Jan 02, 2024

Welcome 2024! For those of you who celebrate, I hope your holiday season was filled with the joy of time with family and friends and some time for respite.

At ASTM International, a new year brings exciting change within our Board of Directors. We thank our outgoing board members for their dedicated and valued service, and welcome new directors Urmilla Jokhu-Sowell (National Glass Association), Roberto Montoya (ICONTEC), Adam Norton (NERVE Center, UMass Lowell), Lisa Rogers (Mycometer), Rick Rosati (Bureau Veritas), and Kathleen Stanton (Personal Care Products Council) to the Board.

A few weeks ago, at the December Committee Week, we held the pinning ceremony where we expressed heartfelt gratitude to our 2023 Board Chair, Bill Ells, and welcomed Bill Griese as the incoming Board Chair for 2024. Bill has served on ASTM’s Board of Directors since 2018. He’s a member of the committees on ceramic whitewares and related products (C21), sustainability (E60), and manufactured masonry units (C15). To learn more about Bill, please read an interview with him here. 

In addition to changes within the ASTM Board of Directors, a new year also brings fresh and stimulating initiatives as part of ASTM’s annual business plan. You’ll hear more details of ASTM’s key initiatives as part of Bill’s presentations during upcoming committee weeks and our Annual Business Meeting in May, but I’d like to introduce several initiatives here.

This year, ASTM stakeholders will see the implementation of recommendations from the multi-departmental team that reviewed ASTM’s brand efforts. There are several aspects to consider, including how our digital footprint has evolved since our brand was updated in 2014. We’ll have more to share later this year, but I want to reiterate something that we were confident in but which was reinforced as part of this discovery: ASTM’s brand recognition is strong and well respected, globally.

Speaking globally, this year we’ll build on our extensive and strategic global outreach efforts and strengthen our engagement with major global organizations like NATO and the U.N. 

Within our technical committee operations, we’ll be exploring several new activities and committees on emerging technologies, working to advance our member experience, and continuing our membership modernization project.

In February, we’ll also be releasing the second season of ASTM’s Standards Impact podcast. 2023 episodes on advanced manufacturing, personal protective equipment, and sustainability and resilience were well-received.  Look for our next episode on plastics and the circular economy to be released soon.  

And of course, this coming year will also see us welcome a new ASTM International President. I’ll have much more to say on that in the coming months but for now, please know our search process is moving along well.

These are just a few of the exciting things coming in 2024. I look forward to another productive and impactful year at ASTM International. ■

Katharine E. Morgan
President, ASTM International