· SPEAKER INFORMATION All accepted speakers with oral or ... For information, contact:...

Vol. 13 No. 2 • 2020NETWORKING / PEOPLE / COMMITTEES / LABORATORIES / REGIONAL EVENTS

PAGE 24

OCTOBER 2018NETWORKING / PEOPLE / COMMITTEES / LABORATORIES / REGIONAL EVENTS

CONFERENCE REVIEW PAGE 12

TOMORROWMEASUREMENTS

OF

Closing Keynote by Dr. James KakaliosAuthor of “The Physics of Superheros."

Celebrating 10 Years!

Remembering the Past, Looking to the Future

JULY 2018NETWORKING / PEOPLE / COMMITTEES / LABORATORIES / REGIONAL EVENTS

PAGE 18

JULY 2017NETWORKING / PEOPLE / COMMITTEES / LABORATORIES / REGIONAL EVENTS

NMIs & Industry

IN THIS ISSUEAchievable Accuracy in Industrial Measurement of Dissipation Factor of Power Capacitors

Automated Piston Gauge Calibration System

Calibration of Electrocardiograph (ECG) Simulators

Calibration of Optical Fiber Time Domain Reflectometers in Accordance with IEC 61746-1:2009

measure Vol. 12 No. 1 • March 2018

IN THIS ISSUEPressure Balance Cross-Calibration Method Using a Pressure Transducer as Transfer Standard

High-Voltage Divider Calibration with the Reference Step Method

A Review and Survey of Metrology Outreach Efforts in Post-Secondary Education

Vol. 11 No. 1 • March 2016measure®

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Publication ISSN #1940-2988Vol. 13 No. 2 • 2020

Metrologist is published byNCSL International and distributedto its member organizations.

VOL. 13 NO. 2 • 2020

SPECIAL FEATURES

8 2020 Technical Exchange Review Linda Stone, NCSLI Media & Event Coordinator

20 Toward a Measurement Information Infrastructure

New Developments Mark Kuster

24 World Metrology Day 2020 Measurements for Global Trade

32 The Kilogram Redefined The Weight Is Over Andrew Oldershaw and Kevin McClure

38 ILAC Report November 2019 Jeff Gust, NCSLI Representative to ILAC

DEPARTMENTS

2 From the President

4 Membership

6 NCSLI/CPEM 2020 Virtual Technical Program

28 Learning + Development

36 International News

42 Regional News

44 Advertisers Index

IN THIS ISSUE •••

••• 8

2020 Technical Exchange

Review

••• 24

World Metrology Day 2020

••• 32

The Kilogram, RedefinedThe Weight Is Over

••• 28

STEM and Education Outreach

Vol. 13 No. 2 • 2020 Metrologist • NCSLI Worldwide News | 1

on our communities. And while all the unknowns and uncertainty cannot be ignored, we can choose to focus on those things that can have a positive impact in a dif-ficult time. It is my hope that you can find ways to have that impact and support your communities. It has been remarkable to see how the global community has rallied in the face of adversity.

I know that the Board of Directors stands behind me in saying that our commitment is to the support of our members and the measurement community. With this in mind, the NCSLI/CPEM 2020 in-person Conference scheduled to take place from August 22 - August 28 at the Gaylord Rockies Convention Center, has been officially cancelled and rescheduled to take place in July of 2024.

Since we will not be meeting face-to-face for a con-ference this year, NCSLI has added a virtual Technical Program module. The virtual sessions will be arranged by topic, and each presentation will consist of a pre-re-corded video uploaded by registered speakers/authors. All registered attendees will have access to the full virtual program content. Details and updates about the virtual technical program can be found on the NCSLI website, www.ncsli.org.

••• FROM THE PRESIDENT

I hope this letter finds you, your families, and business-es well. As I sit here drafting this update for Metrologist magazine I struggle with how to provide an update that the membership will find relevant during this COVID-19 global pandemic.

The COVID-19 impacts are far reaching as businesses are closed, staff work from remote locations, and numer-ous events are cancelled or postponed. We are all doing our part to lessen the impact of this virus with social distancing, washing our hands, and following the guid-ance of our local, state and federal leaders. With all this in mind, I am hopeful that these efforts being made to combat this virus will result in lessening its impact

Dana L. LeamanNational Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP)NCSLI President [email protected]

Making a Positive Impact in a Difficult Time

2 | Metrologist • NCSLI Worldwide News NCSLI.org

FROM THE PRESIDENT •••

In late February, NCSLI was able to host its 2020 Technical Exchange in Houston, Texas. Measurement professionals came in from many different countries to join in the measurement training. Be sure to read the Technical Exchange review article on page 8 of this issue. If you were unable to attend this year's event, mark your calendars for the 2021 event scheduled back in Houston from February 22-24 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Houston Intercontinental Airport. We look forward to having you join us for this successful training event.

Our most recent Board of Directors meeting was held following the Technical Exchange on February 27 and 28, 2020. The board welcomed a new Treasurer, Elias Rafoul, from Standards Council of Canada, and two new At-Large Vice Presidents, Dr. Joe Fuehne, from Purdue

Polytechnical Columbus, and Michael Louque, from the Army CALSETS, Redstone Arsenal, to the board. Our meetings focused on the strategies for website improve-ments, region events and publications. As a result of the discussions, the feedback will be used to develop plans for implementing improvements. Since the face-to-face conference for August has been cancelled, the face-to-face board meeting normally held in conjunction with the event has also been cancelled. We are currently reviewing the discussion topics that require board attention and will plan a virtual meeting for those discussions.

Until we can all meet again face to face, stay safe. Cheers!

NCSLI Board of Directors meeting, Houston, Texas.


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New Members

To provide the best opportunities for the world’s measurement science experts and practitioners:

NCSL International Mission

• to network and exchange information

• to promote measurement education and skill development

• to develop means for organizations to resolve measurement challenges

••• MEMBERSHIP


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Join Us2020

• O N L I N E ! •

and

Due to the inescapable state of a�airs, the in-person NCSLI/CPEM 2020 joint conference has been o�cially cancelled. NCSL International and Conference on Precision Electromagnetic

Measurements (CPEM) have rescheduled the event to take place in July of 2024.

Join us instead for a Virtual Technical Program.Events begin August 24, 2020. Register today at ncsli.org.

