the standard mar07

8/8/2019 The Standard Mar07

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Vol. 21, No. 1 The Newsletter of the Measurement Quality Division, American Society for Quality March 2007


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The Standard is published quarterly by the Measurement Quality Division of

ASQ; deadlines are February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15. Text infor-

mation intended for publication can be sent via electronic mail as an attachment in

MS Word format (Times New Roman, 11 pt). Use single spacing between sen-

tences. Graphics/illustrations must be sent as a separate attachment, in jpg format.

Photographs of MQD activities are always welcome. Publication of articles, prod-

uct releases, advertisements or technical information does not imply endorsement

by MQD or ASQ. While The Standard makes every effort to ensure the accuracy

of articles, the publication disclaims responsibility for statements of fact or opinion

made by the authors or other contributors. Material from The Standard may not be

reproduced without permission of ASQ. Copyrights in the United States and all

other countries are reserved. Website information: MQDs homepage can be found

at http://www.asq.org/measure. 2007 ASQ, MQD. All rights reserved.

The StandardVol 21, No. 1, March 2007

Managing Editor and PublisherJay L. Bucher6700 Royal View Dr.De Forest, WI 53532-2775

Voice: 608-277-2522Fax: 608-846-4269Email: [email protected]@promega.com

AdvertisingSubmit your draft copy to Jay Bucher, with arequest for a quotation. Indicate size desired.

Since The Standard is published in-housethe requester must submit a photo or graphicof their logo, if applicable. The followingrates apply:Business card size............................ $1001/8 page .......................................... $1501/4 page ........................................... $2001/3 page ........................................... $250 page ............................................. $300Full page ......................................... $550

Advertisements will be accepted on a perissue basis only; no long-term contracts willbe available at present. Advertising must beclearly distinguished as an ad. Ads must berelated to measurement quality, quality ofmeasurement, or a related quality field. Adsmust not imply endorsement by the Measure-

ment Quality Division or ASQ.

Letters to the EditorThe Standard welcomes letters from mem-bers and subscribers. Letters should clearlystate whether the author is expressing opin-ion or presenting facts with supporting infor-mation. Commendation, encouragement,constructive critique, suggestions, and alter-native approaches are accepted. If the con-tent is more than 200 words, we may deleteportions to hold that limit. We reserve theright to edit letters and papers.

Information for AuthorsThe Standard publishes papers on the qual-ity of measurements and the measurement ofquality at all levels ranging from relativelysimple tutorial material to state-of-the-art.

Papers published in The Standard are notreferred in the usual sense, except to ascer-tain that facts are correctly stated and to as-sure that opinion and fact are clearly distin-guished one from another. The Editor re-serves the right to edit any paper.

TABLEOF CONTENTSChairs Column...............................................................................3Letters to the Editor .......................................................................4MQD-NCSLI Collaborations Continues.........................................6CCT Program Staus ........................................................................8Metric Resources Available............................................................8

Daniel Child Wins Simmons Scholarship.......................................9The Learning Curve ......................................................................10MQD & NCSLI Metrology Job Description Initiative Update ....13Chair-Elects Column ...................................................................14NCSL International Workshop & Symposium 2007 info.............15MQD Officers and Committee Chairs ..........................................16MQD Regional Councilors ..17Joe Simmons Scholarship Informational Brochure ......................19MSC 2007 Report .........................................................................20MSC 2008 Call for Papers ............................................................27

FROM THE DESKOF THE EDITOR/PUBLISHER

The Measurement Science Conference (MSC) 2007has come and gone for another year. Dilip Shah hasprovided coverage with an article that is attached atthe end of this edition, including pictures. Thanks,Dilip, for the timely and informative write-up. It ismuch appreciated.

We again would like to pass along our congratula-tions to Phil Painchaud for being the 2006 recipient of the MeasurementQuality Divisions highest honor, the Max J. Unis Award.

On the cover: Some of the artifacts in the museum, and Phil Painchaudmanning the MQD booth, both from the 2007 edition of the MeasurementScience Conference.


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CHAIRS COLUMNBy Graeme C. Payne

Continual Education

One of the foundations ofquality is continual im-provement. As metrologyprofessionals we are allinvolved in the qualityprocess, probably in severalways. At a minimum, anybusiness that makes meas-urements using tools or in-struments should be usingcalibrated instruments andhave an effective calibra-

tion management program as part of their qualitysystem.

I am sure that most of us also know that in order tostay up to date in our profession we need to partakeof ongoing continual education besides, it canalso be used for recertification units. But we alsoknow that the overall scope of the disciplines cov-ered by metrology is so broad that most of us canreally only maintain our knowledge in the areas weuse most often. The rest of the education that mayhave been stuffed into us at one time grows staleand fades away ...

Sometimes the improvement through continualeducation comes from unexpected sources. Justbefore Thanksgiving, my wife was diagnosed withbreast cancer. Surgery a few days before Christmasgot the tumor out (it was very small) and it had notspread so there is no need for chemotherapy. How-ever, she is now going through course of radiationtreatments. Doing my research on what was goingto be happening was my unexpected source ofcontinual education.

