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Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) on ASTM standards and related intellectual property is prohibited. Violations will result in suspension of access.
By Kathy Hunt
Feb 27, 2026
Much has been discussed about the value of collaboration in the workplace and how it spurs greater productivity, efficiency, creativity, and innovation. Generally, studies on the topic have focused on cooperation between departments within a company or between two complementary companies. Yet, the same outcomes often hold true when nonprofit organizations partner on projects.
Alliances between professional groups aren’t uncommon. In order to reduce diagnostic errors and improve the diagnostic process and patient care, the American Medical Association (AMA) and National Quality Forum teamed up in 2024 to write standards for sharing patient symptom data in a clinical setting. In the past, this data had not been consistently recorded in electronic health records, complicating the ability of clinicians to give accurate and timely diagnoses. Likewise, in April 2025, the International Code Council (ICC) and Center for Offsite Construction (CFOC) announced their joint efforts to create a standard on configurations and connections for off-site construction (CFOC/ICC 1220). Their goal is to improve quality, sustainability, resilience, and affordability in the construction industry.
At the March 2025 National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in San Diego, CA, members of ASTM International’s committee on petroleum products, liquid fuels, and lubricants (D02) spoke at a symposium on ways ASTM and ACS’s Energy and Fuels Division (ENFL) could form a productive working relationship to write and revise fuel standards.
Jean-Francois Borny is a longtime chemist, executive member of ACS’s Division of Energy and Fuels (ENFL), and chair of ASTM’s subcommittee D02.P on recycled products. Observing how a scientific society and a standards organization could complement one another, he proposed the ACS-ASTM collaboration to Jinxia Fu, Ph.D., ENFL’s 2025 program chair and member of ACS’s Divisional Activities Committee (DAC). The pair organized the symposium for the March 2025 ACS meeting, which received support from ACS through DAC’s Innovative Project Grants.
“ASTM creates the methodology for the industry in which I’m involved, and I use it every day,” said Borny, who is an analytical services senior manager at Lummus Technology. “ACS has a wealth of academic resources but isn’t well integrated with industry. We’re bringing these two entities together because there are definite needs and benefits for both to become involved with each other.”
Among the goals of this and possible future symposia, he would like to see ACS become involved in updating and writing standards, and to see ASTM evolve within ACS, utilize academia, and do research. As an example, Borny cited waste plastic pyrolysis oil, a newer synthetic fuel that lacks some of the standards required to analyze it. Having the opportunity for ACS academics to devise the methodology that would become an ASTM standard is useful, he said. So, too, is ASTM having the ability to indicate to ACS members what it needs in order to write or update standards.
“We want to bridge the gap between these organizations, utilize what academia has to offer, and address what industry needs,” said Borny, who composed the symposium statement on the impact of ASTM on the energy and fuels industry.
ACS and ASTM both have origins in the 19th century. Chemist and Columbia University professor Charles F. Chandler founded ACS at a meeting of American chemists in New York City in 1876. Chandler stated that, among other things, having a society dedicated to chemistry would stimulate original research, unite scientists, and ensure a better appreciation of chemistry and its students by the public.
In the 20th century, the U.S. Congress chartered ACS, which gave the society legal recognition and nonprofit status. The 1937 charter also required ACS to “examine, experiment, and report upon any subject in pure or applied chemistry connected with the national defense.”
Today, the mission of the ACS is to “advance scientific knowledge, empower a global community, and champion scientific integrity.”
From its earliest days, ACS aimed to share its work with the populace. Its first publication, the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), went into print in 1879. Presently, it produces over 90 peer-reviewed journals, including the JACS.
The impact of its publications has proven significant. In 2021, metrics from the analytics company Clarivate and database and analysis tool-provider Scopus revealed that ACS journals were the most often-cited journals in chemistry. Among the types of chemistry for which they are referenced are analytical, inorganic and nuclear, organic, medicinal, and multidisciplinary.
The society also hosts webinars, regional meetings, conferences, outreach events, podcasts, videos, and more. With over 230,000 members, it is one of the largest scientific societies in the world. Membership is open to undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, academics, industry professionals, and chemistry enthusiasts.
“All chemists feel like they have a home at ACS,” said Fu, who serves on the ENFL executive committee and is also a member of ASTM.
ASTM formed 22 years after ACS, in 1898, through the initiative of Dr. Charles Benjamin Dudley. Dudley was a chemist for the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and president of ACS in 1896 and 1897. An early advocate for standardization, he and other scientists saw the need for an independent organization that could assist in the discussion and creation of test methods and other forms of standardization.
As part of its commitment to global societal needs, ASTM “integrates consensus standards — developed with our international membership of volunteer technical experts — and innovative services to improve lives.” Membership consists of over 30,000 technical experts and business professionals from 140 countries, all of whom work within an open and transparent process to create standards that support industries and governments around the world. Through its 140-plus technical, standards-writing committees, ASTM has published over 13,000 standards in such areas as petroleum and consumer products, as well as nuclear, solar, and geothermal energy. It possesses a digital library containing every technical book, paper, and journal article it has published.
