and learned

about the latest developments and in-

novations in the field of metrology.

The sectors identified include the sci-

entific, technological, industrial, busi-

ness, environment, health, academic,

and government policy, among others.

During October 8 to 12, metrologists

from around the world had the oppor-

tunity to share experiences and contri-

butions from leading experts in plena-

ry lectures, contributions from various

participant experts, professionals, tech-

nicians and students through research

and development in oral and poster

sessions, together with training in

short courses and specialized sessions.

The event program included:

Ten (10) plenary and semi plenary

sessions (from INMETRO, NIST, NRC,

NMIJ and Precision Trapet). CENAM

appreciates the many contributions

that benefit quality, trade, and innova-

tion in metrology, in addition to collab-

oration in the development of metro-

logical infrastructure in Latin America.

During the Symposium, we identi-

fied significant advances in fluid flow,

chemistry, statistics, reference mate-

rials, safety, calibration, and time and

frequency oriented to the improvement

of methodologies, processes, devices for

measuring and comparing science and

technology developed in the environ-

ments of National Metrology Institutes

of USA, Canada, Brazil, and Japan as

well as from leading industry experts.

This year’s Symposium included:

• 129paperspresented(81oraland47

poster; 49 % CENAM, 34 % Mexico,

17 % International)

• 25Oralpresentations;

• 40 Sponsors/Exhibitors (including

NCSL International)

Dr Hector nava at opening session.

Mexican Night Banquet.

thursday Poster session.

2012 cenaMsimposio de Metrologia “Innovation in Measurements for a better Quality life”by Dr. Vicente González Juáre


• 12ShortCourses:

Short courses included Metrology topics of interest such as: pro-

ficiency testing, calibration, health care, safety, food safety and

quality, temperature, pressure, volumetric container handling,

validation of methods to enforce regulations, evaluation and as-

sessment uncertainty.

• Eightspecializedworkinggroups:

We highlighted the IV National Electrical Metrology (ENME),

at the CENAM facilities, and the Sixth Conference-Workshop

of the North American Coordinate Metrology Association (NA-

CMA). The Inter-American Metrology System (SIM) held four

working group meetings in the areas of flow, solids and liquids

density; the National Calibration System held two meetings of

experts in the areas of force and torque and pressure and vacu-

um, and finally a Train the Trainer workshop was held with the

support of NCSL International.

Attendees were from around the world and included representa-

tion from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Co-

lombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Germany, Spain, United States, Guatema-

la, Japan, Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Overall, CENAM is pleased to announce a general attendance of

444 participants at the event representing an increase of 7 % since

the last Symposium.

We would like to express our appreciation for the kindness of our

promoters CONACYT and CONCYTEQ by providing support for

this event. We thank everyone who contributed their expertise in

research, development and advancements to feed our conferences,

meetings and exhibitions and scientific techniques. We thank the

participating sponsors showing their progress both in the showroom

as well as oral presentations. We appreciate the participation of the

Symposium Committee and all those who supported their special-

ties to share their achievements during this event. The planning

and development of the event was conducted openly and achieved

all expectations. The high sense of responsibility and teamwork en-

vironment was essential, but, the enthusiasm and good humor was

also a crucial part of the smooth running of this event.

We look forward to the opportunity to have you participate in

the 11th Metrology Symposium in 2014! On behalf of the Nation-

al Centre of Metrology, CENAM, we thank you all for your kind

participation.

Dr. Vicente González Juárez,

Coordinator of the 2012 Metrology Symposium


nacMa steve Phillips.

Mexican Night. t3 course ncslI sponsored.

Ignacio Hernandez, Humberto brandi and Georgia Harris. ncslI booth (lonnie & Georgia).

sPecIal featURe


By Georgia L. Harris, NIST Office of Weights and Measures

During the past four years, we have held “Train the Trainer” tu-

torials at the annual Workshop & Symposium and each class has

been full. I have also spent quite a bit of time in these columns

focus on Application. How do we get students/participants to

the Application level on Bloom’s taxonomy? (Recall: Knowledge,

Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evalua-

tion as the six cognitive levels.) It is a logical jump to have in-

structors know about Bloom’s taxonomy to ask – “are the trainers

who are attending the T3 tutorials getting to the application level

themselves?” and “Have we made a difference in the trainers?” I

certainly like to think that the T3 effort has been worthwhile, but

let’s take the opportunity to ask some of our repeat attenders! I

asked a series of interview questions to some previous attendees

so you could hear directly from them.

The following four instructors provided us with some great

ideas: Rob Knake (A2LA), Vernon Alt (Northrop Grumman), Pam

Wright (A2LA) and Mark Ruefenacht (Heusser-Neweigh). I found

their responses very insightful and I hope you will too.

What is one thing you’ve learned in the past T3 sessions that

you have implemented and found especially effective? Tell us

about an example of a best practice that you’d like to share or

an example activity that was fun and effective.

Rob: I learned to provide effective training exercises to keep the

trainees engaged in the learning experience. I utilized the inter-

view example suggested by Dilip Shah during my root cause train-

ing and I felt that was very effective. I have also learned to write a

more descriptive and effective description of my training event to

clarify expectations of the training audience.

Vernon: Taking the time up front for casual introductions (tell

us something about yourself that others may not know) really

breaks the ice and sets the tone for interaction during the session.

Pam: As a result of the past sessions I implemented a hands-on

activity that was very effective; however it was conducted after

all the material had been presented. For the next training event

I plan to break the activity up into two sections and add some

True/ False or other type of mini-quiz to break up the “lecture”

portion and better gauge how the class is doing in understanding

the concepts.

Mark: Three things come to my mind immediately. 1) Effective

use of questions and/or comments that engage the participants in

dialogue. For example, at the end of a section, instead of asking,

“Who has any questions?” A simple re-wording of “What ques-

tions do you have?” naturally leads the participants into asking

questions instead of feeling that they have a question but are afraid

to ask or afraid they are the only person in the class with a question.

2) In metrology we are often teaching or communicating very tech-

nical information. Train-the-trainer has taught me that no matter

how technical the subject may be it is critical to keep verbiage on a

PowerPoint slide minimized. It is important to use a maximum of

five lines in large font with the most important point(s); preferably

in a bullet list format instead of a long paragraph. 3) Continuing

from keeping PowerPoint slides simple with only key points, pre-

senters must not read the slides…speak to the participants, not to

the slides. The slides simply highlight key concepts and help the

presenter remain focused on the outline of the presentation.

What is one thing you’ve learned, that you would like to see

other trainers implement?

Rob: I would like to see more trainers implement training exercises

that engage the audience. A lot of trainers spend time reading off of

slides which makes it hard to pay attention throughout the training.

Vernon: Use Bloom’s Taxonomy to set realistic goals for their

training sessions. It would require very light subject matter to

reach the analysis level in a one hour session.

t3 class Photo.

leaRnInG + DeVeloPMent

Train the

TrainerMetrology trainers applying What they learn


Pam: I think trainers need to include much

more hands-on learning and fewer lectures.

Mark: Be prepared! Have your slides print-

ed and available to follow throughout the

presentation. Know your material. Engage

the participants (dialogue, activities, etc.)

by not simply lecturing.

What is your number one challenge as

a trainer?

Rob: I often find it hard to create mean-

ingful exercises that will meet the training

needs of a broad spectrum of attendees. It

is hard to keep things general enough that

anyone can get valuable information from

an example but also put enough technical

information into the example to meet the

needs of a technician or a lab manager for

example. This is also a struggle when de-

veloping the course material. I often don’t

have a demographic on the audience when

preparing the course so it is hard to tailor

to the audience. Many times I am prepar-

ing a course based on a perceived need

and promoting it to a target audience. I

attempt to adapt as knowledge of the au-

dience is attained (through registration or

during the actual training) but this is one

of the biggest challenges I find.

Vernon: Educating the management who

requests training is the number one chal-

lenge. They feel that any subject matter

expert can transfer their knowledge to any

size group in a remarkably short training

session. It can be a training session in it-

self to get management to understand that

adult learning differs from grade school

and to realize that the variables involved at

the individual student level influences their

level of comprehension and retention.

Pam: My number one challenge is having

enough time to develop and test the train-

ing course before offering it to the public.

Mark: My number one issue is being able

to have advance contact with students to

advise them on learning objectives, prereq-

uisites, and timely and essential prepara-

tion before a session.

What do you love about the changes in

your own training as a result of partici-

pating in T3 sessions?

Rob: I love the interactions with other

trainers and sharing of ideas. I have “sto-

len” things from many participants.

Vernon: I love the fact that I can get a

better idea of what the students take away

from training and improve the lesson plan.

Prior to T3 sessions I foolishly and danger-

ously believed that when I provided train-

ing, the student was totally responsible for

smelling what I was cooking. I now have

a better understanding and appreciation

for the integration of material, student and

trainer.

Pam: As a result of changes I have made, I

get instant feedback on whether the audi-

ence is “getting it” or not and I have more

contact and discussions with the partici-

pants.

Mark: I love engaging with the partic-

ipants. Helping participants learn and

master challenging technical concepts is

exciting for me. Seeing a participant have

that “light-bulb moment” as a result of en-

gagement (dialogue, activity, Q&A) is very

satisfying as an instructor.