When I first learned about ionizing radiation (in thevery early 1960's) everything was in roentgens,rems and rads. That learning was reinforced in thelate 1960's and the 1970's by classes on protectionfrom nuclear weapons effects while I was in theMarine Corps, and when my wife was working inthe nuclear power industry for a few years. Overtime all of that receded into the background. Of

course I noticed the newer versions of the Interna-tional System of Units (SI) had some unfamiliarunits, gray and sievert, but they were outside thescope of my work so I did not pay any attention tothem beyond what was necessary to pass the CQEand CCT exams. Now, suddenly, I was readingabout radiation therapy and realizing that I did notknow what they are talking about! For example: ...the typical dose for a solid epithelial tumor rangesfrom 50 to 70 Gy ... and ... the typical fractiona-tion schedule for adults is 1.8 to 2 Gy per day, fivedays a week. Time for a refresher!

Now for the learning. According to the SI, the gray(Gy) is the unit for absorbed radiation dose. Onegray is the absorption of one joule of energy by onekilogram of matter, and is a measure of the physi-cal effects of radiation. More importantly for my

antique knowledge, one gray is approximatelyequal to 100 rad. OK, now I know what they aresaying. She will be getting a total dose of 50 Gy(5000 rad) spread out in daily doses of 2 Gy (200rad) five days a week. That fits with what I knowfrom discussions with people who had radiationtherapy years ago, when they got doses measuredin rads. It's about the same amount, just the namehas changed. (By the way, the sievert is the SI unitfor dose equivalent or effective dose, to measurethe biological effects of radiation. One sievert isequal to 100 rem. I won't discuss that further be-

cause it quickly gets even more complex.)

Your initial learning and professional education isvery important. I have long believed that it is atleast equally important to retain the ability andwillingness to learn, so you can refresh old knowl-edge and learn new things that are necessary toadapt to a changing social, technological andphysical environment. For me, this is just a recentone of many examples. Continual learning is asimportant for an individual as continual improve-ment is to a process or a business.

Finally, my wife's cancer was detected in her rou-tine annual mammogram. The learning from that isthat if you have any of the risk factors for breastcancer the biggest one is being female getchecked regularly.


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Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

I have been involved with MQD over the past 7 years. Ever since ASQ headquarters took control of

each divisions website (so as to provide a standardize look and feel) postings to the MQD website hasbeen erratic at best in terms of timeliness. Often conference information is still posted on the MQD web-site weeks after the actual conference took place and on several occasions issue ofThe Standardpostedover a month after its publication date.

Need less to say this situation reflects very poorly on the division especially since going paperless withThe Standard. From my understanding MQD is at the mercy of ASQ headquarters website support per-sonnel for timely postings and that MQD has been re-assigned different support personnel several timesbut doesnt MQD pay for these services? Cant ASQ headquarters be held responsible for insuring sub-mitted website postings are processed in a timely manner? What can be done?

Concerned

The following came through email the same day that I received the above letter:

Date: January 29, 2007From: Steve Wilson, DAC National DirectorTo: DAC and Division OfficersSubject: ASQ Division Website Concerns

At the past DAC meeting in November, several Divisions brought up the issue of difficulties with theirwebsites. Concerns ranged from missing information and files to lack of continuity. Such issues havebeen raised in the past and it was clear the Divisions wish ASQ to enter into a path of correction.

A Web Advisory Council has been formed by ASQ President Ron Atkinson. Several of your Divisioncolleagues have been asked to serve on the council. Although this is a strong step forward and I amconfident it will result in better web service to the Divisions, it is also important we focus our concerns to

the council for speedier resolve.

Therefore, Gary Johnson has asked me to serve as a liaison from the DAC to the Web Advisory Coun-cil. In this role I will be collecting the issues Divisions encounter with the web pages and funneling themto the council in a form that facilitates correction on the whole. To accomplish this I need your assis-tance as Division leaders.

Please as members of the Division encounter difficulties with your website send an e-mail to me detail-ing the issue. Provide as much information as possible to permit us to pinpoint the root cause. Suchinformation would include how the website was accessed (company terminal, home, etc.), virus pro-grams, security issues at the terminal, and a description of the problem. Of course we are interested inany issue, so if you have no further details as previously described it would still be wise to forward an e-mail to me. I will then investigate the issue, compile it with others on the same subject, and ask the

council to focus on the problems of greatest impact first.

Also, as discussed in the last DAC meeting, Divisions need to keep their content and websites as cur-rent as possible. Therefore, I will also be visiting each website periodically and provide an informal as-sessment to each of you. In this way we can have a full picture for the Web Advisory Council.

I thank you for your efforts and appreciate your assistance. Please send your issues and comments tome at [email protected].