NCSLI CALL FOR [email protected]

CPEM CALL FOR [email protected]

EXHIBIT [email protected]

SPONSORSHIP [email protected]

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VIRTUAL TECHNICAL PROGRAM N C S L I & C P E M 2 0 2 0

MeasurementScience

ProfessionalsJoin Us Online!

Virtual sessions will be arranged by topic, and each presentation will consist of a pre-recorded video uploaded by registered speakers/authors.

A text-based discussion forum will be available on the platform for questions and answers.

The registration fee for the virtual module is $350 USD.

We hope that this price will make the conference attractive to all institutions and companies, and we welcome participants beyond the

traditional NCSLI/CPEM attendees. All registered attendees will have access to the

full Virtual Technical Program content.

SPEAKERINFORMATION

All accepted speakers with oral or poster presentations from both NCSLI or CPEM technical tracks are invited to participate in the Virtual Technical Program.

Details about recording options and uploading instructions will be published soon on our conference website at www.ncsli.org/aws.

EXTENDED TO SATURDAY, AUGUST 1Speaker registration deadline

MONDAY, AUGUST 17Deadline for speakers/authors to upload their video presentation

MONDAY, AUGUST 24Events open. Access to virtual conference presentations and Q&A

t h e SI u n l e a s h e dB r i d g i n g S c i e n c e & M e t r o l o g y

Eric Stanfield, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Linda StoneNCSLI Media & Event Coordinator

Hello readers! The NCSLI Technical Exchange made its debut in Houston, Texas, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Airport Hotel & Conference Center from February 24 – 26, 2020, and what a success story it was! Our attendees (from 16 different countries), instructors, and staff were stealth in arriving and departing just in time before the COVID 19 pandemic took a solid hold. This year marked our most successful Technical Exchange to date!

With training covering two full days, we had over 250 tutorial class registrations. A tutorial will normally last between 4-8 hours and will typically be in a smaller group with classes of between 15 to 30 attendees. Tutorials are more interactive and might be structured around partic-ular activities or be more free flowing, giving attendees the opportunity to raise topics, ask questions and explore ideas. This year covered a wide range of metrology top-ics including dimensional, electrical, pressure, mass, and thermodynamic measurements, as well as, uncer-tainty, metrology management, accreditation, sensors, risk management, test & measurement equipment and quality & business.

Technical Exchange

2020Review

February 24 – 26, 2020 | Houston, Texas

••• TECHNICAL EXCHANGE


Jacob Ricker, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

John Stoup, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Marcela Shkolnik, A2LA WorkPlace Training.

Dallen Baugh, Additel Corporation. Mark Evans, Guildline Instruments.

Dilip Shah, E=mc3 Solutions.

Andy Oldershaw, National Research Council Canada. Rob Knake, A2LA WorkPlace Training.

James Salsbury PhD, Mitutoyo Corporation.

TECHNICAL EXCHANGE •••


Mike Coleman, Fluke Calibration.

Mike Johnston, Fluke Calibration.

Dr. Antonio Possolo, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Georgia Harris, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Danae Powell, Grand Rapids Metrology.

Helga Alexander, IAS.

This measurement training event was not entirely workshops. On Monday evening we held our welcome reception where everyone joined for drinks and network-ing. On Tuesday evening Mitutoyo America invited 60 Technical Exchange attendees to their Mitutoyo Houston M3 Solution Center showroom for appetizers and a tour from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM. The resource center is a fully equipped showroom, featuring operational models of the latest Mitutoyo tools and instruments. We were greeted by highly skilled application engineers who showed us the latest in technology.

The feedback from tutorial participants was incredibly positive. One attendee stated, “the tutorials presented great opportunities to interact with metrology experts, and the courses provided fundamental information for all levels.” And… “Instructors were knowledgeable and atten-tive, staying after class and beyond to answer questions.”

Ian Ciesniewski, Mettler Toledo.



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We look forward to seeing you again in Houston, Texas, for the 2021 Technical Exchange measurement training event to be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Airport Hotel from February 22 – 24, 2021.

The program is currently being developed, so please check the website at ncsli.org for upcoming information.

If you are interested in presenting a tutorial in Houston, please contact us at [email protected].


TECHNICAL EXCHANGE •••


Toward a MeasurementInformation InfrastructureNew Developments

Mark [email protected]

Hello again! Welcome back to the MII column—we have many new developments to report in this installment.

Calling All Subject-Matter Experts!The MII working group has drafted taxonomies for electrical, RF, temperature, torque and pressure measurements and plans to move on to other areas soon. The MII documents will embed these descriptions internally in order to unambiguously represent machine-identifiable measurements. Note that these internal codes would translate to conventional terminology on human-readable documents.

••• SPECIAL FEATURE


For example, the internal taxonomy entry TestProcess.Measure.Ratio.Volts.AC.Sinewave.Delta.Frequency indicates a measured ratio of AC sinusoidal voltage amplitudes at two different frequencies. It would likely appear on a spec sheet, accreditation scope or calibration certificate as “Output Voltage Flatness” or something similar. Since computers will only interpret the inter-nal code (which never varies for a given measurement), the human readable version may vary as document creators prefer, with preferred language from region to region, or as context changes from one technical field to another (e.g., medicine versus spaceflight).

You may view the taxonomy at http://www.metrology.net/home/metrology-taxonomy.

We did not attempt to cover every measurement in existence, but only those found in accreditation scopes. We would like to know if we have omitted a measurement you perform in those arenas, if you see additional detail we should add, or if any entry looks erroneous or ambiguous. If you have expertise in a particular measurement area, please join in the devel-opment. We have found it effective to create new taxonomy entries in Google Docs and release it to the working group for comment and editing. Create one and send us a link!

Digital TransformationMeanwhile, the technology world continues to present new tools and chal-

lenges. Have you heard of Industry 4.0? IoT1? Big Data? What about MII (Ha!), NIST on a Chip (NOAC), 5G, cloud computing, anything and everything as a service, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), knowledge bases, cobots, cyber-physical systems, augmented reality…? Tempting to call it a bunch of fancy buzzwords, but they actually represent opportunities to streamline operations. (Or should I say “value-creation streams”?)