Other thoughts you’d like to share?

Rob: I have enjoyed the train the trainer

sessions and look forward to attending

many more to improve my skills as a rela-

tively new trainer.

Pam: I am currently struggling with how

to take this same approach when present-

ing a paper versus teaching a tutorial. This

would be a helpful focus for future “Train

the Trainer” events.

Mark: The T3 tutorials have assisted me in

being a better trainer, obtaining feedback

for continual improvement, and realizing

how much I enjoy sharing knowledge.

As an instructor, what are your ideas

and insights? Send me a message and let

me know! Be sure to sign up for this year’s

tutorials – we plan to have two half day

Train-the-Trainer sessions this year. I’ll be

teaching one on the components of an

“excellent training program,” reviewing

content from benchmarked educational

standards, and providing specific exam-

ples on how to implement the standards.

This session will be most useful for training

program directors and organizations who

want to implement educational standards

to ensure ongoing continual improvement

and training excellence.

As a student, let me ask you: have you

attended training in the past few years

that was somehow different? Has it been

more interactive and engaging? Have you

seen more discussions and activities being

used instead of “only” lecture? Do you feel

better prepared to apply the concepts and

skills? If you have suggestions for improve-

ments you would like to see, I am positive

that we have a group of instructors who

would like to know!

[email protected]

To schedule an on-sitedemonstration, please email us at:sales@transmillecalibration. com or call: 1-802-846-7582

transmillecalibration. com

DC Voltage = 4ppm,AC Voltage = 150ppm

Ohms = 8ppm, DC Current = 7ppm,AC Current = 300ppm

Plus Frequency, Temperature,Pressure, and more

leaRnInG + DeVeloPMent

theMetrology of

and

One of these is the fifth, a unit of volume that was once commonly

found on the labels of wine and spirit bottles. One fifth is equal to

1/5 of a gallon, or 4/5 of a quart, or 25.6 ounces. As a young boy I

heard an old gentleman tell a joke about a fellow who “celebrated

the fourth with a fifth.” I puzzled over that one, and didn’t get the

joke until many years later. There are also some nerdy musician

jokes about the fifth; for example, “after the fifth was diminished,

G was out flat,” that might fly over some of our heads.

The fifth began life as an approximation of the quart, probably

in an attempt to shortchange consumers. In the late 19th century,

it was common to refer to a bottle that looked like a quart but actu-

ally contained a bit less as a “commercial quart” or a “short quart,”

and these bottles eventually became known as fifths. The 1/5 of a

gallon definition officially died at the end of 1979, when the U.S.

Code of Federal Regulations was modified to require bottles of spir-

its to conform to the metric system. The largest sub-liter bottle size

specified by the new code was 750 mL, which became the standard

capacity of wine bottles sold worldwide. The new bottles happened

to be only slightly smaller than a fifth, which had a volume of

757 mL, so nostalgic types who prefer the old units still think of

750 mL as the “metric fifth.”

The pint, well known to all beer drinkers as the volume of a glass,

is perhaps even harder to understand. In the United States, a pint

equals 1/8 of a gallon, or 16 ounces, or about 473 mL. In the United

Kingdom and Ireland, a pint is still equal to a 1/8 of a gallon, but we

are now talking about imperial gallons, which are larger than U.S.

gallons. Thus, an imperial pint has a volume of 568 mL, making it

about 20 % larger than the U.S. pint. In other words, five pints in

the U.K. contain the same amount of beer as six pints in the U.S.,

something that world travelers should probably be aware of.

The world of alcoholic beverages involves some interesting metrics that are part of our popular culture, but are often not easily understood.

by Michael Lombardi, Contributing Editor

MetRoloGY In


BeerWine

Spirits


The U.S. pint can be traced back to the

pre-1824 British pint. The British Weights

and Measures Act of 1824 replaced all of

the various definitions of the gallon that

were in use in Europe at that time with a

new imperial gallon, which was based on

10 pounds of distilled water at a tempera-

ture of 62 °F. This resulted in 277.42 cu-

bic inches of water, or about 20 % more

than the gallon still recognized in the U.S.,

which contains 231 cubic inches exactly.

The 20 % increase in the gallon was passed

along to the pint. Ironically, the U.S. gal-

lon is much older than the country itself,

having been defined as the British wine

gallon in 1707, or more than 300 years ago.

You probably won’t find the pitcher or

keg listed in any tables of units, but beer is

often sold in bars by the pitcher, and dis-

tributed to bars by the keg. A pitcher, of

course, is simply the name given to a con-

tainer with a handle and a spout, and is

not a unit at all. But if you order a pitcher

of beer, how much beer will you get? It

depends, of course, on the type of contain-

er used by the establishment. The most

common pitcher size in the United States

is probably 3 ¾ U.S. pints, or 60 ounces. In

some places, pitchers could be a little larg-

er, perhaps ½ gallon or 64 ounces. Howev-

er, if you happen to be in a college bar or in

a one-star Las Vegas hotel, where a pitcher

might cost $5 or less, it’s likely that the

pitchers won’t hold more than three U.S.

pints, or 48 ounces. A friend of mine once

noted that plastic pitchers, particularly the

cheap ones that you can’t see through,

are always smaller than glass pitchers, al-

though that information is unverified and

not included in the guide to the SI. Those

miniature pitchers remind me of the old

Miller Lite advertising slogan, “Everything

you always wanted in a beer … and less.”

The keg is also a container, and not a

true measurement unit, but its definition

is somewhat standardized. As defined in

the U.S. Code (27 CFR § 25.11), a beer bar-

rel holds 31 gallons of beer. The common

beer keg, which is normally made out of

stainless steel or aluminum, has half the

volume of a barrel, and thus holds 15.5 gal-

lons. A smaller type of keg, often called a

pony keg, holds ¼ barrel, or 7.75 gallons.

Pony kegs are commonly found in modi-

fied refrigerators in garages and basements,

or at neighborhood parties. It would be

interesting to know how the pony keg got

its name. Perhaps it is because you don’t

need one of those big Clydesdale horses

seen in the Budweiser commercials to carry

it home, a pony would do just fine.

Regardless of whether you obtain your

beverage from a bottle, a glass, a pitcher, or

a keg, how can you determine how much

alcohol it contains? The standard metric

is alcohol by volume (ABV), which is the

amount of alcohol contained in the bever-

age, expressed as a percentage of total vol-

ume. The ABV of an alcoholic beverage is

required by law to be listed on the label.

Although stronger variants exist, beer usu-

ally has an ABV of 4 % to 6 %, and wine

ranges from about 12.5 % to 14.5 %. Spirits

like brandy, gin, vodka, and whisky, typi-

cally have an ABV of about 40 %.

Numerous formulas exist for estimating

ABV, and the formulas differ for beer, wine,

and spirits. However, all formulas require

measuring the specific gravity of the liquid

before and after fermentation with a hy-

drometer. The approximate alcohol content

is determined by subtracting the post fer-

mentation reading from the pre-fermenta-

tion reading, and then dividing or multiply-

ing that number by one or more constants.

MetRoloGY In PoP cUltURe

U.S. Pint1/8 of a gallon

473 mL

United Kingdomand Ireland Pint

1/8 gallon (imperial)568 mL

Five pints in the U.K.contain the same amount

of beer as six pintsin the U.S.

Alcoholby volume

The amount of alcoholcontained in the beverage,

expressed as a percentage of total volume.

Grog-time on board a battleship: serving out the daily tot of rum.


A metric closely related to ABV is alco-

hol proof, or proof, for short. The term

originated in the British Navy in the 18th

century, during the days when the com-

pensation given to sailors included a ration

of rum. To “prove” that the rum contained

enough alcohol and had not been watered

down, it was poured on gunpowder and

then an attempt was made to ignite it. If

the gunpowder didn’t burn, the rum had

an ABV of less than about 57.15 %, or very

close to 4/7. If the gunpowder did burn,

the sailors had 100 % proof that their rum

had enough alcohol, and 100 proof came

to be known as equal to an ABV of 4/7.

Conversely, you could convert from ABV

to proof by multiplying by 7/4.

The United Kingdom no longer officially

uses the metric of proof, and relies exclusive-

ly on ABV. In the United States, proof is still

used, but is defined simply as ABV multiplied

by two. Federal regulations permit, but do

not require, a number for proof to be listed

on the label of a bottle of spirits, provided

that it is printed close to the ABV number.

The notorious Bacardi 151 rum is, in fact,

151 proof, with a staggeringly high ABV of

75.5 %. To insure that consumers don’t

forget about those British sailors of yester-

year, Bacardi 151 has multiple warnings on

the label that state the bottle should not

be exposed to an open flame. As an extra

precaution, a stainless steel flame arrester

is crimped to the neck of every bottle to

prevent the rum from igniting.

We’ve covered a lot of ground. After

learning about confusing metrics like

fifths, pints, kegs, and proof, you might de-

cide that it’s time for a drink! I suggest an

Arnold Palmer, half lemonade and half iced

tea. Unless you insist on using Mike’s Hard

Lemonade, it will have an ABV of zero.