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Quality control data shall be analyzed and, where they are found to be outside pre-defined criteria, planned action

shall be taken to correct the problem and to prevent incorrect results from being reported.ISO 17025:2005, section 5.9.2

These 2-day workshops provide useful tools for meeting requirements of the ISO 17025 standard andprovide good lab practices for improving the confidence of the test and calibration process.

Check Standards Stability Studies Characterizing Drift Long Term Reproducibility Determining Realistic tolerances Determining Measurement Uncertainties

Basic Statistics Introduction; Mean, Mode, Median, Range; Population and Sample Standard Deviation; Stan-dard Deviation of the Mean; Histogram, Bell Curve, Central Limit Theorem; z, t and FdistributionsSPC Methods; Types of Control Charts; Variable Charts; Attribute Charts; Decision rules for interpreting ControlChart data; SPC Applications in Metrology; Process Capability and determining risks; Gage R & R and ANOVAtechniques; Using spreadsheets for SPC.

SPC by the Sea with Dilip Shah(for Metrology Applications, in Clearwater and Orlando)

WorkPlace

T r a i n i n g

Clearwater FL Orlando FLApril 26-27 May 3-4$795 includes continental breakfast and lunchCall 952-471-8554 to enroll, www.wptraining.com for more info

Letter to the Editor

Mr. Bucher,

I own two of your books on metrology so I am taking the liberty of asking for some assistance.

I would like to have a table of the probabilities of false acceptance and false rejection (type 1 and 2 er-

rors) associated with TAR values.

I cannot find tables of these values in the literature or in your books.

I want to control the uncertainty of reference standards used to assay products such that the errors

(above) are controlled. The tolerance or specification in the numerator of the TAR value is 3-sigma and

symmetrical about the nominal or target value. The denominator is the uncertainty of the reference stan-

dards assigned value. The numerator and denominator both follow the normal curve.

Can you provide tables of this information? Or references to where they can be found?

I find graphs but precise values cannot be taken from them.The TAR values of interest are 1:1 through 15:1.

Thank you for your help.

Regards, Stan Alekman

If any of our readers can assist with pertinent information, please send your response to Mr. Alekman at

this email address: [email protected]. Thank you.


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MQD NCSLI Collaborations ContinuesBy Christopher L. Grachanen

Ask any person who has been a Metrology practitioner for any appreciablelength of time about new practitioners entering into the Metrology field

and you would likely get a response similar to what new practitioners?This sentiment echoes many technical professionals alarm at the lack ofyoung people entering into engineering disciplines of which Metrology iscertainty not immune. There have been hundreds of articles written overthe years about the mounting crisis America is facing due to the lack ofnew talent entering into technical professions. The allure of engineering isnot striking a chord with young people as the profession is often perceived

as being dull, a lot of hard work and in this day and age overly susceptible to layoffs.

So what can be done to help improve the perception of engineering in general and Metrology in particu-lar so that young talent will consider entering the profession? Folks from MQD and NCSLI have againjoined forces to help improve this dire situation. From a grass root meeting of a few concerned Metrol-

ogy practitioners, a new sub-committee has been created under the auspices of NCSLI Education andTraining committee. The sub-committee (designated 164.1) is called Metrology Education & TrainingOutreach and is chaired by Phil Smith of A2LA. The charter of the 164.1 sub-committee simply statedis:Develop and support initiatives and programs enabling Metrology Education & Training in the U.S.

The sub-committee have had several meetings (the last one held during the 2007 Measurement ScienceConference) to decide on a few specific projects that was felt could be accomplished in the 2007-08 timeframe while providing the biggest bang for the buck in terms of impact. These projects are, in no par-ticular order:

Test Equipment Clearing House Provide guidance and help facilitate the donation of test

equipment to metrology education & training programs in terms of tax related documentationand database of donations

Multimedia Outreach Project Create a multimedia CD focusing on Metrology as a career toinclude videos (one short intro e.g. elevator speech and one longer more comprehensive),hyperlinks and reference information about Metrology programs, Metrology resources, sug-gested reading, etc. In addition, a brochure will also be created with the same Metrology as acareer focus.

Graduating Student Outreach Program Provide new graduates of Metrology programs acongratulation letter and NCSLI welcome package (the possibility of a free 1 year studentmembership will be discussed with NCSLI Board of Directors).

Establish an ANSI/ASTM Outreach Liaison Leverage existing outreach programs to helppromote Metrology careers as well as learning how to enhance NCSLI education & trainingoutreach programs

NCSLI Section Coordinator Outreach Training Provide guidance for section coordinatorson ways to get student & professors to attend section meetings

(Continued on page 7)


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Web-based Internship Posting Opportunity Provide web-based means for posting Metrol-ogy Internship opportunities

Current MQD and NCSLI 164.1 sub-committee members:

Philip Smith (Chair) A2LATony Abel Central Georgia Technical CollegeHelga Alexander Keithley Instruments, Inc.Keith Bennett TranscatKeith W. Cable Davis InotekGraham Cameron Standards Council of CanadaMichelle Foncannon CalSource, Inc.Elizabeth J. Gentry National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)Christopher L. Grachanen Hewlett-PackardPaul Hannsen Workplace TrainingGeorgia Harris National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Shawn Mason Boston ScientificEdward Morse UNC CharlotteDan Neal DDN Laboratory Solutions, Inc.Herbert O'Neil Ridgewater CollegeChristopher J. Pelchat Nebraska Public Power DistrictMark S. Sanders Lockheed MartinDave Schiebel Butler Community CollegeDilip Shah E=mc3 SolutionsDr. Saiyld Fazal Wahid South Texas CollegeLarry Yates ConsultantHoward Zion Transcat

To find out more information about this wonderful opportunity to get involve and help insure youngfolks are aware of the challenges and rewards of a Metrology career, please contact Phil Smith at:[email protected]


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CCT Program StatusBy Chris Grachanen

The following is the latest statistics for the ASQ MQD Certified Calibra-

tion Technician (CCT) program. Hearty congratulations go out to newDec 2006 graduates!

Metric Resources Available

Have you been searching for the appropriate unit symbol to use in a report (gm or g)? Updating yourmanagement system references? Looking for the conversion factor to convert between gallons and li-

ters? If so, look no further. Available metric system reference publications include:NIST SP 330, The International System of Units (SI)NIST SP 811, Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI)NIST SP 1038, The International System of Units (SI)- Conversion Factors for General UseNIST LC 1136, United States and the Metric SystemNIST SP 304A, A Brief History of Measurement Systems with Metric System (SI) ChartNIST SP 365, Metric Conversion CardNIST SP 1020 Series, Consumer Package Labeling Guides- Selling by Weight, Volume, Count,and Area

Electronic versions of these and other metric resources are accessible online at www.metric/nist.gov.Bulk quantities are also available for on-the-job-training, lab tours, education outreach, metric systemtraining, and management system references. Please contact Elizabeth Gentry at [email protected] or 301-

975-3690 for more information.

Elizabeth J. GentryNational Institute of Standards and TechnologyWeights and Measures DivisionLaws and Metric Group301-975-3690 Fax: 301-975-8091http://www.nist.gov/metric

Date of Exam Sat forExam

Passed

Exam%

Passed

June 7, 2003 (Pilot) 97 69 71.13%

6-Dec-03 107 69 64.49%

May 23, 2004 (AQC) 4 4 100.00%

5-Jun-04 133 102 76.69%

4-Dec-04 139 104 74.82%

15-May-05 1 1 100.00%

4-Jun-05 147 114 77.55%

3-Dec-05 129 88 68.22%

April 30, 2006 (World Conf) 2 1 50.00%

3-Jun-06 122 88 72.13%

August 5, 2006 (NCSLI Conf) 1 1 100.00%

2-Dec-06 99 64 64.65%

Totals: 981 705 71.87%


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DANIEL CHILD WINS SIMMONS SCHOLARSHIP

The Executive Committee of the Joe D. Simmons Memorial Scholarship has announced that its 20067award has been made to Daniel Child, a senior majoring in Manufacturing Engineering at BrighamYoung University in Provo, Utah. Child also works full time at a local companyU.S. Syntheticas aProcess Engineering Technician. His interest is in the application of quality sciences, including experi-

mental design, statistical process control, Taguchi Loss Function, and process-capability indexing tomanufacturing processes, along with production concepts such as Lean Manufacturing. He intends topursue an industrial career after graduation in April 2008. Congratulations, Daniel Child!

The scholarship is awarded in memory of Dr. Joe D. Simmons, who was Chief of the NIST CalibrationProgram, NIST liaison to the National Conference of Standards Laboratories. He devoted his later careerto promoting institutional support for metrology as the cornerstone of quality. The Scholarship fostersthe furtherance of metrology through education by striving to:

1. support the academic pursuit of a metrology career by worthy students;2. promote measurement science education and educational opportunity;3. encourage talented individuals to enter the field of metrology; and

4. stimulate professionalism in metrology

This annual award to a student exhibiting scholastic excellence in the study of measurement science andquality accomplishes those goals. The Scholarship is supported by the ASQ Measurement Quality Divi-sion, the Measurement Science Conference, NCSL International, and many individual friends and col-leagues of Joe Simmons.

For the school year 20078, the amount of the award has been increased to $3000. Applications for the20078 scholarship must be received by March 1, 2007 to be considered. To obtain an application formgo to or contact the scholarship at:

The Joe D. Simmons Memorial Scholarship

7413 Mill Run DriveDerwood, MD 20855-1156


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THE LEARNING CURVEBy Phil Painchaud

This is the forty-ninth in a contiguous series of causeries charted to be on the generalsubject of Metrology Education. We are now entering our fifteenth year of writing

these open letters to our esteemed Boss, the Managing Editor of this increasingly pe-riodic journal. We shall attempt in this segment to remain close to our charted topicwhich we sometimes cannot do to the lack of current viable inputs on the subject.