In vogue with the times, chroniclers now label world industrial progress like software versions. So, Industry 1.0 refers to water- and steam-powered production and transportation. Industry 2.0 contributed electrical power, division of labor, assembly lines, and mass production. Electronics, com-puters and software drive Industry 3.0. Industry 4.0 denotes an internet of interconnected everything, from factory sensors to tagged shipping contain-ers, biometric devices on your person, self-driving cars, to well, you name it. These smart devices would connect to, communicate with, inform, control, and assist each other autonomously. The aforementioned buzzwords fall within the Industry 4.0 concept, in as much as industry implements them in earnest. I mention all this because an MII will exist in Industry 4.0. Progress never ends, however, so people have already begun to consider what might await us in Industry 5.0.

It all represents a digital transformation—digitally storing, transmitting, and leveraging data to enhance or create products and services and replace physical artifacts or optimize their utilization. For example, the MII replaces physical artifacts (paper documents) with digital equivalents and online sales replace retail sales buildings. Internet-enabled ride-sharing services increase vehicle utilization—not everyone in the big city will want to own and park a rarely used car. Think also shared housing—Airbnb and the like.

SPECIAL FEATURE •••


While on the subject of disruptors, let’s talk about NIST on a Chip (NOAC), NIST’s effort to bring quantum intrinsic standards to every measurement instrument and IoT sensor. For discussion’s sake, let’s call it SI on a chip (SIOC) to recognize its global potential and emphasize traceability to the SI rather than just through NIST. What will that do to your metrology business? It will eventually reduce metrology labs’ costs via quantum instruments that labs simply intercompare rather than send to an NMI2 for calibration (and the downtime while awaiting service), but as technology improves and miniaturizes, and SIOC costs fall, customers may send such labs less and less to calibrate.

How much less? That will depend on each lab’s calibration price point vs. the extra cost for an SIOC sensor over a non-intrinsic digital sensor. Maybe an MII (or other Industry 4.0 tools) will streamline your business enough to compete more strongly.

Events & DevelopmentsMII-related projects popped up all over the global radar lately. Some of

metrology’s higher-level organizations have recognized the value and either begun or stepped up work toward their own digital metrology visions.

At our SI traceability chain’s source, the BIPM3 has a "Digital SI" (D-SI) CIPM4 Task Group and will hold a meeting March 17 and a workshop June 22-23 this year, “The SI in Digital Communications” in France. The goal? To agree on a standard “unambiguous and secure data exchange format” for measurements, a very welcome development in that the 1) MII project has sought to build on existing standards and technology from its beginning, and 2) organizations such as BIPM and ILAC should lead the way in the areas under their jurisdictions. The MII accreditation scope, instrument specs, and certificate documents should easily accommodate such a standard. Go to https://www.bipm.org/en/conference-centre/bipm-workshops/digital-si for more detail.

In another example from last December, the Asia Pacific Metrology Programme General Assembly held a digital metrology forum in Sydney, Australia (https://www.apmp2019.com.au/the-digital-metrology-forum). Scheduled topics included data interoperability, digital calibration certifi-cates and data metrology.

New Zealand’s Measurement Standards Laboratory released a Quantity Value open-source project at https://github.com/MSLNZ. Quantity values5 form a key part of the MII, and way back in installment three (October 2013) we mentioned they would have implications to discuss at a later date so it seems that time has come. As core measurement data elements, quantity values appear in all three MII documents, whether as measurement results, nominal values, uncertainties, specifications, influence and input quantities, ranges, measurement conditions, or other entities.



Innumerable software packages deal with quantities and their values, but since computing hardware deals intrinsically only with numeric values, the software almost always carries the scale reference (measurement unit) separately or does not explicitly identify it at all. A computer will calculate 4 x 3 = 12 but has no idea that the code or user intends 4 V x 3 A = 12 W. Similarly, a com-puter will happily add 2 + 3 = 5, not knowing that adding 2 m + 3 kg makes no sense at all6. This leads to many difficulties, including losing space probes. The Quantity Value project implements one way to integrate the unit and number and keep everything straight automatically. Maybe someday computers will come with built-in quan-tity value hardware support.

A few existing software packages, such as Mathcad, also handle quantity calculations well, but no accepted standard representation exists. The MII will rely heavily on quantity equations for measurement models, specifi-cation formulas, and quantity conversions (like searching for an accredited thermocouple calibration by temperature when the lab lists its CMC7 by thermoelectric voltage. We look forward to a standard approach, perhaps one resulting from an MII-BIPM-MSL or wider collaboration.

The European Commission, PTB8 and other European organizations now speak of a “digital quality infra-structure”. Last year, PTB personnel presented a con-ference keynote, “Future metrology: are you ready for the digital age?” (https://www.ptb.de/cms/fileadmin/internet/forschung_entwicklung/digitalisierung/Future_ metrology_-_are_you_ready_for_the_digital_age_.pdf). The PTB also has a digitalization plan (https://www.ptb.de/cms/fileadmin/internet/forschung_entwicklung/ digitalisierung/PTB-Digitalisierungsstudie_2018_EN.pdf), a European “metrology cloud” strategy for legal metrology

[ 1 ] Internet of things

[ 2 ] National metrology institute

[ 3 ] International Bureau of Weights and Measures

[ 4 ] International Weights and Measures Committee

[ 5 ] A numeric value together with a reference, usually a measurement unit (VIM)

[ 6 ] Never mind vector spaces of differing quantity dimensions!

[ 7 ] Calibration and measurement capability

[ 8 ] Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Germany’s national metrology institute

(https://cfmetrologie.edpsciences.org/fr/articles/metrology/ abs/2017/01/metrology_metr2017_09001/metrology_metr2017_09001.html), and more. And, in addition to our MII certificate data model, the VDI/VDE 2623 certificate standard, Michael Johnston’s and Andrew Chapman’s certificate format proposal, and Ana Cardoso’s thesis project, the PTB has also developed a digital calibration certificate and has begun developing a taxonomy of measurements. See https://oar.ptb.de/resources/show/ 10.7795/310.20170401DE for more information. Remember the days of umpteen different word processor and spread-sheet file formats and the travails of converting one to another? We’ll want to work hard to consolidate these approaches.