[email protected]

MetRoloGY In PoP cUltURe


Each year, the CMSC attracts hundreds of professionals in the precision 3D measurementand inspection field. The 29th annual conference will deliver a comprehensive program

of expert technical presentations, a packed exhibition hall, advanced workshops,networking events, and more. The Coordinate Metrology Society looks forward to sharing

the latest developments, trends and techniques!

World’s Premier Conference for Portable 3D Metrology Professionals

Visit www.CMSC.org for more details

Coordinate Metrology Systems ConferenceJuly 22-26, 2013 - San Diego, CA

Sheraton Hotel & Marina

Workshops | Measurement Studies | Networking Events | Metrology Exhibits


nMI RePoRts

NIST RePReSeNTATIve’S RePORTby Dr. James K. olthoff, nIst

Communicating with light may soon get a lot easier, hints recent

research* from the National Institute of Standards and Technology

(NIST) and the University of Maryland’s Joint Quantum Institute

(JQI), where scientists have potentially found a way to overcome a

longstanding barrier to cleaner signals.

The findings, which demonstrate for the first time an error rate

far below the “standard quantum limit” for a wide range of light

levels, could increase the efficiency of fiber-optic systems by re-

ducing both the power needed to send a signal and the number of

errors the receiver makes.

Light waves traveling through a fiber-optic cable often carry

digital information encoded as differences in phase between one

wave and another. The crests of two waves that are “in phase” pass

a point at the same time, while if the two waves are 180 degrees out

of phase, one crest passes while the other’s trough does. Receivers

can be designed to detect more than just two phase angles—0, 90,

180 and 270 degrees, for example—and the more phases they can

detect, the more information can be packed into a signal, increas-

ing the rate of data transmission.

However, a constant problem is that phase states slightly over-

lap one another, meaning that there is a chance a state with

180-degree phase will be mistaken for a 0, 90 or 270-degree phase

state. To minimize these errors, engineers must use more optical

signal power—which amps up the cost as well. A potential solution

would be an improved receiver that does a better job distinguish-

ing among the different phase states. But designers have struggled

for decades to get past a barrier they call the standard quantum

limit, which is the best performance an ideal conventional receiver

could ever attain.

The research team, though, found a clever way to get past the

standard quantum limit using off-the-shelf technology to con-

struct a receiver in an innovative way. Their solution is to make

several measurements instead of a single one, and set them up

so that each measures a portion of the input light’s phase state

successively. The key to this “staged” approach is that the receiver

makes a partial measurement of the input phase state, and then

uses the information obtained from this first partial measurement

to adapt itself before making the next one. None of the individual

partial measurements is perfect, but the adaptive technology al-

lows a dramatically better final result.

“With a receiver implementing only a few adaptive measure-

ments, we’ve managed to achieve error rates four times lower than

the standard quantum limit,” says Francisco Elohim Becerra, a

NIST/JQI postdoctoral fellow who is acknowledged by his co-au-

thors as having done the brunt of the work and originated the

design.

While the innovation may not make its way into a fiber-optic

system near you for some time, Becerra’s coauthor Alan Migdall

says better phase measurement could lead to more efficient tech-

nologies that harness quantum effects, as well as improved data

encryption systems.

* F.E. Becerra, J. Fan, G. Baumgartner, J. Goldhar, J.T. Kosloski and A. Migda-

ll. Experimental demonstration of a receiver beating the standard quantum

limit for multiple nonorthogonal state discrimination. Nature Photonics, Jan.

6, 2013, doi:10.1038/nphoton.2012.316.

‘STANdARd QuANTuM LIMIT’ SMASHed, COuLd MeAN BeTTeRFIbER-OPTIC COMMSReleased: January 8, 2013


IAS Laboratory Accreditation to ISO/IEC Standard 17025The International Accreditation Service (IAS) offers laboratories Accreditation Service Plus+

+ Quick scheduling and efficient assessments

+ On demand responsiveness

+ True affordability

+ Global recognition by ILAC

+ Proof of compliance with ISO/IEC 17025

Learn about the Benefits of IAS Accreditationwww.iasonline.org/met 866-427-4422

11-05611

NIST SPECIAL PUbLICATIONS 1200: NEW MEANS OF DISSEMINATING LAb PROCEDURESReleased: october 2, 2012

When scientists and engineers at the National Institute of Standards

and Technology (NIST) want to tell their peers about experimental

methods they have “road-tested” for reliability and consistent results,

they can now spread the word via a new agency publication series.

Documents in the NIST Special Publications 1200 (SP-1200) pro-

tocol series are guidebooks for the design and implementation of

experiments that facilitate successful replication of results by others.

These may include detailed procedural “recipes,” lists of required

equipment and instruments, information on safety precautions,

methods for calculating results and strategies for reporting standards.

“The NIST SP-1200 series lets our researchers share what would

be the ‘methods section’ of a journal paper when a procedure is

successful—even before there is enough research to warrant publica-

tion of a full article,” says Leah Kauffman, a NIST communications

specialist and one of the creators of the system. “In fact, these doc-

uments may have more procedural detail than would typically be

accommodated in a journal article.”

Kauffman says that the SP-1200 series offers a number of advan-

tages over traditional means of disseminating pre-journal method-

ologies such as private communications, self-publishing or simple

sharing on peer websites. “The publications are approved by NIST’s

internal scientific review board, are easily accessible through the NIST

Research Library’s online catalog* or the WorldCat global catalog,

are available on the NIST Publications Portal, and most importantly,

have a citable, permanent DOI [digital object identifier],” she says.

While the NIST SP-1200 series is meant for methods and proto-

cols of any type, the fast-moving field of nanotechnology has pro-

vided the subject matter for the first five documents published. All

five describe protocols for the measurement, dispersion and char-

acterization of engineered nanoparticles in different media as de-

veloped by NIST and collaborators at Duke University’s Center for

the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology (CEINT). The

partners hope that by broadly disseminating these methods, it will

lead to their broader acceptance and use in studies assessing the

environmental, health and safety (EHS) impacts of nanoparticles.

To find NIST SP-1200 volumes, go to the NIST Publications Portal

at www.nist.gov/publication-portal.cfm, select “Special Publication

(NIST SP)” in the “By series” search block and then type “1200” in

the “By report number” search block.

[email protected]

an electron micrograph of nanotubes made from titanium dioxide. (Color added for clarity.) Credit: Argonne Natl Lab.

nMI RePoRts


NRC RePReSeNTATIve’S RePORTby Georgette MacDonald, nRc Measurement science and standards

NRC Strategy 2011-2013 As April 1, 2013 approaches, we are near-

ing the end of our first year as Measure-

ment Science and Standards, although

NRC is still adjusting to the new organiza-

tion structure and business model, MSS is

successfully making the cultural shift to a

team that does one thing really well—me-

trology for Canada. Our senior executives

truly understand and have endorsed the

core mission of a metrology institute.

As previously reported, NRC Measure-

ment Science and Standards (MSS) consists

of a suite of three highly interdependent

and mutually reinforcing programs—Me-

trology for Industry and Society, Measure-

ment Science for Emerging Technologies,

and Scientific Support for the National

Measurement System. The programs have

been carefully designed to advance and en-

sure the relevance of MSS metrology capa-

bilities so they can be deployed in response

to changing industrial and national needs.

Metrology HighlightsIonizing Radiation Standards

NRC is part of a public-private sector con-

sortium that has demonstrated the po-

tential of linear accelerator technologies

to produce the medical isotope techne-

tium-99m, used in approximately 5000

medical scans daily in Canada. The Cana-

dian Isotope Project now focuses on the

research and development needed to scale

up the innovative processes and examine

the safety and commercial viability of a

non-reactor-based isotope supply. Com-

mercializing the technologies will lead to

a distributed network of supply hubs that

will eliminate the vulnerabilities of the cur-

rent supply chain and reduce nuclear waste

from medical isotope production.

Electrical Power Measurements

An on-site measurement system developed

at NRC provides the utility industry with

a research grade technology to evaluate

high voltage underground power cables.

Currently an NRC client service, this mar-

ketable proof of concept measurement pro-

cedure will save the industry millions in

maintenance and cable replacement costs,

once it is more broadly applied through

commercialization.

Black Carbon Metrology

NRC anticipated the needs of industries

forced to demonstrate compliance with

regulatory standards for black carbon emis-

sions. The solution was to develop an inno-

vative mobile system that provides quanti-

tative measurements of the concentration

of black carbon nanoparticles. The technol-

ogy has been patented and licensed.

Electronic Kilogram Experiment and the

International System of Units (SI)

NRC has attracted international attention

for the remarkable leadership and progres-

sive achievements in the experimental

determination of Planck’s Constant using

a Watt Balance. The metrology commu-

nity is working to redefine not just the ki-

logram, but the whole SI system of units

(also known as the Metric System), basing

it solely on constants of nature.

“Evolution of Space Charges and Con-

ductivity with DC Aging of Polyethylene

Synthetic and Natural Clay Composites”

written by Dr. Abou-Dakka, Electrical Pow-

er Measurements, has been published in

Journal of Nanomaterials, vol. 2012. This

continues NRC’s research related to insu-

lation material for power cables, a subject

of interest for the electrical power/energy

sector looking for new technologies to re-

duce costs.