Dear Boss: The snide remarks I have been making in the past concerning the perio-dicity of this journal most assuredly have not been aimed at you. You have become aparagon of periodicity. Some of your predecessors have been anything but.

Now let us get down to serious business; the annual MEASUREMENT SCIENCE CONFERENCE(2007 version) has come and gone. I have not as yet been informed as to the precise attendance, but amaware that the attendance was approximately 1500, with world wide attendance (I believe that everycontinent except Antarctica was represented), thus making it the largest and probably the most important

Metrology confluence in the world. Social activities were held to a minimum and for five days the em-phasis was on education and training in the Measurement Sciences. Our MQD had a booth in the exhibitarea; Dilip Shah, Duane Allen, and I took turns manning it and explaining ASQ-MQD to interestedpassersby.

As was announced in an earlier edition of THE STANDARD, I was to be the recipient of the MAX JAYUNIS AWARD for Lifetime Achievement during the Conference. Dilip Shah made the presentation. Iam most grateful to all of you who have made this recognition possible. The handsome plaque com-memorating the Award will hang someplace in my home (when I can find a space for it as my late wifehad already covered most of the wall space with other memorabilia). The monetary honorarium that ac-companies the Award I have already donated to a Metrology Education cause, as has every honorarium Ihave received during the past forty years.

During the MSC, I had an opportunity for a long chat with Herb ONeal from Ridgewater College inHutchinson, Minnesota. Many years ago, twenty-four to be precise, in 1983 under a consulting contract;I visited Hutchinson and evaluated the Metrology Program as it existed at that point in time. Of coursemy report to my sponsors was (and still is) confidential; the most merciful comment that I can make isthat what I found was that the alleged program was deficient to the point of nonexistent. The Admini-stration complained to me of a lack of students and explained that they had instituted the program in re-sponse to Orders from the Governors Office, and that directive was reinforced by two letters they hadreceived. These letters (they showed me copies), one was from a major electronics equipment manufac-turer promising to send 20 students each year; the other was from a most prominent Metrology orientedassociation guaranteeing their responsibility for sending 100 students per year! (To date neither organi-zation has sent even a single student to Hutchinson.) Promises! Promises! It seems that organizations are

no more reliable or meaningful in their intent than are individuals when it comes to Putting their moneywhere their mouth is especially when Metrology Education is the subject of interest.

This all occurred at least a year before Mr. ONeal (now Professor ONeal) came to the HutchinsonTechnical Training Institute and who, among other things, was a factor in its conversion to RidgewaterCollege, a fully accredited two year Community College within the State of Minnesota Educational Sys-tem. Herb was able to describe to me in considerable detail the many changes that have occurred within



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the institution; policy changes, facility changes, student evaluation changes, etc. In his opinion his cur-rent problem of the greatest magnitude is the recruitment of students. Community Colleges traditionallydraw their students from a local area. The Hutchinson area is predominately agriculturalthus thereexists an environment not psychologically ideal for the development of scientific inclinations among itsadolescents. Young scientific potentials from other areas are not inclined to travel far out into the hinter-land for education at a two year institution. However, he has been able to over the twenty years, graduateapproximately 250 students. Currently he is graduating an average of five a year.

Herb ONeals efforts over the past two decades and the resultant changes in the institution and in theMetrology Program, in my opinion constitute a quantum leap forward. They have not as yet achieved thetarget goalthat of academically educating Metrologists, but they are well on their way. They need ourhelp; help of all sorts; help from all of us. They need students; they need equipment donations; they needscholarships; they need guest instructors; and like any of the rest of us, they need money, Ill kick thatone off by donating the honorarium that I recently received with the MAX JAY UNIS AWARD. Inother words I am putting my money where my mouth is. What are you going to do?

For those of you that have been reading (and often objecting to) my rantings (and ravings, maybe?) on

the necessity of academic education versus vocational training in Metrology over the past fifteen years, abombshell has just been dropped. I recently downloaded from the Internet a twenty-four page reportfrom NIST on the findings of a study of the education and training needs of operational calibration labo-ratories. I could not determine how many laboratories were involved, but from the volume of data itmust have been a considerable number. What caught my attention was not so much the statistics of thereduced data, but rather the conclusions that the NIST analysts drew from those statistics. I shall quotesome of these findings:

On Page 17: The absolute #1 problem in laboratories is the lack of staff with an academic under-standing of the measurements performed. This is the root cause of all other significant problems, e.g.

uncertainty estimation, training of technicians and understanding of what is important to reliably

make various measurements.

On Page 19: Specific disciplines study guides [are needed]because most commercial cal labs willnot spend money for formal training their technicians.

Metrology concepts do better at conferences but time limitations govern. This area needs

classes on the basics of making measurements, general lab or measurement practices. The cementthat holds the measurement processes together. This is what the old timers are taking with them and

the young tech does not get in their OJT.

Many technical problems are related to inadequate internally written calibration procedures

(lacking important details or poorly written). Training on the basics of Method Validation, including

why it is important, would be very helpful.

