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Economic
Impact
NIST
Sulfur Standards Reap Big Benefits for Industry, Environment
NIST
measurement standards for sulfur in fossil fuels have saved the
fossil fuel industry $113 for every dollar NIST spent on their
development, while also enhancing environmental quality. The standards
program, in operation since 1984, has produced a net value to
society of more than $409 million, according to a new economic
impact study, Economic Impact of Standard Reference Materials
for Sulfur in Fossil Fuels, prepared for NIST by the Research
Triangle Institute.
In
addition, NIST Standard Reference Materials for sulfur have produced
more than $78 million in environmental benefits. The environmental
benefits were calculated separately and are not included in the
$409 million since they do not directly affect the focus of the
study—the sulfur measurement supply chain. The report also credits
NIST for developing the highly accurate sulfur measurement method
that made the standards possible.
Fossil
fuel producers and users use the NIST standards to verify the
accuracy of their measurements of sulfur in coal and petroleum
products. Improved accuracy of sulfur measurements has increased
efficiency in petroleum production, reduced disputes between buyers
and sellers of fossil fuels, and lowered environmental sulfur
emissions.
The
study identified economic benefits from the NIST SRMs since 1984,
including estimated benefits through 2003. The benefits were improved
production efficiency, $401 million; changes in transaction costs,
$7.5 million; improved product quality, $2.7 million; and savings
on commercial measurement reference materials, $1 million. Since
NIST spent $3.6 million to develop the standards, the net benefit
is $409 million.
The
economic impact study is available as an Adobe Acrobat file on
the World Wide Web at www.nist.gov/director/
prog-ofc/report00-1.pdf. To request a hard copy of the report,
send e-mail to denise.herbert@nist.gov.
Media
Contact:
Linda
Joy, (301) 975-4403
Administration
Boulder
Lab Director to Take Position at Harvard
David
W. Norcross, director of NIST’s
Boulder, Colo., laboratories since January 1994, has announced
his intention to resign his position to accept the post of administrative
director of the Physics Laboratories at Harvard University in
Cambridge, Mass. He will assume his new position this spring.
In his six years as director, Norcross worked closely with the
City of Boulder, the General Services Administration, and the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a sister agency,
to facilitate the construction of a 27,871-square-meter (300,000-square-foot)
laboratory for NOAA at the Boulder site. He also managed NIST’s
space and facilities issues at Boulder and at headquarters in
Gaithersburg, Md. In this capacity, he helped pave the way for
a new advanced measurement laboratory to be built in Gaithersburg
and developed plans for major upgrades of Boulder’s facilities.
A physicist, Norcross began his career at NIST in 1974 as a bench
scientist; he was chief of the Quantum
Physics Division before being appointed director of the 500-person
Boulder laboratory six years ago.
Media
Contact:
Fred
McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
Materials
Information
on Weld Ferrite Standards Now Available
Austenitic
weld metals usually contain a small but controlled amount of ferrite
to reduce the tendency for cracking during solidification. Ferrite
is a magnetic component that has an important effect on properties
such as weld toughness and corrosion resistance. Stainless steel
welds contain a balance of austenitic and ferritic phases to optimize
their mechanical properties. Measurement of the ferrite content
is an important commercial issue because content ranges are commonly
specified in contracts and production standards. In the United
States, the amount of ferrite is usually measured magnetically
according to the American Welding Society AWS A4.2 standard.
The
AWS standard specifies procedures for both primary and secondary
calibration of the instruments. Primary calibration is based on
reference materials of coating thickness, such as NIST Standard
Reference Materials 1361 to 1364. Secondary calibration is based
on certified specimens of stainless steel and is the only way
of calibrating instruments for which no primary calibration method
exists. It is also the most appropriate standard for in-process
checks and is much more durable than the primary reference materials.
NIST
recently acquired the responsibility for calibrating and distributing
secondary standards for both national and international markets,
and has just published a guide to these calibrations titled
Secondary Ferrite Number Reference Materials: Gage Calibration
and Assignment of Values (NIST Special Publication 260-141).
The publication covers gage calibration, measurement of secondary
reference materials, certification of secondary reference materials
and discussion of errors, and microstructure. NIST also sells
sets of these secondary ferrite standards, known as RM 8480 and
RM 8481 (RM stands for reference materials).
Copies
of the calibration guide (ask for no. 10-00) are available from
Sarabeth
Harris, NIST, MC104, Boulder, Colo. 80303-3337; (303) 497-3237.
The SRMs and RMs can be ordered from the Standard Reference Materials
Program, NIST, 100 Bureau Dr., Stop 2322, Gaithersburg, Md. 20899-2322;
(301) 975-6776; fax: (301) 948-3730; srminfo@nist.gov.