A new type of biotoxin discovered by

the Biotoxin Metrology group and collab-

orators at the Institute for Food Research

and Technology (IRTA) in Spain may have

nMI RePoRts


a significant impact on public health, the

shellfish industry, regulatory agencies

(such as CFIA), and the analytical industry.

A paper detailing the discovery has been

accepted for publication in Rapid Com-

munications in Mass Spectrometry. The

shellfish toxin gymnodimine was shown

to exist in a “masked form” as fatty acid

esters and methods for their measurement

were developed. The finding more clearly

defines what must be measured and how

when monitoring for toxicity of shellfish.

IRTA funded a visiting scientist in the NRC

lab for five months.

The enthusiastic response to a Frequency

and Time paper recently published in Phys-

ical Review Letters, vol. 109, 203002 (2012),

highlights the significant accomplishment

of the NRC team in creating a new gener-

ation of time/frequency reference that sur-

passes the current definition of the SI unit of

time (the second). At the recent meeting of

the CCL/CCTF (Consultative Committees

for Length and Time and Frequency) work-

ing group on secondary realizations of the

SI second, held in September in Paris, it was

decided to recommend to the CIPM a new

value for the frequency of the unperturbed

S-D transition in the strontium-88 ion. The

recent measurements at NRC (February to

May 2012) will make up over 70 % of the

weight in the new value, and pave the way

for an eventual redefinition of the SI second.

Metrology Outreach Each year, chemistry students from Aca-

dia University visit the NRC Certified

Reference material laboratories in Halifax

for lectures, tours and demonstrations. A

thank you note expressed the value of this

outreach: “Many thanks for an excellent

field trip to NRC! This was another year

when I could proudly state that Analytical

Chemistry saves lives. During lectures and

labs students acquire the knowledge...“put

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applied in a concerted way for solving im-

portant problems of modern life. Thank

you so much and hope to bring another

group of chemistry students next year.”

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alytical Chemistry, Acadia University.

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MSS employees; Dr. Alan Steele, Dr. Bar-

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To honor Dr. Ralph E. Sturgeon, Chem-

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September 2012. Ralph was presented with

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sciences, or stellar and cosmic sciences.”

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MSC LIAISON REPORTby Miguel cerezo

Measurement Science Conference (MSC)

Chairman, Raul Troncoso, announced the

schedule for the 43rd Annual Conference,

being held at the Disneyland Hotel, March

18 - 22, 2013.

One of the key features of the MSC Con-

ference is the excellent quality of training

available to attendees. “We are glad to

announce that the National Institute of

Standards and Technology (NIST) will once

again be joining the conference and leading

two days of seminars,” said NIST Seminars/

Tutorials Chairman Emil Hazarian. “As one

of the largest off-campus conferences NIST

participates in, this is an outstanding op-

portunity for hands-on training with the

global leader in measurement standards”

continued Hazarian.

Already known for its valuable tutorials

for engineers, managers and technicians,

the conference is expecting this year’s an-

ticipated increase in attendee registration

to particularly benefit exhibitors. “Our

technical program is especially strong this

year, and based on the feedback we’ve re-

ceived so far, we expect increased registra-

tion of attendees. This really benefits our

exhibitors who will have the opportunity

to market to even more people than before,

not only the people who use their products,

but those who buy their products” said

Technical Programs Chair, Denis Frazier.

A number of leading companies and

organizations in the test and measure-

ment field have already seen this oppor-

tunity and will be at the conference. “We

have a strong line-up of exhibitors at the

2013 conference, with major companies

like Fluke, Agilent, Northrop Grumman,

and many others,” said Exhibits Chair

Muhamed Samman. In addition to these

established exhibitors, we strongly encour-

age first-time exhibitors to participate by

taking advantage of our special offers, pro-

viding an opportunity to gain recognition

at the Measurement Science Conference.

Further updates on the workshop sched-

ule, NIST tutorial schedule, technical paper

presentations, as well as the latest confer-

ence updates, can all be found by logging

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[email protected]

March 18 and 19Monday - Tuesday

• NISTSeminars

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March 18-20Monday-Wednesday

• TutorialWorkshops

• ExhibitsOpeningReception

(Wednesday Evening)

March 21 and 22Thursday - Friday

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MSC features topics of interest to the test; metrology and calibration; and precision measurement communities. MSC was founded to promote education and professionalism in measurement science and related disciplines. Technical and managerial experts in the measurement sciences are invited to lead sessions, panel discussions, and present papers or workshops on topics of importance to the global measurement community. Participants from government, aerospace, medical, and environmental backgrounds meet to share the most up-to-date information.

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ster

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March 18-22, 2013Disneyland Anaheim, CA

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 26 27 28 29 30

2013

MSC features topics of interest to the test; metrology and calibration; and precision measurement communities. MSC was founded to promote education and professionalism in measurement science and related disciplines. Technical and managerial experts in the measurement sciences are invited to lead sessions, panel discussions, and present papers or workshops on topics of importance to the global measurement community. Participants from government, aerospace, medical, and environmental backgrounds meet to share the most up-to-date information.

MASTER ARTof MEASUREMENT

the

●SEMINARS ●TRAINING ●TECHNICAL PROGRAMS●TUTORIALS

www.msc-conf.com PHONE: (866) 672-6327 FAX: (951) 273-5175 15642 Sand Canyon Ave. #51147, Irvine, CA. 92619


ncslI ReGIonal neWs

NORTHERN OHIO SECTION 1131By Helga Alexander

The NCSLI Northern Ohio Section meet-

ing was held on November 10, 2012. The

event was hosted by Case Western Reserve

University in Cleveland. Approximately

30 people attended the meeting, about two

thirds of them being students and faculty.

Having the event on a Saturday allowed

students to participate without missing

classes. In addition to Case Western Re-

serve students, we also had attendees from

Cleveland State University and Lakeland

Community College. Several metrology

and quality professionals from local com-

panies also gave up their Saturday to par-

ticipate.

Section coordinator Helga Alexander

started the meeting by providing an intro-

duction to NCSLI, its vision and mission,

information on upcoming meetings, and

the benefits individuals, corporations and

educational institutions can gain from

membership. She continued with a short

presentation entitled “Metrology—Why

Engineers Should Care,” and emphasized

the importance of including metrology

concepts in engineering and science cur-

ricula.

Mary Anne Tupta from Keithley Instru-

ments continued the morning session with

an interesting presentation on “Character-

izing the Resistivity of Materials and Test

Structures Using 4-Wire Methods.” This

presentation stimulated many questions

from the many Electrical Engineering stu-

dents present in the audience.

Dr. Ed Morse, from the Center for Preci-

sion Metrology at the University of North

Carolina in Charlotte, finished up the

morning session with a presentation on

the performance, testing, calibration and

uncertainties of coordinate measurement

machines. He also provided some back-

ground and information on the Center for

Precision Metrology and the opportunities

for graduate studies in metrology.

The afternoon session continued with a

presentation on “Tips and Tricks to Oscillo-

scope Measurements” by Chris Armstrong

from Rigol Technologies. Rigol brought

several of their oscilloscopes, and the

speaker illustrated his points by project-

ing the oscilloscope output onto the large

screen to provide live examples of the vari-

ous measurement techniques he discussed.

Two CWRU electrical engineering stu-

dents shared the results of their projects

with the audience. Dan Goff presented

the results of his group’s project on “USB

Signal Master –Module Instrumentation.”

This project had taken first place in a pres-

tigious recent student competition spon-

sored by Texas Instruments. Tina He,

CWRU student and Keithley Graduate Fel-

low, presented her latest research on “Elec-

trical Measurement of Incredibly Shrinking

Electromechanical Relays.”

The meeting ended with a tour of the

CWRU Materials for Opto/Electronics Re-

search and Education (MORE) Center.

The NCSLI Northern Ohio Section

would like to thank Rigol Technologies and

Keithley Instruments for providing speak-

ers, refreshment and a pizza lunch, Dr.

Philip Feng of the CWRU Electrical Engi-

neering Department for his help in organiz-

ing the meeting, and the CWRU Mechani-

cal Engineering Department for making Dr.

Morse’s travel to Cleveland possible.

[email protected]

northern ohio Meeting.


CENTRAL INDIANA SECTION 1133by charles andrew

The Central Indiana Section 1133 fall

meeting was held on November 1, 2012 at

Endress + Hauser in Greenwood Indiana. A

total of 52 participants were in attendance.

The theme of the meeting was Uncertainty

Analysis, Budgeting, Reporting and Appli-

cation of ILAC P14. Due to the breadth of

the subject, the meeting was scheduled to

start an hour earlier than normal and most

of the crowd was on time.

Our primary speaker/trainer for the day

was Dilip Shah. Known by nearly everyone

in the metrology and quality world, Dilip is

a Principal of E = mc3 Solutions, a consult-

ing practice that provides training and con-

sulting solutions in ISO/IEC 17025, ISO/IEC

9001/TS 16949, Measurement Uncertainty

and computer applications. Dilip provided

four hours of training plus copies of an un-

certainty spreadsheet to all participants for

no charge.