Any GOOD consultant who can provide onsite training and assistance at the lab as opposed

to off site where half of whats learned is later disregarded or forgotten.

And on Page 21: We can define training needs all day long but the lab can not afford to sendtechs to school for the time needed. Getting a lab to set up this type of training is almost impossible. It

boils down to managers that have been trained as technicians in another field thinking that they know

what is required in the field of metrology.

And the first statement is repeated again on this page: The absolute #1 problem in laboratories is the

(Continued from page 10)



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lack of staff with an academic understanding of the measurements performed. This is the root causeof all other significant problem, e.g. uncertainty estimation, training of technicians and understand-

ing of what is important to reliably make various measurements.

And on Page 23 is a collection of several direct quotations by some of the auditors that collected the dataand from some of the laboratories audited:

Since most accredited labs are small commercial organizations and they are not actively

participating in technical conferences (e.g., NCSLI, MSC) it would be very beneficial to them and the

Metrology community as a whole, if some new approach could be developed to bring resources di-

rectly to them.

I have felt education and training or lack thereof, or monies therefore is used as an ex-

cuse or a dodge by some labs. If they were so motivated they would browse the web, take a class, or,

heavens forbid, read something to get the information they need. Other than that issimply an issue of

somebodys preferred modality and media. But if you do not have the drive to do so, nothing works.

You can lead a whore to culture but you cant make her listen to the opera.

At small commercial cal lab the most critical need in my opinion is to change the attitude

of the owners who are totally bottom line driven. They feel marginal training for their calibrators is

enough for them to be productive and hence them profitable.The only thing worse that off site training is training provided over the Internet such as

self tutorials or canned system development software. Examples of the ineffectiveness of these items

are vast in my experience.

Place a business savvy and technically sound consultant in a lab that really wants to apply

ISO 17025 properly and the potential outcome could be limitless.

While the above statements cover both the necessity for academic education for Metrologists they alsoemphasize the necessity for both preliminary and continuing training for technicians and calibrators.These NIST findings not only justify but forcibly illustrate what we have been maintaining in this col-umn for the past fifteen yearsMetrologists must be Professionals who have been academically edu-cated and that it takes an educated Professional Metrologist to manage any Metrology related function

(e.g. a calibration laboratory) We must somehow provided for the academic education of a new gen-eration of Professional Metrologists!

Boss you should recall that in my last column, #48, I offered a cash prize of $100 to whomever couldcome up with a satisfactory answer to a question that I had propounded in an earlier column. For thepossibility of a hundred bucks of US cash, I though that I would be deluged with folks trying to make abuck. How many responded? Zero!! It is almost incomprehensible to me that some people would nothave given it a try. What is the problem? Is no one reading this column? If anybody bothered to procureand read a book that I strongly recommended that everyone in Metrology have at his fingertips, theywould have the answer. (The book? THE SCIENCE OF MEASUREMENT: A Historical Survey,by Herbert Arthur Klein. ISBN 0-486-25839-4, Dover Publications, INC., $18.50.) Incidentally thatsame C note is still in my wallet.

Meanwhile I am at the same old stand:

PHIL PAINCHAUD e-mail: [email protected] West Dorothy Drive e-mail: [email protected], CA 92821-2017Phone: 714-529-6604FAX: 714-529-1109



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MQD & NCSLI METROLOGY JOB DESCRIPTION

INITIATIVE UPDATEBy Christopher L. Grachanen

The 163.1 NCSLI sub-committee, Working Group on Standard Occupa-

tional Classifications (comprised of MQD & NCSLI constituents), over-saw the planning and execution of the Metrology Job Description Initia-tive. Since submitting formalized job description to the U.S. Dept. of La-bor, Bureau of Labor Statistics for inclusion into the 2010 Standard Occu-pational Classification (SOC) System, there has been several discussionsas to how to best utilize the information gathered and leverage the in-depth analysis performed. These discussions led to the following 2007projects for the 163.1 sub-committee.

Publish Job Descriptions

Many job descriptions were submitted as a part of the ASQ-MQD & NCSLI project to update the

Standard Occupational Classification and the Occupational Outlook Handbook which are main-tained by the U.S. Department of Labor. A sample job description for each of the 3 new job titlesshould be developed and published as samples to include: Calibration Technician, Calibration Engi-neer, and Metrologist. These job descriptions should be published in the NCSLI Newsletter, on theNCSLI website and should be a part of a standard HR package. The projects previous job de-scriptions survey results (as compiled and administered by Professional Examination Services fromsubmitted job descriptions) will be used as the basis for disseminating commonality in terms of edu-cation, skills and experience for each job description.

Prepare/submit a Proposal to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

A number of metrologists have suggested that the standard titles and descriptions used by the U.S.

Department of Labor are not used by OPM. This proposal would take the materials submitted to theDepartment of Labor and repackage them for OPM to update Federal job classifications.