Finally, take a look at METROIND4.0&IoT, the 2020 IEEE International Workshop on Metrology for Industry 4.0 & IoT and its special session on Metrology For Data Interoperability in Industry 4.0 (more info at www.metroind40iot.org/special-session-9). This work-shop session includes topics on measurement information infrastructures, metadata, ontology, digital calibration certificates, digital representations for physical quanti-ties and units, measurement data in industrial sensor networks, novel concepts for third-party accreditation using digital technologies, digital traceability and all things MII-related. If you would like to present, learn, or discuss MII initiatives, look into this event.

LaterStay tuned for more updates. Until then, feel

free to visit NCSLI’s MII Community page at http://www.ncsli.org/Committees or the MII knowledge base at http://miiknowledge.wikidot.com/start to keep tabs on us.



••• WORLD METROLOGY DAY


May 20 is World Metrology Day, commemorating the anniversary of the signing of the Metre Convention in 1875. This treaty provides the basis for a worldwide coherent measurement system that underpins scientific dis-covery and innovation, industrial manufacturing and international trade, as well as the improvement of the quality of life and the protection of the global environment.

The theme for World Metrology Day 2020 is Measurements for global trade. This theme was chosen to create awareness of the important role measure-ment plays in facilitating fair global trade, ensuring products meet standards and regulations, and satisfying customer quality expectations.

Across the world, national metrology institutes continually advance mea-surement science by developing and validating new measurement techniques at the necessary level of sophistication. The national metrology institutes par-ticipate in measurement comparisons coordinated by the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) to ensure the reliability of measurement results worldwide.

The International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) develops International Recommendations, which aim to align and harmonise requirements world-wide in many fields. The OIML also operates the OIML Certification System (OIML-CS) which facilitates international acceptance and global trade of regulated measuring instruments.

These international metrology systems provide the necessary assurance and confidence that measurements are accurate, providing a sound basis for global trade today and helping us to prepare for the challenges of tomorrow.

World Metrology Day recognises and celebrates the contribution of all the people that work in intergovernmental and national metrology organisations and institutes throughout the year.

Further information, including a message from the Directors, posters, and a list of events, is available at: www.worldmetrologyday.org. For information, contact: [email protected]

WORLD METROLOGY DAY •••

World Metrology Day 2020

Measurements for Global Trade


Have you ever wondered how many products and services are traded across the world, or considered how much energy crosses borders as either electric-ity or gas? You may not be aware of the exact amounts and take measure-ments for granted, putting trust in what manufacturers, transporters and governments do to ensure fairness and safety in the trade and transport of commodities. Fortunately, international systems have been established to provide the necessary assurance and confidence that these measurements are accurate, and that they are a sound basis for global trade.

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO)1, the global trade of products was a record US$ 19.67 trillion in 2018. Considering that the price of a significant proportion of the global trade of products is determined using legal units of measurement, it becomes clear that metrology plays a huge – and indeed critical – role in global trade.

Technical regulations and standards are adopted by governments to pro-tect both producers and consumers at national and international levels. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) esti-mates that about 80 % of global trade is affected by standards or regulations. A sound measurement system must be in place, so that the application of standards and regulations does not become a technical barrier to trade (TBT) which would lead to increased costs, inhibit the free flow of goods, or require repeated testing.

Trust in the assessment of conformity against specifications reduces costs and increases confidence for businesses and consumers; this is underpinned by the strong and effective worldwide metrology system.

We all depend on items that are transported to us, either from a store nearby or from a country on the other side of the world. Accurate measurements ensure that the goods and services we need are delivered safely and reliably.

As Directors of the International Bureau of Legal Metrology (BIML) and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), we work actively to elevate the importance of the role that measurement plays in global trade to ensure fairness, confidence, and protection of both the producer and consumer.

Martin MiltonDirector of the BIPM

Message from the BIML and BIPM Directors

“Measurements for Global Trade”

[ 1 ] https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2019_e/wts19_toc_e.htm

••• WORLD METROLOGY DAY

About the BIPM The signing of the Metre Convention in 1875 created the BIPM and for the first time formalised interna-tional cooperation in metrology. The Convention established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures and laid the foundations for worldwide uniformity of measure-ment in all aspects of our endeavours, historically focusing on and assisting industry and trade, but today just as vital as we tackle the grand chal-lenges of the 21st Century such as climate change, health, and energy. The BIPM undertakes scientific work at the highest level on a selected set of physical and chemical quanti-ties. The BIPM is the hub of a world-wide network of national metrology institutes (NMIs) which continue to realise and disseminate the chain of traceability to the SI into national accredited laboratories and industry.


About the OIML In 1955 the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) was estab-lished as an Intergovernmental Treaty Organisation in order to pro-mote the global harmonisation of legal metrology procedures with the Bureau International de Métrologie Légale (BIML) as the Secretariat and Headquarters of the OIML. Since that time, the OIML has developed a worldwide technical structure whose primary aim is to harmonise the reg-ulations and metrological controls applied by the national metrological services, or related organisations.

The 2020 poster was designed by AFRIMETS.

What is World Metrology Day?World Metrology Day is an annual event during which more than 80 countries celebrate the impact of measurement on our daily lives.

This date was chosen in recognition of the signing of the Metre Convention on 20 May 1875, the beginning of formal international collaboration in metrology. Each year World Metrology Day is organ-ised and celebrated jointly by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML) with the participation of the national organisations responsible for metrology.

The international metrology community which works to ensure that accurate measurements can be made across the world endeavours to raise awareness each World Metrology Day through a poster campaign and web site, www.worldmetrologyday.org. Previous themes have included topics such as measurements for the global energy challenge, for safety, for innovation, and measurements in sport, the environment, medicine and trade.

WORLD METROLOGY DAY •••

Anthony DonnellanDirector of the BIML


William HintonNCSL International Metrology [email protected]

STEM and Education

Outreach

••• LEARNING + DEVELOPMENT


We are hearing from people in the high tech-nology industries and the traditional trades

that the pool of trained, qualified and skilled people is shrinking. The traditional focus of high schools preparing students for college ignores the trades. This issue became a major concern here in New Hampshire as our unemployment hovered around 2.5 percent. The New Hampshire High Tech Council assem-bled key members of the education and regulatory communities to discuss this issue. Governor Maggie Hassan (now

Senator Maggie Hassan) was a keynote speaker along with Senator Kelly Ayotte

and many influential members of the state high-tech community. The consensus of

those in attendance was an immediate need for high-tech education and training with STEM

knowledge, beginning with students earlier in their education. It was also acknowledged that a gap still

exists regarding women in the high technology business sector, specifically in manufacturing.

