January 16, 2009 With theme of "The Power of E," 2009 Toll Processing Conference will include economic experts that will share industry predictions for 2009. Presentations geared toward strategic needs of company owners and managers will address labor market concerns, economic perspectives, and advocacy initiatives. Speakers will cover updates on appliance markets, new technologies, and developments impacting metals industry. Participants can also exchange ideas with industry leaders at networking events.

January 15, 2009 Scheduled for March 22-24, 2009, First International GHG Measurement Symposium will review greenhouse gas measurement and monitoring as well as technological needs for accurate local, regional, national, and international monitoring systems. Participants will begin defining technical problem of monitoring GHG emissions at multiple spatial scales, and discuss how to perform these measurements. Exhibit hall will feature latest products, technologies, and services.

January 15, 2009 Scheduled for Aug 31 to Sept 2, 2009, conference titled "Harmonizing Greenhouse Gas Assessment and Reporting Processes," will provide forum to discuss advances in greenhouse gas emissions estimation methods, emission inventories, and reporting. It will also examine convergence of mandatory and voluntary reporting initiatives, as well as emerging technical and policy issues. Association is seeking abstracts of 200-300 words on all aspects of greenhouse gas estimation.

January 15, 2009 With proposed revisions to EU RoHS Directive released, IPC, in conjunction with ENVIRON, presents webinar titled "Proposed Changes to RoHS Directive: the Impact on Manufacturers and Importers." Key issues to be covered include additional substances to be considered for restriction under RoHS; changes to exemptions policy; new conformity assessment and product marking and labeling requirements; and strategies to affect outcome of revised RoHS Directive.

January 15, 2009 ASTM International will launch the Year of the Professor campaign. The multi-faceted academic outreach initiative will be aimed at promoting value of standards education at colleges and universities worldwide. Highlights will include college and university campus visits and training sessions by ASTM members and staff, and ASTM will provide educators access to affordable ASTM academic-oriented products, enabling professors to integrate ASTM standards into their course materials.

January 15, 2009 NAM reports that Commerce Department's November 2008 trade data shows a $13 billion decrease in manufactured goods trade deficit. With fall of 6% for exports and 14% for imports, numbers reflect declining economic conditions in U.S. Frank Vargo of NAM says this will have impact on manufacturing employment and that end of export boom creates more of a need to stimulate U.S. economy for long-term job creation.

January 15, 2009 To help bring companies up-to-date with recent revisions to regulations, along with proposed changes to take effect in 2009, IPC will host symposium titled "It's Not Easy Being Green: Compliance with Legislation and Customer Requirements." Two-day event will focus on REACH compliance, updated information on RoHS review process, China RoHS and process for including electronic products in catalog of items subject to substance restrictions, and environmental regulatory trends in California.

January 15, 2009 Promoted to Director, Meetings and Education, Robert Willis joined ASC in 2003 and increased quality of ASC's convention experience. Malinda Armstrong, promoted to Sr. Manager, Finance and Administration, joined ASC in 1996 and is responsible for processing meeting registrations, managing onsite logistics/registrations, and selling EXPO booths. New Member Services Director, Steve Duren, brings 12 yr of experience with diverse organizations in standards development/marketing/product experience.

January 15, 2009 Based on data from the November United States Manufacturing Technology Consumption (USMTC) report, compiled by the AMT and AMTDA, U.S manufacturing technology consumption was down 34.7% from October and down 51.4% from November 2007. Year-to-date, 2008 was up 2.8% compared with 2007. Peter Borden, AMTDA President, explained that unit consumption has dropped to levels not seen since January 2004 and January 2005, with optimism low for the numbers to rebound quickly.

January 15, 2009 Working on Europe's pending 'Metric Only' regulations for 20 yr, NAM commended European Union and U.S. Government for resolving transatlantic trade issue related to labeling of products imported into EU. EU was poised to require all imports from U.S. have metric labels only, no non-metric or imperial measurements, potentially imposing severe costs on U.S. exporters. Extending current dual-labeling provisions indefinitely is a good solution for business in U.S., Europe, and around the world.

