Liu Fei, ASTM International’s chief representative in China, made congratulatory remarks at the 55th anniversary celebration of the Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology on June 5 in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. ASTM International and MASM signed a memorandum of understanding in January 2004. Here, Fei (left) poses with Galbadrakh Gantumur (right), chairman, MASM.

Scott Orthey, ASTM International staff manager (left), and Luis Ordóñez, ASTM consultant in Mexico (right), attended Concreto LatinoAmérica in Mexico City, Mexico, in June. Concreto LatinoAmérica includes displays of machinery, tools, products, materials and equipment, and is attended by a wide variety of people involved in Latin American concrete construction. Matthew Offenberg of W.R. Grace, and a member of C09.49 on Pervious Concrete, also attended the event, where he gave a presentation on pervious concrete.

MOU Program: Bahrain & Pakistan

ASTM International has recently signed memorandums of understanding with two more national standards bodies, those of Bahrain and Pakistan. These latest signings bring the total number of MOUs that ASTM has signed with NSBs to 61 since the launch of the MOU program in 2001.

The Bahrain Standards and Metrology Directorate became the 60th national standards body to sign an MOU with ASTM. BSMD is part of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce for the Kingdom of Bahrain. James A. Thomas, president, ASTM International, and Hasan Abdulla Fakhro, minister of industry and commerce of the Kingdom of Bahrain, signed the MOU.

In addition, Pakistan’s NSB, Pakistan Standards and Quality Control Authority, has signed an MOU. Thomas, along with Abdul Ghaffar Soomro, director general, PSQCA, signed the MOU.

MOUs allow ASTM and NSBs to join together to achieve standardization goals for both organizations. The purposes of the MOU program are to promote communication between ASTM International and NSBs; to promote knowledge of each other’s standards development activities; facilitate greater worldwide participation in the ASTM standards development process and facilitate the development of national standards that will aid health, safety, environmental and economic institutions. More information on ASTM International memorandum of understanding program can be found by clicking here.

ASTM International has contributed $2,000 for the installation of a new scoreboard at Sutcliffe Park in Conshohocken, Pa. Shown in the photo during a break in a recent tournament, from left to right: Charles Mascio, Conshohocken Little League president; Paulette Trainer, Conshohocken Little League board member; Dan Nolan, Conshohocken Little League board member; Leonard Morrissey, director, standards development, ASTM International; and Steve Purdy, player agent.

Eileen Mullen (left), director, human resources, ASTM International, presents a contribution from ASTM to Chris Garrity (right), Senior Start! Heart Walk director, Philadelphia American Heart Association. The $2,500 donation will be part of funds raised for the Philadelphia Start! Heart Walk at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Nov. 15.

ASTM Committee and Staff Members Attend American Society for Engineering Education Conference

Committee E06 member David Reisdorph visits the ASTM booth at the ASEE Exposition.

David Reisdorph, a member of Committee E06 on Performance of Buildings from the GreenTeam Inc., presented a paper describing the need for courses that link standards and sustainability at the American Society for Engineering Education Conference and Exposition in Pittsburgh, Pa. Reisdorph’s paper reviews an Oklahoma State University environmental science graduate course in sustainability and international standards. Central to the course is a student project that involves identifying a need for a potential sustainability-related standard and developing it as if it were a proposed ASTM International standard.

In addition to Reisdorph, ASTM staff members Jim Olshefsky, Ileane Smith and George Zajdel attended the ASEE conference, which provided a three-day forum for more than 3,500 professors, deans, instructors and students to present research and interact with colleagues and industry counterparts.

For more information about ASTM International’s student outreach activities, please contact James Olshefsky, director of external relations (phone: 610-832-9714), or click here.

ASTM President Speaks at Catholic University

On July 9, James A. Thomas, president, ASTM International, spoke to a group of students as part of their evening class on strategic standardization at the Catholic University School of Engineering in Washington, D.C.

The purpose of the strategic standardization course is to create an enhanced level of awareness for graduate engineering students on significant issues associated with standards and the process of standardization. The course is taught by Donald E. Purcell, chair, the Center for Global Standards Analysis, Washington, D.C., and it is one of the few offered in the United States solely on development of global technology standards from a U.S. perspective.

As one of the class’s several guest lecturers who visited the class over a 12-week period, Thomas was able to share some of the broad knowledge of standardization that he has learned during his career at ASTM International. Educating future engineers and leaders about the importance of standardization and the voluntary consensus process continues to be a high priority for ASTM staff. For more information about ASTM’s academic outreach activities, please contact James Olshefsky, director of external relations (phone: 610-832-9714) or click here.

ASTM International is one of several organizations sponsoring the Washington Internships for Students of Engineering program in 2008. Ten participants in the program visited ASTM International headquarters in West Conshohocken, Pa., on July 10. During the visit, the interns learned about ASTM and its operations, industry and government operations and global cooperation efforts. Interns also learned about the opportunities available in the ASTM student member program. A feature story by James Bryce (sixth from left), whose internship was sponsored by ASTM, can be found by clicking here.

Candidates for 2009 ASTM International Board of Directors Announced

ASTM International announces the slate of candidates selected by the 2008 Nominating Committee for the 2009 board of directors:

Chairman of the board: Paul K. Whitcraft, Rolled Alloys Inc.
Vice chairman of the board (two-year term): Catherine (Kitty) H. Pilarz, Fisher-Price

Directors (three-year terms):

Torsten Bahke, Dr.-Ing., DIN, the German Institute for Standards;
Carroll D. Davis, Alcoa Technical Center;
Warren O. Haggard, Ph.D., University of Memphis;
Toy S. Poole, Ph.D., U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center;
Masami Tanaka, Japan Testing Center for Construction Materials; and
Michael R. Withers, Walt Disney Imagineering.

Voting instructions and biographies of nominees for your approval can be found by clicking here. In addition to electing the 2009 board of directors, please recommend candidates from the ASTM International membership to serve on the 2009 Nominating Committee. Contact Maureen Houck (phone: 610-832-9594) for more information.