Media
Contacts:
Fred
McGehan (Boulder), (303) 497-3246
Time
Common
Scale Established for All of North America
The
official time scales of North America are coordinated through
regular comparisons among the Canadian National Research Council,
the Mexican Centro Nacional de Metrología, and the U.S. National
Institute of Standards and Technology. After several years
of international comparisons and negotiations, NRC, CENAM and
NIST recently have declared that their respective versions of
Coordinated Universal Time (known as UTC) are equivalent to within
five millionths of a second for time measurements and within one
part in a trillion for frequency measurements.
The
common time scale defined by the declaration is known as UTC North
America, and within the stated uncertainties, the time supplied
by any of the three national laboratories—UTC(NRC), UTC(CENAM)
or UTC(NIST)—can be used as UTC North America without corrections
or conversions.
This
declaration supports trade and technology across the region, especially
through such things as time tags for financial transactions and
scientific observations. The three institutions hope that a common
time eventually can be extended to include all members of the
Interamerican Metrology System (abbreviated SIM for the Spanish
translation, Sistema Interamericano de Metrología), an organization
set up to harmonize measurement standards among its members, including
nearly all of the nations in North, Central and South America,
as well as the Caribbean.
To
access the official time in any U.S. time zone, go to www.time.gov
on the World Wide Web. For times outside the United States, the
site offers links to a UTC display and an international time zone
web site (via the “About This Service” page).
Media
Contact:
Collier
Smith (Boulder), (303) 497-3198
Manufacturing
NIST
Names New Members to MEP Advisory Board
Four
prominent industry leaders have been appointed to serve on the
National Advisory Board for the NIST
Manufacturing Extension Partnership to replace retiring board
members. The new members are: Ronald N. Auger, chief executive
officer, American Industrial Casting Inc., East Greenwich, R.I.;
Richard A. Bendis, president and chief executive officer, Kansas
Technology Enterprise Corp., Topeka, Kan.; Kellie Dodson, president,
ACE Clearwater Enterprises, Torrance, Calif.; and Dean J. Garritson,
vice president, small and medium manufacturers department, National
Association of Manufacturers, Washington, D.C. A fifth new member
is expected to be named soon.
Other
board members are Maria de Rios, vice president of corporate affairs,
Orion International Technologies, Albuquerque, N.M.; Irwin Feller,
director, Institute for Policy Research and Evaluation, Pennsylvania
State University, University Park, Pa.; Edward Noha, chairman
of the board, CNA Financial Corp., Chicago, Ill.; and Larry Rhoades,
president, Extrude Hone Corp., Irwin, Pa.
Meeting
three times a year, the board provides advice on MEP programs,
plans and policies. The board annually presents its findings and
recommendations to the Secretary of Commerce.
The
NIST MEP is a nationwide network of manufacturing extension centers
providing a wide array of business and technical assistance to
smaller manufacturers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia
and Puerto Rico.
Media
Contact:
Jan
Kosko, (301) 975-2767
Weights
and Measures
Straub
Slated to be Next Chairman of the NCWM
Louis
E. Straub, chief of the Weights and Measures Section of the Maryland
Department of Agriculture, will become chairman of the National
Conference on Weights and Measures at its 85th annual meeting
in Richmond, Va., on July 16-20, 2000. Straub
will be the second Maryland resident to hold this position. NCWM
is a standards-writing organization of more than 3,500 state,
county and city weights and measures officials and representatives
of industry, federal agencies, many foreign government agencies
and consumer groups. The organization is sponsored, in part, by
the NIST Office of Weights and Measures.
Straub
is a member of the NCWM Board of Directors and the National Type
Evaluation Program Committee. He has served as a member of the
Laws and Regulations Committee and Nominating Committee. Straub
also has served on numerous NCWM working groups.
For
information on the NCWM and the 85th Annual Meeting, contact the
National Conference on Weights and Measures Inc., 15245 Shady
Grove Rd., Suite 130, Rockville, Md. 20850; (240) 632-9454; fax:
(301) 990-9771. The World Wide Web site for the NCWM is www.nist.gov/ncwm.
Media
Contact:
Linda
Joy, (301) 975-4403
Honors
Two
NIST Scientists Elected to National Academy of Engineering
The
National Academy of Engineering announced the election of two
NIST scientists along with 76 other new members in February. The
new NIST members are Howard R. Baum, a fellow in the Building
and Fire Research Laboratory, and Hratch G. Semerjian, director
of the Chemical Science and
Technology Laboratory.
Baum’s
work on developing and implementing broadly applicable analytical
models and numerical tools for understanding and mitigating fire
phenomena earned him membership in the academy. The NAE selected
Semerjian for his work in developing powerful laser diagnostics
of flames and for providing measurement methods, standards and
data to the chemical and biochemical industry.
Election
to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional
distinctions accorded an engineer.
Media
Contact:
John
Blair, (301) 975-4261
Linda
Joy, (301) 975-4403
Editor:
Michael Newman
HTML conversion: Crissy
Robinson
Last updated: March 13, 2000
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