Dilip started his session with learning

objects followed with a definition of trace-

ability and requirements of ILAC P14. He

then defined Calibration Measurement Ca-

pability (CMC), test uncertainty ratios and

measurement uncertainty. Dilip then gave

his seven steps for determining measure-

ment uncertainty, discussed Type A and

Type B components, uncertainty distribu-

tions and methods of combining uncer-

tainties with different distributions.

Dilip then lead the participants in a

couple of measurement exercises to help

reinforce the learning objectives. He had

volunteers make measurements of Lego™

plastic blocks using calipers. These mea-

surement data were used to compute a

very complete uncertainty budget. These

exercises were followed by an extensive

Q & A session.

Lunch was provided by our host, En-

dress + Hauser, Inc. There was an amazing

amount of interaction between the partic-

ipants and with the speakers. The energy

level was high and everyone seemed to be

engaged in the day’s learning activities.

Participants were about half metrologists

and half quality professionals. Many com-

ments were heard about how Dilip’s style

was so effective and how much they appre-

ciated his time.

The second speaker was Lloyd Baker of

Trescal - Dynamic Technology and the

NCSLI Mid-Western US Region Coordi-

nator. Lloyd presented “Update from the

NCSLI Board of Directors.” The most recent

meeting was held in Jackson, Wyoming.

Lloyd reminded us that all members are

welcome to attend the BOD meetings and

to look in the current publications and on

the NCSLI website for dates and times.

Our original plan was to have the “Up-

date from the Board” delivered by Marcus

McNealy, NCSLI Northeastern US Division

VP. Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy hit his

home area a day or two before our meet-

ing was scheduled. Many expressed their

thoughts and wishes for the safety and

wellbeing of Marcus and all affected by

Hurricane Sandy.

Our third session was titled “Practical

Application of Uncertainty Analysis with

Special Emphasis on ILAC P14.” This was a

panel discussion moderated by John Bush,

Associate Consultant Engineer, Eli Lilly

and Company. The panel members includ-

ed Dilip Shah, Randy Long of Laboratory

Accreditation Bureau, Kyle Shipps of En-

dress + Hauser, and Anthony Hamilton of

Eli Lilly and Company. Each panel member

was invited to participate due to their ex-

pertise and experience in various aspects of

uncertainty analysis. Questions were asked

by the moderator and members of the au-

dience. The discussion was lively.

The last activity of the day was an op-

tional tour of the Endress + Hauser man-

ufacturing and calibration facilities. Their

main products at this facility are flow me-

ters. Most impressive is their flow calibra-

tion rig that can be used to calibrate flow

meter up to 48 inches in diameter.

The Central Indiana Section steering

committee members are Dan Leonard,

Quality Control Sales and Services, Kev-

in Pata, Roche Diagnostics, Bridget Bray,

John Bush, Beverly Aikins and Elizabeth

Robinette of Eli Lilly and Company. The

committee extends its thanks to Endress

+ Hauser for letting us use their wonder-

ful meeting facilities. Specifically we thank

Kyle Shipps and the E+H facilities support

personnel who helped make the meeting

an outstanding success.

[email protected]

ncslI ReGIonal neWs

central Indiana Meeting.


CENTRAL FLORIDA SECTION 1222by Jeff Willey

The Central Florida Section 1222 meeting

was held on October 11, 2012 and hosted

by Harris Corporation in Palm Bay, Florida.

Special thanks to Roger Coleman and his

metrology lab staff for their efforts in help-

ing to organize this event and its success.

This was the first meeting for this section

in quite some time, yet resulted in rough-

ly 25 attendees. This relatively small turn

out did not reflect the keen interest and

enthusiasm for the subjects that were pre-

sented by our four speakers or for having

the opportunity to network amongst other

industry peers.

The day started bright and early with

breakfast and introductions by Jeff Willey

and Roger Coleman followed by the NCSL

International board report from Mark Lap-

inskes, Tektronix and NCSLI Division VP.

The report featured highlights from this

meeting, the recent annual conference

held in Sacramento, California including

strategic planning, new membership struc-

ture, international business, awards, future

conferences and meetings.

First presenter of the day was Jonathan

Harben, (NASA/Bionetics) discussing the

robustness of the calibration process that

included some particularly interesting 3-D

graphics and illustrations that included

two video clips illustrating both EOPR and

TUR effects on True and Observed Values.

End of period reliability (EOPR) is the

probability of a unit under test (UUT) test-

point being in-tolerance at the end of its

normal calibration interval. The idea of

EOPR is similar to the process capability

index often used in manufacturing, which

compares the output of a process to the

specification limits. In calibration, this

comparison is made by testing the UUT

output value to the manufacturer’s speci-

fication. Observing a process to be highly

reliable infers indirectly that the test un-

certainty ratio (TUR) is high and therefore

the calibration process is robust. Further

process analysis may not be needed; the

implications of this will be discussed.

Next up Ken Sloneker (ASL US) discuss-

ing accuracies of thermometry ratio bridges

and how it correlates to measurement ac-

curacy of fixed points and SPRT’s. Advanc-

es in thermometry bridge design and their

testing provides an opportunity to discuss

what the accuracy specifications really

mean. Even the basic idea of ratio error is

not easily understood. This presentation

will review how ratio error coverts to an er-

ror in temperature depending on all of the

input parameters. Ratio bridge testing as it

relates to thermometry is also discussed in-

cluding why the ratio method is used. Un-

certainty as it relates to traceability when

using ratio thermometry bridges is also

briefly covered.

After lunch the next presenter was Jim

Wachter (NASA/SMA) discussing NCSLI RP-

21 “Recommended Practice for the Assess-

ment of ANSI/NCSL Z540.3 sub-clause 5.3.”

Working Group 3 of the NCSLI 171 Cal-

ibration System Resources Committee has

recently developed Recommended Practice

21 (RP-21). Sub-clause 5.3 prescribes the

requirements for a calibration system to

control the accuracy of the measuring and

test equipment used to ensure that prod-

ucts and services comply with prescribed

requirements. Sub-clause 5.3 includes the

statement, “Calibration-servicing com-

ponents [of the calibration system] may

be considered competent to provide cali-

bration services when they have been ac-

credited to meet ANS/ISO/IEC 17025:2005,

Harris corporation building.

ncslI ReGIonal neWs

Mark lapinskes, ncslI Division VP.


including the requirements of this sub-

clause [5.3], or otherwise found to be in

conformance by an authority acceptable

to the customer.” Consequently, most U.S.

accreditation bodies now offer optional ac-

creditation to Z540.3 by including the re-

quirements of sub-clause 5.3 in the assess-

ment to the requirements of 17025.

The concept of RP-21 grew out of discus-

sions among specifiers, calibration labora-

tory managers, test equipment manufac-

turers, accreditation bodies, government

organizations, metrology experts and oth-

er interested and motivated parties. These

stakeholders felt that successful operation

and assessment of calibration laboratories

to the requirements of 17025, as extended

by those of Z540.3, would be greatly en-

hanced by non-interpretative guidance.

Thus, Working Group 3 has endeavored

to ensure RP-21 is equally useful for: 1)

technically trained assessors assigned the

responsibility of assessing calibration labo-

ratories to meet the requirements of sub-

clause 5.3 of Z540.3; and, 2) calibration

laboratory personnel desiring to prepare

for an assessment. RP-21 addresses each

requirement of sub-clause 5.3, providing

corresponding discussion, guidance, and

examples, as well as information on select-

ed topics in Z540.3 such as measurement

decision risk, probability of false accept,

test uncertainty ratio, and guard banding.

Next up after a two day flight adventure

from Los Angeles and some other logistic

challenges, Mingjian Zhao (Additel) ar-

rived with 10 minutes to spare to give his

presentation on “Improving Field Pressure

Calibrations” and demonstrated a variety

of equipment that included recent im-

provements.

Process calibrators, digital pressure gaug-

es, and hand pumps are widely used as

pressure calibration tools in the field. Many

of these tools have limitations and can be

difficult to use. With this in mind Additel

set out to reduce calibration uncertainty,

improve efficiency, and make field calibra-

tion easier.

With the development of unique new

pressure pumps, easy to use pressure cal-

ibrators, and even automated pressure

calibrators for field use, field calibrations

from vacuum to low inches of water and

up to 10,000 psi are possible with accura-

cies as good as 0.02%FS. We discuss how

we have dealt with environmental effects

even when dealing with pressures as low as

0.1 inches of water. With the innovation

of unique technologies and devices pres-

sure calibration in the field will be more

reliable and even automated calibration

usually reserved for the lab, is now possi-

ble in the field.

Following all presentations, door prizes

were drawn and Roger Coleman provided

a guided tour of the Harris Calibration Lab-

oratory. Spring meeting plans include the

possibility of NASA – KSC or Honeywell –

Clearwater as hosts. Our section is always

in search of hosting locations, speakers/

presenters and sponsors.

To offer your services or request copies of

any of these presentations, please feel free

to contact me directly anytime.

[email protected]

Jonathan Harben, nasa-bionetics-Ksc.

ncslI ReGIonal neWs

Mingjan “Jack” Zhao, additel.