Investigating various magnet-based items.

Performing NDT Penetrant Test.

LEARNING + DEVELOPMENT •••


The statistics regarding the aging workforce and the impact on the success of manufacturing was sobering. Current data noted that the 2010 census placed the work-force over the age of 65 at 13.5 percent, expected to rise to 20 percent by 2020. One of the workshops discussed best practices toward addressing the skills gap. A panel-ist from Pinkerton Academy (NH independent education facility) outlined their approach to STEM with a broader approach that included career counseling for vocation-al-technical education, certificate training as well as the traditional degree approach.

This was expanded upon by including the need for interactions with high-tech industries through facility tours, school visits by industry ambassadors and intern

positions. Most of the speakers agreed that more engage-ment with students regarding skills training should begin in the middle schools.

This has been the guiding principle of our NCSLI Education Outreach here in the state of New Hampshire. We sponsor and support the annual Girls Technology Day events, attend numerous high school and middle school career days and support tours at the Great Bay Community College campus here in Rochester, New Hampshire. These activities put equipment into the hands of the students in the fields of Metrology, Nondestructive Testing and advanced manufacturing. It is important to note that these are all STEM related skills.

Plant tour at Hypertherm International. Career day at Newmarket, NH High School.

Students try thermal imagery on a part. High School tour with industry expert in NDT.

••• LEARNING + DEVELOPMENT


The NCSLI partners, educators, volunteers and orga-nizers have been supporting school visits, career days, tours to business partners and college classrooms with the focus on STEM. We have been doing this for more than two decades and we capture lessons learned from every event and use that information to refine and improve the experience for the students. Regardless of the venue, there has never been an event or location where partic-ipants were not excited to engage with the technology we provide.

Expert from Safran Aerospace engages students.

The need for partnerships between professional organi-zations like NCSL International, local schools on all levels and local industry and trade groups will not subside until the needs of industry and the economy are addressed through reform of the education system. We reach out to engage, educate and basically make people aware of the impact and the need for STEM related skills.

Career night at local elementary school.

LEARNING + DEVELOPMENT •••


The Kilogram, RedefinedThe Weight Is OverAndrew Oldershaw and Kevin McClureReprinted with Permission from ASTM Standardization News

WHY CHANGE?Since 1889, calibrations of national standards (copies of the IPK) show a change in stability of about 50 µg.1 Now that has been fixed and the Planck’s constant will never change. Benefits of the new stability will be seen much more broadly than in just mass measurements. Mass influences the ampere, the mole, and the candela as well.

Accessibility is another strong motivator. Once the revised definition of the kilogram comes into force, “It will be possible to realize the SI unit of mass at any place, at any time, and by anyone.”2

“The kilogram, symbol kg, is the SI unit of mass. It is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the Planck constant h to be 6.626 070 15 × 10-34 when expressed in the unit J s, which is equal to kg m2 s-1, where the metre and the second are defined by exact values of the hyperfine transition frequency ∆VCs of the caesium 133 atom and the speed of light in vacuum c.2

To add context, the realization — and its possibility as described above — has to be in accordance with the mise en pratique for the kilogram, the standard instructions published by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM). The mise en pratique for the kilogram gives two options: realization of a mass by comparing electrical power to mechanical power and realization of a mass by the X-ray crystal density method 2

Here we explore two quests to define the kilogram. Both are accomplished by comparing electrical power to mechanical power using a watt balance, also known as a Kibble balance, in recognition of physicist Bryan Kibble, DPhil. First, the development of the National Research Council Canada (NRC) Kibble balance, and second, as a contrast, the experiences of this column’s co- author, Kevin McClure, a metrologist, developing his own Kibble balance at home.

In the NRC Kibble balance experiment, the gravitational force on a mass is balanced against the electromagnetic force generated by passing a current through a coil sus-pended in a magnetic field. The current is calibrated using quantum standards of voltage and resistance, providing the link between Planck’s constant and mass. Besides the electrical measurements, alignment of the balance must be adjusted to very fine tolerances, gravitational forces on the mass must be known precisely, and the motion and position of the coil must be controlled interferometrically within fractions of the wavelength of light.3

Does the redefinition of the kilogram really mean that it will be possible to realize the International System of

Units (SI) unit of mass at any place, at any time, and by anyone?

The world of measurement is changing. Fundamental constants of nature are replacing artefacts as the basis for

defining units of measure. On World Metrology Day, May 20, the last artefact, the international prototype kilogram (IPK), or “the grand k,” was replaced by Planck’s constant in defining the unit of mass, the kilogram. The redefinition does not change the numbers much, and few labs will notice any difference. In the grocery store, apples will still be apples and the price, whether by kilogram or by pound, certainly will not change as a result of the redefinition.

Q

A



In what we will call “the McClure basement balance,” the principal operation is the same but on a different scale. It is modeled on the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) LEGO balance and uses the NIST free software in its operation.4 The coils are hand wound with a wooden base and arm. The voltage and current measurements use a National Instruments USB data acquisition unit. The critical distance measurements (for speed) are done with a shadow sensor that is a line laser and a photodetector. This is calibrated with tape measures, rulers, and a dot laser on the arm projecting on a ruler on the wall. This allows a relatively accurate electronic detection of the pan. This is also the largest source of error in the uncertainty budget. Currently, this setup has a total uncertainty of about 1%. All of the com-ponents are readily available and traceable.

The NRC’s motivation stems from the global challenge to redefine the kilogram, in particular, the condition that Kibble balance experiments yield consistent values of the Planck constant with relative standard uncertainties not larger than five parts in 108.5 The NRC Kibble balance is a world-class experiment, measuring a value for Planck’s constant with measurement uncertainties at nine parts in 109. It is the culmination of more than a decade of research at the forefront of measurement science at the NRC and, prior to that, the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The coincidence of Kevin’s birthday and World Metrology Day and the momentous event of the redefinition make it seem predestined that Kevin’s passion for metrology would motivate him to build the McClure basement balance.

Carlos Sanchez, Ph.D., National Research Council Canada, makes adjustments to the NRC Kibble balance. Image courtesy of NRC.