January 15, 2009 The SME announces election of Richard W. Shoemaker as President of the Executive Committee, Barbara M. Fossum as President-elect, Paul D. Bradley as VP, LaRoux K. Gillespie as Secretary/Treasurer, and Dennis S. Bray as at-large member. Michael C. Burstein, Wayne F. Frost, and Michael R. Watson were elected to the Board of Directors. Installed on October 26, 2008 at the SME Fall Board of Directors Meeting, their terms all officially began on January 1, 2009.

January 15, 2009 Dr. Bouzid Choubane, state pavement materials engineer at Florida Department of Transportation, has received H.W. Kummer Lecture Award from ASTM International Committee E17 on Vehicle - Pavement Systems. Choubane was honored in appreciation of his December 2008 Kummer Lecture on "Accelerated Pavement Testing to Assess the Performance of Pavement Systems: Florida's Experience." He has authored or co-authored more than 30 peer-reviewed technical papers in his field.

January 15, 2009 With a B.S. in metallurgical engineering from Drexel University, Paul K. Whitcraft started his career at Carpenter Technology's Tube Division then moved to company's Steel Division. In 1991, he joined staff at Rolled Alloys Inc. and is currently director of quality, safety, and engineering. Since 1975, he has been active in several ASTM committees, and he is past chairman of Committee B02, which recognized him in 2002 with Award of Merit for leadership and technical contributions.

January 15, 2009 Titled "The Role of Space in Addressing America's National Priorities," AIA report recommends that new administration develop mechanism to look at space capabilities as single enterprise consistent with national goals and objectives. Report also suggests administration provide necessary budgets to continue critical, multi-year space programs. Additional recommendations include reducing gaps in climate measurement and establishing comprehensive space protection strategy.

January 15, 2009 Michael Campbell, President and CEO of Arch Chemicals Inc., began his 2-year term on Jan 1 as chairman of NAM Board of Directors and looks forward to working with President-elect Obama, his Administration, and Congress to help America's manufacturers remain vital engine of growth and prosperity. A native of Portsmouth, NH, Campbell has led Arch Chemicals since company's inception in 1999. He previously served as Olin Corp.'s Executive VP and President of Olin Microelectronic Materials.

January 15, 2009 Providing guidelines for assessing energy efficiency, ISO 23045:2008 will assist designers and practitioners in collecting and providing data that is required at different stages of design process, as well as in fulfilling building design objectives. Through adherence to guidelines, professionals in building sector will have opportunity to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide through energy-efficient design of buildings and building mechanical equipment.

January 15, 2009 Created by scientists at University of Georgia, technique of identifying viruses in less than 60 seconds will allow doctors and health professionals to confirm diagnoses and isolate those infected before disease can spread. Technique employs surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy to measure frequency of NIR laser light as it scatters off viral DNA and RNA. Several standards developed by ASTM International provide guidelines for testing and assessment of Raman spectrometers to ensure accuracy.

January 15, 2009 Building on NIOSH guidance, ISO/TR 12885:2008 Technical Report provides critical information on occupational safety for those involved in manufacture and use of nanomaterials in workplace. Document is designed to help companies, researchers, workers, and others prevent adverse health and safety consequences during production, handling, use, and disposal of manufactured nanomaterials.

January 15, 2009 To help power system operators prevent voltage collapse, EPRI and Entergy Corporation have validated method developed by EPRI for continuously calculating voltage stability margin on transmission networks using measured voltage and current waveforms at transmission substation level. Calculated voltage stability margins provide important indices to help power system operators anticipate system-wide instability problems.

January 15, 2009 On Jan 23, 2009, Dr. Karen Billings, VP of SIIA Education Division, will unveil new initiatives during Education Division Member Breakfast, part of Florida Educational Technology Conference. Preview of announcements includes unveiling of 2009 SIIA Vision K-20 Survey, announcing "Best Practices for Using Games and Simulations in Classroom" publication, and release of SIIA Trends Report on "Education Technology: Mobile Devices, Online Learning and States' Role."