HUNTSVILLE SECTION 1223by beverly Garcia

Uncertainty compliance, vibration and re-

newable energy served as the presentation

topics at the November 15, 2012 NCSLI

Huntsville Section meeting.

As has become recent tradition, the pic-

turesque setting of Lake Guntersville State

Park Lodge was our venue on an absolutely

perfect autumn day.

Attendees were greeted by section coor-

dinator Beverly Garcia, JM Test Systems,

Inc., and John Hunter, IET Labs, Inc., and

Ken Garcia assisted with AV operations.

The meeting was sponsored by Agilent

Technologies, Nancy Richardson; IET Labs,

Inc., John Hunter; JM Test Systems, Inc.,

Beverly Garcia; Pinnacle Test Solutions,

Clint Plant, and Southern Marketing Asso-

ciates, Inc., Randy Fowler.

After the meeting was called to order, an-

nouncements and introductions were made.

Presentations went as follows: “How

to comply with complex standards under

close scrutiny with a simple set of cal ser-

vice deliverables” Bob Stern, Agilent Tech-

nologies.

“ILAC P14 Compliant measurement

uncertainty for laboratory scope and cal-

ibration certificate” John Ball, ARMY PD.

“Clean energy for North Alabama: A discus-

sion about measured results of a home that

used the Energy Efficiency WISE program

and the Solar WISE program to optimize

their total home energy efficiency,” Ruchi

Singhal, Nexus Energy Center. “Continued

development on a linear motor based shak-

er for low frequency long stroke calibration

applications,” Eric Seller, The Modal Shop.

As part of an effort to keep our section

meetings both informative and enjoyable

each participant was given an evaluation

form. We requested feedback on venue,

presentations, event duration, overall sat-

isfaction and suggestions for future topics.

The response received has been over-

whelmingly one of satisfaction and all

suggestions have been taken into consider-

ation. This feed back is greatly appreciated!

Huntsville Section 1223 spring meet-

ing date has been set for Thursday May 9,

2013, at Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge

Goldenrod room.

[email protected]

Huntsville Meeting.

ncslI ReGIonal neWs


CHICAGO SECTION 1312by William Wright, ambassador

November 8, 2012 marked another success-

ful NCSLI Chicago Section meeting held at

the Chicago Holiday Inn at Elk Grove Vil-

lage, hosted by Mitutoyo America Corpo-

ration. However, a new approach was tak-

en for this Section meeting. This meeting

made use of several sponsors, whose pro-

ceeds provided lunch, snacks, drinks and

the room itself.

The meeting began with Jim Salsbury,

section coordinator, detailing the agenda

of the day and introducing the sponsors.

Bob Sawyer, NCSLI Central Division VP,

followed up with NCSLI news and upcom-

ing events.

David Hussar, Data Weighing Systems,

began with the first technical presentation

of the day covering the topic “Identifying

and Reducing Contributors of Uncertainty

in Weighing.” His unique way of identify-

ing data points to help monitor and reduce

uncertainty in balances and weights drew

some interesting follow up questions.

Jim Salsbury followed with the second

technical talk titled “Problem Areas in Di-

mensional Calibration.” He outlined such

problem areas such as decision rules and

tighter tolerances and how they affect

many dimensional gages and equipment.

Paul Vella, Trescal - Dynamic Technol-

ogy Inc., gave a practical presentation on

“Improving Partnerships through Effective

Communication.” He outlined critical ar-

eas of communication, benefits of good

communication, and effects of poor com-

munication among others. A good discus-

sion soon followed at the conclusion of

this presentation.

Tim Vonderhaar’s, Western Environ-

mental Corporation, presentation titled

“Lab Planning and Design” outlined com-

mon issues seen when designing a labo-

ratory and suggestions to remedy those

before they become problems major prob-

lems. He defined how finding problems

early can save organizations money, and

why it is best for organizations who seek to

build a new precision laboratory need to be

concise in what they want.

For their efforts in helping to make the

meeting a successful gathering, the organi-

zations who sponsored the event received

an open table for their use throughout the

entire meeting. These table-top exhibits pre-

sented the sponsors with the opportunity

to display many of their products. Sponsors

from the following organizations includ-

ed: Consumers Energy Laboratory Services,

Ametek Test & Calibrations Instruments,

Data Weighing Systems, Trescal - Dynamic

Technology Inc., Western Environmental

and Mitutoyo America Corporation.

During the many breaks, all attendees

enjoyed ample time to view the sponsors’

exhibits and network. Wrapping up the

meeting, several attendees received door

prizes and sponsors were also thanked for

their efforts with NCSLI gifts. Likewise,

representatives from Baxter Laboratories

and Abbott Laboratories received a framed

certificate of recognition for their efforts in

hosting the sections previous two meetings.

[email protected]

ncslI ReGIonal neWs

chicago Meeting.


NCSLI RIO GRANDE VALLEY SECTION 1326by esmeralda adame

NCSLI Rio Grande Section met in McAllen,

Texas at South Texas College on December

5, 2012. The Technology campus had the

honor of hosting this event and the day’s

agenda was filled with a great schedule and

presenters. We are grateful for our meeting

sponsors both DynaCal, and National In-

struments. Breakfast, refreshments, snacks

and lunch were great! Our meeting started

with a welcome from Esmeralda Adame,

NCSLI-RGV Section Coordinator followed

by Mr. Mario Reyna, Dean of Business and

Technology at South Texas College. Both

greeted the crowd and thanked everyone

for their attendance and mentioned that

our College’s doors were always open for

future events.

“Moore’s Law and Modular Instrument

Technology” was our fist presentation topic

and was presented by Dimaries Nieves, Se-

nior Metrology Engineer at National Instru-

ments. Her presentation was followed by a

break and exhibit viewing in which we had

companies such as DynaCal, CL Scales and

Systems, Etalons, NAMREE, the University

of Texas Pan American amongst others.

Phil Smith, Director of Public Affairs at

American Association for Laboratory Ac-

creditation (A2LA), was our second pre-

senter. “Calibration Buyer Beware” was his

topic which brought forth a lot of ques-

tions amongst the audience. NCSLI board

and conference update was given by Paul

Packebush, Section Manager at National

Instruments. He also talked about NSCLI

upcoming events and other activities.

Before our lunch break we took some

time for our group picture. We had an

attendance of about 85 ranging from pre-

senters, local community members, local

manufacturing company managers and

students. Everyone was excited, eager and

enthusiastic about our event and looking

forward for future section meetings. Chris-

topher L. Grachanen, Hewlett-Packard was

our third guest speaker and his topic was

“Trust but Verify-Beyond the Accreditation

Logo.” His presentation was followed by an

open discussion and the floor was opened

for any questions and or comments from

the crowd.

Door prizes were given throughout our

event; these were sponsored by TEGAM,

South Texas College, CL Scales and Sys-

tems, and A2LA. Both Paul and Esmeral-

da gave closing remarks and talked about

a possible spring meeting. A tour of the

Precision Manufacturing Technology, PMT

Department at the College followed for

those interested. Mr. Morales, our depart-

ment Program Chair, gave the tour of our

machining lab, quality control and CNC

labs. He explained the PMT program and

gave insight on our local manufacturing

employers and the need for more skilled

machinists.

Thank you to everyone that made this

event possible. Special thanks to our pre-

senters and there great presentations, Fe-

lipe Narcio, DynaCal, Paul Packebush, Na-

tional Instruments and NCSLI for all their

help in planning and sponsoring the event.

[email protected]

ncslI Rio Grande Valley Meeting.

ncslI ReGIonal neWs


JAPAN REGION REPORT 5200by Kazumi Hayakawa

The 21st Annual NCSLI-Japan Technical

Forum was held at the Tokyo Metropolitan

Ohta-ku Industrial Plaza on November 9,

2012, along with NMIJ Measurement Stan-

dards Seminar attracting 305 participants,

under auspice of the Japan Measurement

Standards Forum.

The forum started with opening mes-

sages by Mr. Takashi Sugiyama of Japan

Measurement Standards Forum and Mr.

Masayuki Yabuuchi of METI, followed by

a keynote talk entitled “Tokyo Sky Tree

Construction – world’s tallest free-standing

tower at 634 meters” by Mr. Tatsuichi Ta-

mura of Obayashi Corporation.

There were two courses of paper presen-

tation sessions: NCSLI-Japan session and

NMIJ session, with a Poster Session and ex-

hibits of products and services of 15 orga-

nizations. The forum was concluded with a

talk titled ”Meter Artifact No.22, Historical

Material” by Mr. Mikihiko Okabe of Agen-

cy for Cultural Affairs. The closing speech

was delivered by Dr. Yukinobu Miki, Vice

President of AIST.

[email protected]

Paper presentation, Ms. naoko saito of JeMIc.

Dr. Miki, Vice President of aIst & Director of nMIJ.

board of Directors, Paper Presenters, forum supporters.

