July 20, 2009 Consultant Mickie Rops, member of ASTM International since 2006, received 2009 Robert J. Painter Award from ASTM International and Standards Engineering Society. Rops was recognized for her exceptional work in advancing standardization efforts in area of personnel certificate programs. Regarded advisor to both associations and credentialing agencies, Rops founded Mickie Rops Consulting Inc. in 1997 and is author of first blog for credentialing community.

July 17, 2009 Scheduled for May 18, 2010, ASTM Symposium on Mobile Bearing Total Knee Replacement Devices will compare clinical results from mobile bearing knee devices with results from standardized mechanical testing to determine if standards adequately address real and perceived potential failure modes seen clinically. Call for papers seeks contributions related to data on clinical outcomes, failures, and retrievals, as well as clinical data relevant to bench performance as described in ASTM standards.

July 17, 2009 Three scientists at NIST have won Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Recognizing extraordinary achievements of young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers, the 2008 annual awards were given to Craig Brown (chemist, materials for energy applications), Dean DeLongchamp (chemical engineer, organic - carbon-based - electronic devices), and Till P. Rosenband (scientist, quantum logic clocks).

July 17, 2009 Your Guide to Performance Excellence, a brochure from the Baldrige National Quality Program at NIST, briefly describes the Baldrige Program, defines performance excellence, and enumerates what the Baldrige Criteria offers organizations. It shows benefits of Baldrige self-assessment as well as tools, approaches, and resources available to make self-assessment effective. Included CD contains three 2009-2010 Baldrige Criteria: business and nonprofit, health care, and education.

July 17, 2009 ASTM International Committee F08 on Sports Equipment and Facilities has approved ASTM standard F2713, Specification for Eye Protectors for Field Hockey, developed by Subcommittee F08.57 on Eye Safety for Sports. Subcommittee welcomes participation in its standards developing activities, especially by representatives from medical- or vision-related businesses as well as sports organizations. It also plans on writing separate standards for sports included in ASTM F803.

July 17, 2009 ASTM International Committee F20 on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response is developing proposed standard WK24607, Specification for the Design and Use of Vessel-Mounted Camera Systems for Oil Spill Response. Primary users will be managers of spill cooperatives who will use it to purchase/optimize recovery vessel camera systems. Such cameras direct crews toward oil and thicker oil on sea surface that cannot be seen from decks near sea level.

July 17, 2009 Sponsored by ASTM Committee E08 on Fatigue and Fracture, workshop on Progress in Creep-Fatigue Test Methods and Models will be held November 11, 2009, in Atlanta, GA, in conjunction with November 9-12 standards development meetings. It will address progress in creep-fatigue crack formation and crack growth for high temperature materials and structures. Participants must submit 300-500 word abstract by August 31. Online registration opens 8 weeks before workshop and closes November 4.

July 17, 2009 Responding to concerns about quality and accuracy of methods used by testing laboratories to measure levels of vitamin D in the body, scientists at NIST, in collaboration with NIH's Office of Dietary Supplements, have developed reference sample for vitamin D in blood serum to help laboratories validate accuracy of test methods. NIST Standard Reference Material 972, "Vitamin D in Human Serum," represents first step toward standardization of vitamin D testing.

July 17, 2009 U.S. NRC completed extensive review of NCNR's research reactor, which has been relicensed to continue operation until July 2029. Relicensing process took better part of 9 years, which required NCNR staff, particularly Reactor Operations and Engineering Group, to run reactor through safety analyses that were then independently verified by technical experts. NRC concluded that reactor can be operated for period of extended operation without undue risk to health and safety of public.

July 17, 2009 A new report by NIST documents the Static Analysis Tool Exposition (SATE), an exercise by NIST and static analyzer vendors designed to improve the performance of programs that try to find weaknesses in other programs. As the culmination of an effort started in February 2008 to host and digest results of SATE, the report relays results from 8 tool developers as well as a ninth team of professional human reviewers who participated.

July 17, 2009 Baldrige National Quality Program at NIST collects suggestions throughout year on opportunities for improving Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, Baldrige National Quality Award processes, and other program activities. Improvement Day enables stakeholders to review, consolidate, filter, prioritize, and recommend which suggestions should be implemented. To broaden access to Improvement Day, Baldrige Program has turned it into virtual event with sessions scheduled for Aug 3, 6, and 11.

July 17, 2009 Physicists at NIST have overcome hurdle in quantum computer development by devising viable way to manipulate single "bit" in quantum processor without disturbing information stored in its neighbors. The approach, which makes use of polarized light to create "effective" magnetic fields, could bring long-sought computers one step closer to reality.

July 17, 2009 New York City Police Department (NYPD) report, Engineering Security: Protective Design for High Risk Buildings, aids New York City building community by offering information on how to prevent and mitigate effects of terrorist attacks on buildings. Its guidelines incorporate recommendations and best practices developed by NIST, which were the result of a 6-year investigation into the collapse of 3 World Trade Center (WTC) buildings following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

July 17, 2009 Recommendations, made by NTSB, addressed several Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issues. Most suggestions centered around electrically conductive, combustible oxygen hoses, including requirements for their replacement with nonconductive hoses, positive separation between electrical wiring, and development of minimum electrical grounding requirements. Other recommendations addressed airworthiness directive process formalization and smoke detector installation.

July 17, 2009 Nationwide, 2,000 construction projects are underway, worth more than $6 billion. A total of 5,600 projects have been identified and approved for bidding, which means that total of $16.7 billion will be flowing into economy over next 2 years. U.S. DOT reports that 51% of funds are being spent in economically disadvantaged areas, which represent almost 40% of nation's population. With bids coming in 5-30% lower than projected, more projects can be launched than initially planned.

July 17, 2009 Jim Greenwood, BIO President and CEO, issued a statement regarding the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions vote on legislation establishing regulatory pathway for biosimilars. He called it "a victory for the patients...living with debilitating diseases," and also noted the language "strikes the appropriate balance among ensuring patient safety, expanding competition, reducing costs, and providing necessary and fair incentives...for continued biomedical breakthroughs."

July 17, 2009 Due to overwhelming response by industry users, additional dates and locations have been scheduled throughout 2009 for a series of educational seminars on WirelessHART(TM) technology. HART® Communication Foundation seminar series, which will start August 5 in Philadelphia, PA, provides overview of WirelessHART technology, what it can do for you, how it can be used in a plant environment, and how to plan a successful wireless project.

July 17, 2009 Nuts, Bolts and Thingamajigs, The Foundation of FMA, encourages youth to enter careers in manufacturing to avert shortage of skilled workers. NBT offers grants to not-for-profit organizations and educational institutions introducing young people to metal forming and fabricating careers in manufacturing, provides funding to organizations starting or expanding manufacturing camps for youth, and issues scholarships to students at colleges and trade schools pursuing careers in manufacturing.

July 17, 2009 According to EPRI analysis, replacing some fossil-fuel end-use technologies with efficient electric ones in residential, commercial, and industrial applications has potential energy savings of 71.7 quadrillion BTUs, and could result in cumulative CO2 reductions of 4,400 million tons between 2009 and 2030. Study also found that reduction of CO2 emissions of 320 million metric tons annually in 2030 could result in 4.7% decrease in emissions relative to baseline forecast.

July 16, 2009 According to the American Machine Tool Distributors Association (AMTDA) and The Association For Manufacturing Technology (AMT), May US manufacturing technology consumption totaled $109.90 million. This total, reported by companies participating in the USMTC program, was up 5.8% from April but down 72.3% from the total of $397.16 million reported for May 2008. With a year-to-date total of $618.30 million, 2009 is down 70.5% compared with 2008.