Benchmark Salary Surveys

Quality Progress recently published their latest salary survey. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsalso publishes salary data based on the Department of Labor classifications. Because the titles/descriptions for this professional field are so new, BLS data dont accurately reflect salary for me-trology and calibration positions. This information would be useful as a part of a standard HRpackage.

Create a Standard Package for HR Offices

A standard HR package would be very useful for a number of industries and for government agen-cies. There are very few metrologists compared to other technical fields and requirements are of-ten compared to technicians and laborers rather than technical professionals that often have science,engineering, or mathematical degree requirements. As a result, metrology and calibration positionsare often much lower than appropriate. A package that includes titles, job descriptions, and salary



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MQD Page 14


benchmarks, along with level of responsibility descriptors similar to the categories used by the Bu-reau of Labor Statistics would be useful. The proposed standard HR package would use informa-tion obtained in Items # 1 & 3.

The original 163.1 sub-committee members are:

Jay Bucher Promega CorporationChristopher L. Grachanen (chair) - Hewlett-Packard CompanyShawn B Mason Boston ScientificGloria J Neely US Navy, Naval Surface Warfare CenterGraeme C. Payne - GK Systems, Inc.Don Ruth - US Army TMDEHoward Zion Transcat

It is anticipated that 163.1 sub-committee members will work closely with other Metrology Education &Training committees and sub-committees to accomplish the aforementioned projects. My sincere thanksgo out to 163.1 sub-committee members for volunteering to make a difference!

CHAIR-ELECTS COLUMNBy Rick Roberson

Change. It is inevitable. There are courses, classes, and seminars on how to managechange. I have seen many changes in Air Force PMEL, but how much change is neces-sary? Many of you are familiar with the concept of value-added. Before changes areimplemented, that is something that should be considered. Unneeded changes have

wasted more of my time at work than everything else combined. Sometimes we haveto change. The new equipment that has come out in the last 20 years is so far advancedthat it saves hundreds of man hours a month in a large lab. Some older technicians stillwant to use 40 year old equipment because that was the new item when they were anAirman. We need to change when it will save time and/or money, but otherwise it is a

waste of time. If you decide to rearrange the lab, what will it accomplish? Will people be able to workmore efficiently? Will it create more space for work? Or is it just because you dont like the way thebenches are arranged? I remember as an Airman wondering why we are working overtime but wasting aday moving things around that had no impact on production, but the boss wanted us to do it, so we did.It is amazing how people will resist change even when evidence is presented that it will provide a tangi-ble benefit, but are more than happy to spend time changing things that have no impact on the bottomline. The people in your lab will embrace the change much more readily if the reason behind it is ex-

plained. Because I said so is an answer for a parent-not a supervisor. The people in this career field arenot stupid. They may point out a better way, or why it is a bad idea. If your lab is to remain competitive(yes, even the military labs need to watch the bottom line) you must change, but only when it will createa positive impact. Anyone with examples of good or bad changes that you think would work at anotherlab-or to keep us from making the same mistake, e-mail me at [email protected].



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Chair

Graeme C. PayneGK Systems, Inc.4440 Weston Drive SW, Suite BLilburn, GA 30047 USAVoice: (770) 931-4004 / Fax (866) 887-9344E-mail: [email protected]

Chair-Elect

Richard D. Roberson10301 Clinkenbeard Rd NENorman, OK 73026Voice (405) 321-8580E-mail: [email protected]

Secretary, Certification Chair, Website

Manager, NCSL International Representative

Christopher L. GrachanenManager, Houston Metrology Group Hewlett-PackardP. O. Box 692000 MS070110Houston, TX 77269-2000Voice (281) 518-8486 / Fax (281) 518-7275E-mail: [email protected]

Treasurer, Publication Chair, Newsletter

Editor/Publisher, Share Point Administrator

Jay L. BucherBucherview Metrology Services6700 Royal View Dr.De Forest, WI 53532-2775Voice (608) 277-2522 / Fax (608) 846-4269E-mail: [email protected]@promega.com

Immediate Past Chair, Nominating Chair

Program ChairDilip A. ShahE = mc3 Solutions197 Great Oaks Trail #130Wadsworth, Ohio 44281-8215Voice (330) 328-4400 / Fax (330) 336-3974E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Joe Simmons Scholarship

Norm Belecki7413 Mill Run DrDerwood, MD 20855-1156Voice (301) 869-4520E-mail: [email protected]

Standards Committee Representative

Robert M. GrahamPrimary AC Standards LabSandia National LaboratoriesP.O. Box 5800, M.S. 0665Albuquerque, NM 87185-0665Phone: (505) 845-0434Fax: (505) 844-6096E-mail: [email protected]

Examining Chair

Duane AllenU. S. NavyP.O. Box 5000, Code MS11Corona, CA 92878-5000Voice (909) 273-4783 / Fax (909) 273-4599E-mail: [email protected]

Historian

Keela SniadachPromega Corp.5445 East Cheryl ParkwayMadison, WI 53711Voice (608) 298-4681 / Fax (608) 277-2516E-mail: [email protected]

ASQ Division Administrator

Ms. Jennifer Admussen, CQIAVoice (800) 248-1946, x7736

E-mail: [email protected]

MEASUREMENT QUALITY DIVISION OFFICERSAND COMMITTEE CHAIRS


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MQD Page 17


ASQ MEASUREMENT QUALITY DIVISION REGIONAL COUNCILORS

Regional Councilors represent the Division to members and Sections in their

geographic areas. Regional Councilors are appointed for renewable two-year

terms, and are advisory members of the Division leadership team.