The McClure basement balance uses guidance on setup from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology.

MEETING THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGEBoth balances follow Kibble’s original concept of two modes, to cancel out the magnetic field strength and length of conductor from the measurement equation, which are difficult to measure. This leaves mass, gravity, voltage, current, and velocity.



The scale of challenge differs, but common measure-ment challenges for both balances are:• Achieving a constant velocity at the right point in the

rocking motion of the balance;• Timing of the measurements and data collection; and• Isolating the balance and all the measurements from

noise, interference, and vibration.To build on and surpass state-of-the-art measurement

capabilities and meet the challenges for redefinition of the SI, novel techniques were necessary. These are just a few examples of the approaches with both balances (See “The Two Balances” above.)

METROLOGICAL TRACEABILITYThere is no metrological traceability without measure-

ment uncertainty, but no limits on uncertainty as long as it is fit for the application of the measurements. The NRC Kibble balance played a pivotal role in the redefinition of the kilogram and will be used to provide traceability to the SI. Measurement helps our understanding of the world around us. It is fundamental to the advancement of science and to our ability to build new technology.

There is always a need to push the barrier and make better and better measurements. Sometimes better is greater precision and accuracy, but for the vast majority

of everyday measurements, better can mean easier, more reliable, cheaper. That is what makes endeavors like the McClure basement balance so important to the world of metrology: It demonstrates the accessibility of realizing the kilogram, though perhaps not “by anyone, anywhere,” as Kevin is a career metrologist and the McClure base-ment balance takes specific skills.

Metrology is such a broad area of science that trailblaz-ing comes in many varied forms, and trails are invariably intertwined with others. The NRC Kibble balance helped make the change of world measurement possible, and the McClure basement balance is evidence that the world is changing.

Mass measurements are used in countless applications around the world every day. Many don’t need uncertain-ties in the parts in the 108 range. Laboratories can now develop or acquire their own capability for traceability to the SI, just as Kevin has done. As with these quests, the uncertainties needed will influence the scale of the challenge.

Kevin McClure will be giving a talk on his Kibble balance at the NCSLI Canada meeting in Ottawa on November 7-8. Further details can be found at ncsli_canada-2019.eventbrite.ca or by contacting Andrew Oldershaw at andy.oldershaw@nrc-cnrc. gc.ca.

NRC Balance

Tracking programmable Josephson array voltage system (PJVS). The nanovolt amplifier never ‘sees’ more than 1 mV during the transitions and typically ‘sees 100 µ V’ during the voltage measurements, the PJVS calibrates all the voltage systems.

Nanovolt amplifier, continuous voltage measurement, no chopping noise, no autozero sampling dead times, lower noise and good non-linearity.

A digital Servo, to smooth ramp between the moving and weighing parameters

A constant velocity drive with minimal noise, so synchronization of voltage; and matching ac response of interferometer and voltage measurements become less important.

One Interferometer but two isolated detection systems, for optimized signal to noise and speed for both measurements

McClure Basement Balance

Add amplifier to photodiode for larger signal.

Then second amp with filter.

Add twin opamps to Coil A output for a gain of 10 for larger signal.

Increase the weight capability by putting a counter weight on tray B and use this as the zero. This doubles the weighing ability and increases the current used to improve the accuracy of the current reading.

Put coils on table and magnets on arm to reduce wire drag.

Guide post on coil A to improve repeatability. Adds some drag but less than the previous drag. Tapping required.

Laser on arm is powered by battery so no wires to affect movement.

THE TWO BALANCES: TACKLING THE TECHNICAL CHALLENGE



ASTM Standardization News Column CoordinatorJohn Carson, Ph.D., a senior statistician for Neptune and Co., is the Data Points column coordinator. He is chair-man of the subcommittee on statistical quality control (E11.30), part of the committee on quality and statistics (E11), and a member of the committee on petroleum products, liquid fuels, and lubricants (D02), air quality (D22), cannabis (D37), and environmental assessment, risk management, and corrective action (E50).

References[ 1 ] International Bureau of Weights and Measures, “On the Revision of the SI,” www.bipm.org/en/measurement-units/rev-si.

[ 2 ] International Bureau of Weights and Measures, “Draft for Appendix 2 of the SI Brochure for the ‘Revised SI,’ Mise en Pratique for the Definition of the Kilogram in the SI,” www.bipm.org/utils/ en/pdf/si-mep/MeP-kg-2018.pdf.

[ 3 ] National Research Council Canada, “Kibble Balance,” nrc.canada.ca/en/ research-development/researchcollaboration/ programs/kibblebalance.

[ 4 ] National Institute of Standards and Technology, “How to Build Your NIST D.I.Y. Watt Balance,” Aug. 26, 2015, youtube/oST_krdqLPQ.

[ 5 ] International Bureau of Weights and Measures, “Recom-mendation of the Consultative Committee for Mass and Relat-ed Quantities Submitted to the CIPM, Recommendation G1, on a New Definition of the Kilogram (Sèvres, Feb. 21-22, 2013) http://bipm.org/utils/ common/pdf/CC/CCM/CCM14.pdf).

AcknowledgmentsKevin McClure, as this dimensional metrology experiment is outside his normal activities, and the NRC Metrology Electrical Standards Team.

About the AuthorsKevin McClure is a Canadian metrologist for Fluke

Corp., a position he has held for 39 years.Andrew Oldershaw leads Measurement Systems

Engagement with the Metrology Research Centre (Canada’s national metrology institute) at the National Research Council of Canada. He is the deputy for the Canada Division of NCSL International and the NRC representa-tive to the NCLSI board of directors. He is a member of the committee on quality and statistics (E11) and chair of the E11.50 subcommittee on metrology (E11.50). He is also a member of committees on accreditation and cer-tification (E36) and SI Practice (E43).


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In the past 25 years, many calibration laboratories have had customers specify that the calibration services that they receive must be from a calibration laboratory that is accredited to ISO/IEC Guide 25 or later, ISO/IEC 17025, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Most of the specifiers first did not make this a firm requirement but viewed accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025 as an indicator of quality and technical competency of the laboratory and gave laboratories that were accredited preferential treatment in the vendor selection process. Over time, the requirement for a cali-bration laboratory to be accredited evolved from a “nice to have” to “table stakes,” meaning that if a laboratory was not accredited, they would be disqualified from the vendor selection process.