Additionally, the organization offers in-person, online, and on-demand standards training as well as training products for such fields as petroleum energy, plastics, and emerging technologies. Through its affiliation with the Safety Equipment Institute (SEI), it connects members with more than 75 accredited certification programs. These programs cover specialties such as petroleum laboratories and additive manufacturing.
Headquartered in West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, ASTM has offices in Belgium, Canada, China, Peru, Singapore, and Washington, D.C.
Collaboration can benefit the field of renewable energy as a whole.
Though a significant number of ASTM members join the organization as established professionals, the organization currently has approximately
5,000 student members and has established a thriving Emerging Professionals program to encourage the next generation of experts to become members. In the case of ACS, a large number of members become part of the association when they are students.
Dr. Lauren Huffman, technical services and development manager for lubricants and specialty fluids at the Dow Chemical Company, belongs to both ACS and ASTM. As an undergraduate chemistry major at the University of Oregon, she was attracted to ACS because it allowed her to share research in a professional, but not overwhelming, forum. “ACS has a strong student outreach and student chapters that afford undergrads who do research the opportunity to present their work at regional meetings. This is why I joined,” she said.
She added that ACS’s student outreach programs and focus on careers and education can complement the extensive professional experience of much of ASTM’s membership, along with its wealth of technical contacts.
ACS board member and past division chair Lisa Houston noted the importance of exposing not only students but also professors to the standardization process.
“Having ‘I participate in ASTM standards-creation’ on your CV is impressive,” she said. “You may not be creating a new molecule, but you may work on something that becomes essential for companies and brings value to you as a student or professor.”
She credited belonging to both ACS and ASTM for giving her the chance to assume leadership positions and head task groups, which helped to advance her career. Houston is a member of ASTM committees D02, D03 (gaseous fuels), and D19 (water) and is former vice president (retired) of the Petroleum Analyzer Company.
Past D02 committee chair Scott Fenwick, who is the technical director at Clean Fuels Alliance America and an ASTM board member, pointed to a broader exposure to industry as another benefit of working with ASTM. “For a lot of participants, the opportunity here is to not be so narrowly focused,” he said. “There may be students and people well-versed in the chemistry and fuels community who find another path. They may find that they’re interested in the regulatory or marketing perspective of the fuels industry and end up working for an engine manufacturer. Being a bit broader in their understanding will serve them well.”
Huffman cited another advantage offered by ASTM, which is the number of professional contacts one makes.
“On the one hand, you’re at ASTM to talk about the methods used to set specifications for different applications and to make sure they’re accurate, up-to-date, and cover different kinds of fluids,” Huffman said. “Yet when you’re there, you get to know all the technical people: your customers, competitors, and suppliers. Through those relationships, you grow your capabilities and skills.”
As mentioned previously, the March 2025 symposium featured members of ASTM’s committee on petroleum products, liquid fuels, and lubricants. The reason for selecting this committee was twofold. Currently, there are at least 10 members of the ACS’s energy and fuels division who actively participate in ASTM’s standards process, Houston said. By increasing awareness of how collaboration can benefit not only each organization’s fuel groups but also the field of renewable energy as a whole, the interrelationship between ACS and ASTM can grow.
U.S. and global biofuel standards are, in large part, driven by analytical chemistry. At the symposium, D02 member Richard Nelson spoke about the committee’s need for analytical, organic, and physical chemists who possess interests in biofuels and in being part of standards development for them. He especially wanted to convey the fact that chemists can make contributions to and in the renewable energy field.
“In D6751 [ASTM’s standard specification for biodiesel fuel blend stock, B100, for middle distillate fuels], measurement of each of the properties, such as flash point or free glycerin, is critical to a fuel’s use in an engine, and it takes a detailed understanding of chemistry,” he said. “Sometimes, as a mechanical and agricultural engineer, I’m not always going to fully understand the properties unless I go back and study them, but chemists will. Fuel quality in biodiesel is absolutely paramount. Having chemists and ACS personnel involved in biodiesel standards such as this, which help ensure a fuel is fit for its purpose in an engine, is critical.”
Nelson also hoped the symposium would encourage students and faculty to become more knowledgeable about sustainable fuels and the standards-development process. Ideally, he envisioned students learning about biodiesel, renewable diesel, and sustainable aviation fuel and then interning during the summer at a facility that produces one of these fuels. The students would bring their enthusiasm for, and experiences in, renewable energy to ACS, encouraging the society to offer its expertise to the improvement and advancement of these fuels through standards. Nelson is the president of Enersol Resources and a subcontractor with Clean Fuels Alliance America.
By capitalizing on their strengths in academia, industry, and standards development, ACS’s ENFL and ASTM’s committee on petroleum products, liquid fuels, and lubricants (D02) can make the development and advancement of voluntary consensus standards more streamlined and efficient. They can also advance the understanding, acceptance, and progress of renewable fuels, bringing more academics to standards development and more industrial experience and knowledge to the chemistry society. Furthermore, this partnership could serve as a model for other standards-development organizations and for other committees within ASTM. Those involved with the ACS-ASTM symposium anticipate that this collaboration will have important benefits for both organizations. ●
March / April 2026