InteRnatIonal neWs


national laboratoryassociation – south africa2012 test & Measurement conference

The 2012 Test & Measurement conference was held from the 2nd

to the 5th of September 2012 at the Elangeni Hotel & Conference

Centre in Durban, South Africa. The annual Test & Measurement

Conference is a major event of the National Laboratory Associa-

tion – South Africa (NLA-SA). The 2012 T&M Conference included

tutorials, technical papers, panel sessions, plenary speakers, and

an exhibit hall. The theme of the 2012 conference was related to

metrology’s role in environmental change.

Peter Lukey provided a keynote presentation on “Reliable Mea-

surement as a Key to Sustainable Development Planning.” Mr.

Lukey is the Chief Policy Advisor, Strategic Environmental Intel-

ligence, Department of Environmental Affairs, for the Republic

of South Africa. His introduction provided insight on the inter-

national climate change community and the need for evaluating

changes that are Measurable, Reportable, and Verifiable (referred

to as MRV in the climate change policies/discussions). He also

presented an overview of the South African legislative require-

ments for environmental quality and climate change, along with

the President’s goals for having an outcome based approach which

includes measurement results. He shared information about the

South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS) and the

2020 Vision as well as the practice and future of environmental

offsetting (“An environmental offset is an intervention, or inter-

ventions, specifically implemented to counterbalance an adverse

environmental impact of land-use change, resource use, discharge,

emission or other activity at one location that is implemented at

another location to deliver a net environmental benefit.”)

Professor Lorenzo Peretto (University of Bologna, Italy) present-

ed on “Smart Grid Definitions and Measurement Issues” topic and

invited participation in a new IEEE standards development project

(Measurements on Electric Power Systems: uncertainty evaluation

and expression) that he is chairing to assist with the implementa-

tion of the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement

(GUM) to the nuclear industry. The Scope of the new standard is

“to provide guidance and procedures for assessing the uncertainty

affecting measurements on power systems.” As Professor Peretto

noted, “the theory reported in the Standard ISO/IEC “Uncertain-

ty of measurement: Guide to the expression of uncertainty in

measurement” and supplements will be used for evaluating and

expressing uncertainty affecting the measurement results. The

guidelines included in the document could be used to evaluate the

uncertainty when performing the measurement of a given quan-

tity on electric power systems as well as to correctly write their

value in official documents (like specifications) and test reports.”

You can contact the members of the NCSLI Utilities Committee

or Professor Peretto directly to get involved in this effort (lorenzo.

[email protected]). This information was forwarded directly to the

NCSLI Utilities Committee as well.

Dr. Wynand Louw, Director of Technical Infrastructure Devel-

opment at NMISA, presented a paper entitled “The Impact of the

New Definitions of the SI on Environmental Analysis.” Dr. Louw

provided an overview of measurement units, the SI, as well as how

measurement units are defined. He went into some technical back-

ground on the current base units of the SI as well as how various

Georgia L. Harris, NCSLI Immediate Past President

Prof. lorenzo Peretto (University of bologna, Italy) and steve sidney

(nla-sa).



constants and the work of the CODATA (International Council

for Science: Committee on Data for Science and Technology) will

impact the definitions of the SI units in the future. He then shared

information from the 24th General Conference on Weights and

Measures (CGPM) regarding measurements associated with cli-

mate studies.

The International Bureau of Weights and Measures is engaging

with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) as a part of

future efforts to ensure that “relevant bodies take steps to ensure

that all measurements used to make observations which may be

used for climate studies are made fully traceable to SI units” and

“that appropriate bodies support the development of techniques

which can make possible a set of SI-traceable radiometric standards

and instruments to allow such traceability to be established in ter-

restrial and space-based measurements.” Dr. Louw also noted that

the global market for environmental technologies is estimated at

more than $600 Billion.

Mr. Neville Tayler of the South Africa National Accreditation

Service (SANAS) presented a paper on changing proficiency testing

requirements among accreditation bodies based on international

trends and policies of the International Laboratory Accreditation

Cooperation (ILAC). He noted the impact of the ILAC Policy 9

on participation in PT activities as well as the recently published

ISO/IEC 17043 standard. As he noted, Accreditation Bodies have

responded in turn by revising their requirements. In addition,

many facilities responded by organizing ‘informal’ ILC activities.

His paper and presentation examined the pitfalls associated with

these types of activity where the numbers of participants are lim-

ited, and capabilities vary significantly. He also shared ideas about

more effectively organizing these activities and how the benefits of

these types of comparisons can be increased.

Mr. Tayler also participated in a panel discussion on proficiency

testing with Eddie Tarnow (NMISA), Ingrid Flemming (IFM Qual-

ity Services, Australia) who all presented papers at the conference

on proficiency testing; the late Bart Van Ooström participated on

the panel as well.

Dr. Geoff Visser gave a presentation on the South Africa Bureau

of Standards (SABS) education outreach effort. Education outreach

is an area of potential collaboration among the NCSLI Education

Liaison and Outreach committee and the Metrology Ambassador

program. Georgia Harris (NIST, NCSLI) provided an overview of

the NCSL International, including and current activities as well as

opportunities for collaboration. Steve Sidney (NLA-SA) provided

an overview of the activities of the National Laboratory Associ-

ation of South Africa, showing business results of their training

efforts, metrology certifications, and participation and results in

proficiency testing. Best student awards were presented to: Hilde

Cronwright (Geoscience), Jacobus Venter (South African Airways),

Jones Mnisi (Johannesburg Water) and Anectus Ndunguru (Tanza-

nia Bureau of Standards).

The other best paper awards were: Cheryl Lynn Korasie (NMISA),

in Physical Metrology and Sean Strydom (SANRAL), in the General

category, and Jaco van Niekerk, Department of Water Affairs, in

the Physical Testing category. Exhibitors included: SANAS, NMISA,

Waterlab, Apollo Scientific, Labotec, Anatech, Heraeus Refinery SA,

HWL Scientific Instruments, Lenton Laboratory, Limstrics, Merck,

Microsep, and Comtest.

What else does the National LaboratoryAssociation of South Africa (NLA-SA) do?In addition to the annual conference, NLA-SA is also involved in

providing technical training; more than 40 courses are currently

scheduled for 2013. NLA-SA also manages a professional recogni-

tion program (MetCert), represents the South African metrology

community both locally and internationally (such as with a liai-

son and MOU with NCSL International), provides a proficiency

testing scheme, and manages subcommittees on civil and road en-

gineering and automotive.

[email protected]

2013 T&M ConferenceThe 2013 conference will be held from October 6-9, 2013 at Misty

Hills Conference Hotel, Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa. The

theme for 2013 is: “Accurate measurements for modern industries

and emerging technologies.” See the Call for Papers on the next

page and visit: http://www.home.nla.org.za/

Ingrid flemming (IfMQs australia), eddie tarnow (nMIsa), neville tayler (sanas) and the late

bart van ooström.

best students awards: Hilde cronwright (Geo-

science), Jacobus Venter (south african airways), Jones Mnisi (Johannes-burg Water) and anectus

ndunguru (tanzania bureau of standards).

Jaco van niekerk (Depart-ment of Water affairs) best paper – Physical testing,

with Mr. Jones Mnisi (Johannesburg Water and chairman of the nla-sa

board).


C A L L F O R P A P E R S

NATIO

NALLA

BO

RATORY ASSOCIATIO

N

-SO

UTH

AFRICA

N A T I O N A L

A S S O C I A T I O NS O U T H A F R I C A

L A B O R A T O R Y

In rapidly developing environments accurate measurements have become extremely important and the following examples highlight a few potential areas which are being impacted.

A major requirement for modern industries is to be more energy efficient. There are many research projects underway looking for alternative energy sources but there is still a great deal that can be done to save energy by improving the current infrastructure and utilisation of energy. Projects for the development of alternative energy sources and improvement of energy efficiency needs accurate and reliable measurements.

South Africa has approximately 45 million active cell phones (population 49 million) - ranking in the top 5 globally in terms of cell phone coverage. Along with the available mobile technologies, advanced new optical technologies are needed to deliver the data to the cell towers, especially for new bandwidth hungry telecommunication services. Urgent intervention is needed in building infrastructure in the telecommunications industry, including new and improved measurement standards and measurement services.

Nano objects are a peculiar class of materials with superior properties compared to bulk materials that are widely used in applications such a washing detergents, protective clothing, cosmetics, etc. Coupled with the lack of internationally accepted standards the development of test methods and measurement techniques is also crucial for the mass production of nano objects and the use of nano objects in advanced device applications.

The development of new materials such a composites, the demand for the development of pharmaceuticals with a reduced level of side-effects, global food security, the drive towards green manufacturing and the protection of our environment is increasing the demand for lower detection limits of measurement techniques and increased reliability of chemical and biological measurement results.

Accurate measurements for modern industries and emerging technologies

CONFERENCE

Test& 2013Measurement

6th - 9th October 2013

Misty Hills Conference Hotel,

Muldersdrift, Gauteng, South Africa

www.nla.org.za


On Friday 12 October 2012, whilst on holiday in the Kruger Na-

tional Park, Bart van Oostrom, SANAS Assessor and retired metrol-

ogist, suffered a heart attack and subsequently passed away. It was

with deep sadness that the accreditation and metrology communi-

ty in South Africa heard of Bart’s passing, and SANAS has received

many tributes from far and wide.