One of the significant drivers in the requirement for a calibration laboratory to be accredited was the release of QS-9000 by Chrysler Corporation, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Corporation in 19941. In section 4.11 in the control of Inspection, Measuring and Test Equipment, the document required that any organization selling products to these automotive suppliers that used commercial/independent calibration facilities “shall be accredited to ISO/IEC Guide 25 or national equivalence or have evidence, e.g. assessment by an OEM customer or an OEM customer approved second part, they meet the intent of ISO/IEC Guide 25 or national equivalent.” QS-9000 was very well received by the automotive industry and soon this document was converted to ISO/TS 16949 so that it could be used by all automotive manufacturers around the world.

What is ILAC and Why Should Calibration Laboratories Care?

Jeff GustNCSL International Representative to ILAC

This drove an incredible spike in the number of cal-ibration laboratories that needed to be accredited. The demand for accreditation caused growing pains in the established accreditation bodies, and in the United States in particular, the demand also encouraged other accred-itation bodies to be formed. As a result, many laborato-ries had bad experiences with poor customer service, very slow responses by the accreditation bodies, a lack of documented policy by the accreditation bodies, and a lack a consistent assessment experience (e.g. Lab A got an “easy” assessment and I had a difficult one).

In 1996, the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation became a formal entity with a charter to establish a network of mutual recognition agreements among accreditation bodies2. In order to form mutual rec-ognition arrangements with other accreditation bodies, ILAC needed to establish technical requirements for the accreditation bodies to work under, and to be evaluated against. In 2000, 36 of ILAC’s full members signed the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement, (MRA) which meant that they would accept the calibration results from laboratories that were accredited by bodies which were part of the MRA. What this meant to the laboratories was that if the accreditation body was part of the ILAC MRA, they could have confidence that the accreditation body had some level of competence as well. The trouble for calibration laboratories in the U.S. at that time, was that some of the accreditation bodies in the U.S. were part of the ILAC MRA, and some were not, which lead to additional confusion and sometimes poor customer experiences for the calibration laboratories.



Issues around the wording and interpretation of ISO/IEC 17025 and accreditation quickly became one of the most significant issues for calibration laboratories within the NCSLI membership. The leadership of NCSLI made the decision to engage with ILAC to raise these issues. Quite simply, ILAC establishes the rules that accreditation bod-ies, and subsequently laboratories, must live with. Even though NCSLI is not an accreditation body, we were able to join ILAC as a stakeholder organization and found that NCSLI had a home in the Laboratory Committee, a place where organizations representing laboratories around the world could come together under a common cause and make sure that our voice is heard. The Laboratory Committee ensures that the rules associated with accred-itation were well-defined, not overly burdensome, and are consistently applied so that the laboratories could have a better experience in the accreditation process.

NCSLI has been able to directly participate in the devel-opment of ILAC policy documents on proficiency testing (P9), Traceability (P10), and uncertainty for calibration lab-oratories (P14), Guidance documents such as for Decision

rules (G8) and even on the revision of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 itself. When these documents undergo revision, the draft is circulated to all NCSLI members for them to read and provide feedback and suggestions for improvements.

NCSLI has had two people serve as the committee chair for the Laboratory Committee, Tony Anderson of Guildline/Gulf Coast Calibration and me. The Chair of the Laboratory committee sits on the ILAC Executive and has even further opportunities to guide the direction of ILAC.

I hope that this article has shed some light on what ILAC is and has communicated the value of NCSLI investing its resources in participating in this process. As your NCSLI representative to ILAC, I want to hear any issues that our NCSLI members have about the accreditation process that can’t be resolved with the accreditation bodies them-selves. NCSLI strives to be the voice for all our members and want to make sure that you can make your voice heard in the highest levels in the world of accreditation. If you would like to know more information or would like to share your concerns, please email me!

[ 1 ] Quality System Requirements QS-9000. Third Edition March 1998. Automotive Industry Action Group

[ 2 ] Retrieved from ilac.org/about-ilac on 24 Feb 2020



The ILAC General Assembly was held from October 21, 2019 to October 30, 2019 in Frankfurt Germany. Both Dana Leaman, NCSLI President, and I are presently on the ILAC Executive Committee and as such, have meetings for most of the nine days. Some of the issues to note from various meetings are:• Joint Task Force on Peer Evaluations — As the ILAC

organization matures, international regions are being formed which do the evaluation of accreditation bodies instead of having to be completed by ILAC itself. This means that ILAC must develop processes to evaluate the regional cooperation bodies.

• Joint Working Group on Assessor Competency — With the implementation of the revised ISO/IEC 17011:2017 stan-dard on requirements for accrediting bodies ILAC believes that the standard is sufficient in describing how to evaluate assessor competency and has with-drawn its guidance document (G11) on this issue.

• The ILAC Executive committee welcomed another per-son that many NCSLI Members are acquainted with, Trace McInturff joined the Executive as the APAC (Asia Pacific international region) representative.

• The draft document on an ILAC cross-frontier poli-cy, which addresses accreditation bodies performing accreditations outside of their home country, is still being discussed.

• The ILAC Executive approved a fee increase for accred-itation bodies to support the ever-expanding number of laboratories and accreditation bodies joining the accreditation process.

Jeff GustNCSL International Representative to ILAC

One of the meetings that are most important to the laboratories is the Accreditation Issues Committee. This committee develops many of the technical polices that govern accreditation bodies and laboratories. Some of the key points from this meeting were:• The P9 policy document on proficiency testing was cir-

culated for a 60-day review. There is still no consensus on some of the major points. The laboratory community generally wants better defined requirements and the accreditation bodies want less defined requirements.

• G8, the guidance document on decision rules was revised and released. This is a much more complete, yet easy to understand document intended for both laboratories and their customers. Bob Stern and Jon Harden from Keysight Technologies volunteered a great deal of their time and traveled to the meetings to help form the document.

• The Organization for International Legal Metrology (OIML) and ILAC continue to work on a joint document on calibration intervals.

• It was announced that ISO 13258, Statistical methods for PT/ILC, is starting to work on a new revision of this document.

• ISO 17043 for Proficiency Testers is expected to begin its revision process in 2020. This document draws heavily on ISO/IEC 17025 so the 2017 revision of that document will influence ISO 17043.

