Small and medium-sized businesses will be in San Antonio’s spotlight on Tuesday, May 3, at a lunch-hour event hosted by ASTM International, one of the world’s leading standards organizations. Small businesses, government agencies, and others interested in attending can register free on-site at the Grand Hyatt (600 E. Market St.).

The Tuesday panel session is part of ASTM’s “Committee Week” conference that attracts more than 1,000 experts and engineers in many industries from around the world. The panel will take place during the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Week (May 1-7).

“ASTM International standards help many kinds of small businesses – from startups, to suppliers, to labs like mine that use ASTM test methods every day,” says Ed Eaton, Sr., Chief Engineer at Amalgatech, an R&D testing laboratory.  “Standards are vital, for example, in measuring and evaluating the capabilities of new technologies that are being introduced in the marketplace.”

Eaton is active in ASTM Committee D15 on Engine Coolants and Related Fluids, one of the committees that will meet to develop standards at the Grand Hyatt. He will be featured on the May 3 panel in Room “Lonestar E” of the hotel along with leaders from other committees, including:
•    Mark Stone, Director of Business Development, Evans Cooling Systems, a waterless engine coolant manufacturer (another member of Committee D15).
•    Earl Ruth, Director of Technology, Tinius Olsen, a material testing machine manufacturer (member of Committee E28 on Mechanical Testing), and
•    Herb Dwyer, COO and Chief Engineer, Nanmac Corporation, a manufacturer of thermal sensing products (member of E20 on Temperature Measurement).

The event will be moderated by Daniel Smith, vice president of technical committee operations for ASTM.

This event is part of ASTM International’s “Year of the Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SME),” launched by the organization’s board chairman Ralph Paroli, Ph.D., director of R&D in Measurement Science and Standards at the National Research Council of Canada.

“Entrepreneurs, small manufacturers and other SMEs create the majority of private-sector jobs worldwide while accounting for more than half of global GDP,” Paroli said. “It’s time that more of them have opportunities to get involved in creating technical standards that will help them truly thrive.”

For more information about the May Committee Week in San Antonio, go to: www.astm.org/MEETINGS. For success stories and other information on the Year of the SME, go to: www.astm.org/sme.

More information: Brian Milewski, bmilewsi@astm.org
Media Inquiries: Nathan Osburn, tel +1.610.832.9603; nosburn@astm.org

Release #10063