Bart was born in 1945 in the Netherlands and attended the De

Ambacht school in the Hague. He then joined the Royal Dutch

Navy and attended the School of Avionics where he received a

Diploma in Aircraft Instrumentation and Systems.

In 1967 Bart, together with his wife, relocated to South Africa

where he joined the Atlas Aircraft Corporation (later Denel Avia-

tion), rising to the position of Metrology Manager. It was during

his time at Atlas that Bart became acquainted with the National

Calibration Service (NCS), the organisation that eventually became

SANAS. During this time, Bart also received a number of awards,

including the Metrology Interest Group (MIG) Award in 1986 and

1988, and the SANAS Chairman’s Efficiency Award in 1990.

After guiding the Atlas Aircraft calibration laboratory to accred-

itation in 1983, Bart became extensively involved in accreditation

activities and became both a SANAS lead and technical assessor.

His experience as a metrologist, which covered many disciplines,

was invaluable. Bart contributed to the activities of SANAS as an

active member of various STC committees, and through the SANAS

Approval Committee.

Bart remained at Denel Aviation until 1996, when he accepted a

position as an Electrical DCLF Metrologist at the National Metrol-

ogy Laboratory (NMISA), where he remained until his retirement

in 2005.

After his retirement, Bart spent much of his free time working

for SANAS as an assessor, doing what he enjoyed. The laboratories

visited by Bart often commented on his friendly, demure manner

and his ability to add value to their testing and calibration activi-

ties through the assessment. He received many awards in the past

few years for his contribution as a SANAS assessor.

Bart will be remembered as a true friend and colleague whose

willingness to assist wherever possible was always appreciated. He

leaves behind his wife, children and grandchildren.

In Memoriambartholomeus van oostrom (1945–2012)

His experience as ametrologist, which

covered many disciplines,was invaluable.

bartholomeus van oostrom.

Georgia Harris, eddie tarnow and bart.

InteRnatIonal neWs


Internal audits in laboratoriesa tool for competence and Performance

letteR fRoM eURoPe

In the universe of laboratories interest-

ed to improve their competence and per-

formance— and those who already are or

want to be accredited according to ISO/IEC

17025 – the activity of quality assurance of

their results, is usually considered as one of

the most useful diagnosis tools at labora-

tories’ disposal. The information given by

this kind of tests is essential for knowing

the “health conditions” of the laboratory

methods by comparison between laborato-

ries or by testing reference samples.

There is another diagnosis tool, usually

unnoticed, even more powerful than the

above described, with the advantage of

not only being applied to test or calibra-

tion methods; this is the internal audit. A

laboratory fulfilling ISO/IEC 17025 require-

ments should implement a management

system; to this end it can be very useful

using basic ISO 9001 principles e.g. process

identification and their integration in an

improvement cycle (Deming cycle, PDCA

cycle: plan - do - check - act).

If we consider test/calibration processes

as the main process in the laboratory, there

can be identified several adjacent processes;

some of them are vertical, and some are hor-

izontal. Vertical processes are those which

only affect to some parts of the process, and

horizontal processes are those who affect to

all the process, the following way:

by Irache Visiers Sanz and Peter blinksbjerg

INTRODUCTION

figure 1: Vertical and horizontal processes.

PLANNING

MONITORING

AnAlysis

PER

FOR

MIN

G

Requ

ests

, te

nder

s

Sam

plin

g

Met

hods

,

assu

ring

qual

ity o

f re

sults

Com

plai

nts,

cu

st.

satis

facti

on

Subc

ontr

actin

g

Acco

mm

odati

on

and

envi

ronm

ent


1. THE INTERNAL AUDIT PROCESS

The improvement cycle (PDCA) becomes:

Stage 1: Audit programmingThis stage usually starts with an annual audit programme includ-

ing audits of the sections in standard ISO/IEC 17025 and system

process (requirement in ISO 17025). Each audit also should attach

an audit plan with the needed detail: scope, audited area, manage-

ment system points audited, personnel audited, etc.

The programming and planning process includes focus points

identified during the management review, and consequently it

gives the “audit intensity” of the individual sections of the stan-

dard and system. This focus points and the rest of requirements

are given by the auditee for proper preparation of internal audit.

Stage 2: Audit implementingImplementing stage may begin with a management system docu-

mental study phase, in which the system requirements fulfilling

degree, and all the requirements and focus points are checked

It shall include an “on site” implementation phase with 3 steps:

1. In the first step, an initial meeting is conducted to show audit

objectives, the process to be followed, and activities to be wit-

nessed.

2. In the second step, audit evidences are collected by examin-

ing documents, records, witnessing activities and by interviews

with personnel

3. In the third step a closing meeting is carried out by the auditor

in which findings are exposed, indicating if they constitute a

system deviation or not.

Finally, audit implementing ends with the audit report elabo-

rating and distributing phase, in which among other things, main

system deviations are included.

Stage 3: MonitoringAt the monitoring stage, the auditee shall rectify to detected devi-

ations, indicating their handling, deadlines and person in charge

for each activity: the need to take an immediate action or not, the

causes analysis, the corrective action to be taken, its execution and

the effectiveness verification (the latter one is usually performed

by the internal auditor).

Stage 4: Analysis and improvementAt this stage, the owner of the internal audit process should ana-

lyze the effectiveness of the process and its fitness for the defined

purpose. Proper planning, non-conformity detecting, auditor

qualification, non-conformity monitoring, etc. must be analyzed.

2. THE INTERNAL AUDIT PROCESS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH THE AUDITEE:

The internal audit process is not an isolated process, and it implies

a great interaction with auditee, (the “client” of the process). So, if

we look at the process and its relationship with its client (figure 4):

Then, the internal audit process is one of the main processes to be identified by a laboratory.

figure 2: audit process.

figure 3: PDca cycle, the numbers indicate the sections of ISO 17025.

letteR fRoM eURoPe

figure 4: Relationship with “auditee”.

3. THE INTERNAL AUDIT PROCESS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER MAN-AGEMENT SYSTEM PROCESSES

The same way the internal audit process

cannot be considered in isolation from its

client, it cannot be considered as isolated

from the rest of the laboratory manage-

ment system. This process, as it is including

all vertical laboratory processes (given that

all of them are audited), also has interac-

tion with all the other laboratory horizon-

tal processes, in the following way:

All phases in the internal audit process

are linked with the documents and records

management process. Further than being

needed to document a procedure detail-

ing the methodology to perform internal

audits, records are generated at all phases:

audit plans, check-lists, audit notes, audit

report, non-conforming reports, etc. It is

necessary to define in the record manage-

ment procedure, all the records generated

during an audit and the filing system in the

“record management procedure.”

The programming phase is linked to

management review process since the re-

sults of the internal audits, the results of

ILC’s, the results of external audits, the cus-

tomer feedback, etc., is examined during

management review meeting, and all this

information “means” a big compilation

of information, requirements and focus

points given by the auditee to the auditor

to proper prepare and perform the audit.

The implementing audit phase implies

to be performed by an auditor suitable for

the profile, and properly qualified for the

job. Auditor selection, training, qualifica-

tion and supervision process can be includ-

ed at the general “personnel qualification

procedure,” being necessary to include

some special requirements dealing with

personal skills and behavior, as well as spe-

cific training to be given, since laboratory

auditors shall meet, to perform properly

its task, management knowledge (generic

and particular from the laboratory man-

agement system) and technical knowledge

about test or calibration activities carried

out by the laboratory.

Monitoring phase is deeply linked with

non-conformities, corrective and pre-

ventive actions management process,

since during performing the audit some

non-conformities or potential non-con-

formities would rise. Once included in the

audit report, they have to be handled by

the audited area following the steps at the

described system: immediate action, anal-

ysis of causes, corrective action proposal,

corrective action implementation, effec-

tiveness verification and closing.

Analysis and improvement phase, is re-

lated with management review because

once the whole audit process is performed,

The effectiveness of the process should be

analyzed by measuring established param-

eters and indicators, and during the man-

agement review meeting those indicators

should be revised, establishing new goals,

adding new ones or deleting those consid-

ered not fit.

4. CONCLUSIONWhen we:

• Identify the internal audit as a process,

and

• Implement themodifiedDeming/PDCA

cycle, and

• Avoid isolationof theauditprocess from

the rest of the management system,

then the internal audit will improve and

give more benefit to the organization, be-

cause of the overview the process approach

gives. Furthermore this overview gives the

possibility to design the individual internal

audit by adjusting the “audit intensity” of

each section in ISO 17025, and the possi-

bility to analyze the fitness of the internal

audit process against the goals set out in

the management review meeting

Irache Visiers sanz: b. sc. chemistryaPPlUs, eURolab, [email protected]

Peter blinksbjerg: b. sc. engineerfoRce technology, [email protected]

figure 5: Relationship with other processes.

InteRnatIonal neWs



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF

METROLOGY

16

www.metrologie2013.com I [email protected]

I I I I I I I I I I I I ParIs I France I I I I I I I I II 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I october I 2013 I I I I I I I I I I

th

I measure I I innovate I perform I

European Association of National Metrology Institutes

Held jointly with

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