• The revised P10 document on traceability is expected to go out for vote in early 2020. The key parts of the document regarding traceability requirements are unchanged.

••• INTERNATIONAL NEWS

ILAC Report November 2019


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• The revised P14 document on reporting uncertainty for calibration labs is also expected to go out for vote in early 2020.

• G18, the guidance document on scopes of accreditation has changed conveners and we expect for the updates to this document will start gaining momentum.

NCSLI holds the Chair position for the Laboratory Committee (LC). Key discussion points from the meet-ing were:• LC Harmonization survey: The LC conducted a survey

in 2017 on how laboratories felt about their accredita-tion process. A committee has been formed between the AIC and LC to focus on:

• the survey results regarding concerns about retri-bution from laboratories who complain or appeal a finding from the Accreditation Body

• interpretation of requirements documents pub-lished by accreditation bodies

• the differences in accreditation cycles and frequen-cy of assessment amongst accreditation bodies

• The LC is also starting to plan for the next laboratory survey about their accreditation experiences.

• The LC has also added new case studies, which is a training tool for accreditation bodies to answer in order to determine the level of consistency between assessors. There are now over 40 case studies available.

• The LC discussed these issues on implementation of ISO/IEC 17025:2017.

• There was concern from some organizations that the risk analysis portion of the new standard is being over-assessed. The LC is working to validate this concern.

• Equipment management and Control of information management has some increased complexity, but very few real issues in assessment.

During the general assembly a significant issue was the adoption of the bylaws that allow for one vote per member signatory. In the past, the rules were that each country would get a vote, but countries like the U.S. and Canada that have more than one accreditation body would have to organize themselves and only have one vote. With the new bylaws, each accreditation body gets a vote. The new bylaws passed with an astounding 90% positive vote.

Another impact of the new bylaws is that the laboratory committee is being merged into a larger group called a Stakeholder forum. It will take two years to complete the transition, but the Laboratory Committee is still the largest group of stakeholders.

The other major vote at the General Assembly was that ILAC and its sister organization, the International Accreditation Forum (that recognizes ISO 9000 registrars), have agreed to investigate how to merge their organi-zations into one effective organization. This should not have any significant impact to the laboratories presently. A steering committee has been formed to begin the investigation process and the Laboratory Committee Chair is one of the members of the steering committee. I will provide more updates on this subject as it develops.

The next meetings were to be held at the end of March 2020 in Beijing, but they have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. The plan is to resume activities at the next General Assembly in Montreal in October 2020.

••• INTERNATIONAL NEWS


Accredita�on:Improving food safety

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The Huntsville Section Fall 2019 meet-ing took place on November 21 at the scenic Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge. Attendance was excellent with participation from government, mil-

itary, private industry and university representation.Kirk Foster, Metrology and Calibration Laboratory

Manager/METTS Deputy GM, of the NASA laboratory at Marshall Space Flight Center, was introduced as the newly appointed Huntsville Section Coordinator. Kirk has many years of experience in the calibration industry and the NCSL International organization and was welcomed to lead the Huntsville Section with great appreciation by all.

The following presentations were delivered to the attendees:

Andy Brush with Tegam presented the “Measurement of RF power using Calorimetric Method.” Traceability

Huntsville, Alabama

••• REGIONAL NEWS

Huntsville Meeting.

of measurement of RF power on the order of several Watts to kilowatts has historically been accomplished using either coupler methods (Bramall), or calorimetric methods. Andy’s talk covered the challenges involved in building calorimeters of up to 10 kW and using these calorimeters to calibrate couplers and other commercial through-line sensors.

Andy also listed and reviewed the sources of uncertainty and provided sample uncertainty budgets for primary level calibrations. Using the best practices described in this lecture, Andy demonstrated that it is possible to cal-ibrate stable sensors with low reflection with uncertainty with uncertainties better than 0.5 %.

Next up Mike Linn with Indysoft presented “Maintaining Compliance with your Computerized LIMS.” It is acknowl-edged by everyone that protection of laboratory generated data and the control of information in general is critical to


laboratory operations and the basis of laboratory quality systems. From the collection of measurement data to the reporting of operational key performance indicators, lab-oratory managers are challenged to implement systems to manage their information.

Mike’s presentation discussed options for lab managers to comply with the various regulatory and accreditation requirements for laboratory information management systems with a focus on ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Section 7.11. and was well received by all in attendance.

Adam Croan, National Instruments, gave a robust pre-sentation on “Metrology Processes and Procedures at National Instruments.” Managing a global metrology organization presents unique challenges. In an effort to reduce and control these challenges, companies strive to employ sound processes and procedures to ensure consistent results across their organization.

Adam’s lecture described how his organization provides comprehensive metrology support and calibration ser-vice for products supporting new product development teams and also global service centers. He described how they use several processes and procedures to ensure the quality of our measurement uncertainty analyses, cali-bration software, calibration procedures, measurement data, and overall calibration solutions. These quality tools allow them to deliver systems that accelerate productiv-ity, innovation, and discovery while providing quality calibration solutions for those systems.

In this presentation Adam discussed the basics of metrology at his organization, their vison for calibration and quality processes and tools including: Metrology New Product Development Process, Calibration Quality Metrics Tool, Change Request Tracking Tool, and Change Management Process.

Mike Dillon from The Modal Shop wrapped the day up with “Dynamic Sensor Calibration and Characterization.” Mike’s presentation provided an overview of accelerometer calibration with detailed coverage of helpful techniques including ways to avoid pitfalls and measurement errors.

His presentation also shared the techniques his organi-zation uses to determine many of the other sensor spec-ifications they publish, also describing the specification verification techniques used in addition to acceptance testing.

I would like to extend gratitude to our talented photog-rapher, Norm Casto of the USATA engineering group for his many years of service to our section. He has captured the heart of our group for the past decade in his photos!

We are looking forward to what 2020 will hold for the Huntsville Section under the leadership of newly appointed coordinator Kirk Foster and we will be announc-ing upcoming meetings soon!

It has been my honor to serve this section for many years, and I will continue to support it in my new role as the NCSL International Southeastern US Division VP.

Norm Casto, Huntsville Section Photographer.

REGIONAL NEWS •••


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