Region 1 (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT)

Mr. Jun BautistaGenzymeCambridge, MA 02142E-mail: [email protected]

Region 2 (NJ, NY, PA)

Volunteer Opportunity!

Region 3 (CT, NJ, NY)

Mr. Eduardo M. HeidelbergPfizerParlin, NJ 08859E-mail: [email protected]

Region 4 (Canada)

Mr. Alexander T. C. LauExxonMobilWhitby, ON L1R 1R1E-mail: [email protected]

Region 5 (DC, DE, MD, PA, VA)

Mr. Richard A. LittsLitts Quality TechnologiesDownington, PA 19335E-mail: [email protected]

Region 6 (AK, CA, HI, ID, MT, OR, UT, WA,

WY)


Region 7 (AZ, CA, NV, part of Mexico)

Mr. Randy D. FarmerMetrology SolutionsChula Vista, CA 91913E-mail: [email protected]

Region 8 (OH, PA)

Dilip A. ShahE = mc3 SolutionsWadsworth, Ohio 44281-8215E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Region 9 (IN, KY, OH)

Mr. Ryan Fischer, ASQ CCTLaboratory Accreditation BureauNew Haven, IN 46774E-mail: [email protected]

Region 10 (OH, MI)


Region 11 (NC, SC, TN, VA)


Region 12 (IL, MN, ND, SD, WI)

Dr. Donald S. ErmerASQ Fellow; Eugene L. Grant Medal (2001)

University of WisconsinMadisonMadison, WI 53706E-mail: [email protected]

Region 13 (CO, IA, KS, MO, NE, SD, WY)


Region 14 (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX, part of

Mexico)

Mr. R. Keith BennettTRANSCATKingwood, TX 77339E-mail: [email protected]

Region 15 (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, Puerto Rico)

Mr. E. Bryan MillerASQ Fellow

Bryan Miller Consulting

Florence, AL 35633E-mail: [email protected]

Region 25 (all other countries)



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MQD Page 18



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JOE D. SIMMONSMEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

The

*NIST (NBS) (1963-1994). NCLSI, William A. Wildhack

award winner, 1992. MSC, Andrew J. Woodington

award winner, 1995. Co-founder and Chair of ASQ

Measurement Quality Division.

Founded in the memory of Joe Simmons*

to support the study of metrology and

metrology-related quality topics.

Outstanding students

are encouraged to apply for

the $3000 scholarship.

Completed applications

are due March 1.

For application forms or more information contact

your advisor, student aid office, or the Scholarship itself at

[email protected]

www.simmons-scholarship.com

or write to: Simmons Scholarship7413 Mill Run Drive, Derwood, MD 20855-1156


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2007 Measurement Science Conference ReportBy Dilip Shah

This years MSC attracted over 1200 attendees and the usual group of exhibitors. ASQsMeasurement Quality Division was one of the co-sponsors of the 2007 MSC and we

participated by exhibiting and sponsoring a session. The exhibit booth was manned by thewest coast based crew of Phil Painchaud and Duane Allen and by Dilip Shah. The exhibit

booth opened a day early this year and attendee traffic was brisk. We had many queries

for the CCT exam and the other ASQ certification exams. In addition, we have formedmany good relationships with MSC and NCSLI by our participation in both their

conferences to advance the field of metrology

During the Friday, January 26, 2007 MSC luncheon program, I had the privilege of

formally presenting the MQDs 2006 Max J. Unis award to Phil Painchaud in front of arecord crowd of luncheon attendees. The MQD thanks the Measurement Science

Conference and specially, 2007 MSC President Bob Fritzsche for making this possible.

The introductory text of my speech follows below:

In 1996 the ASQ Measurement Quality Division Proposed, and the ASQ Boardof Directors approved, a Division award the Max Jay Unis Award.

This award was created to honor the memory of Max Unis. He was an ASQFellow, a founding member of the Metrology Technical committee (which laterbecame the MQD), a member of the Inspection Division and a Regional Directorof NCSL. He was very active in promoting the importance of metrology and thedevelopment of relevant standards. He developed the vision of the Metrology

Technical Committee becoming a full Division, and because of that he was askedto be first to sign the petition to create it. Unfortunately Max never saw that visionrealized he died the year before the Division was created in 1991.

The Max Jay Unis Award is to be given annually at the Division's technicalconference, to the person or people who have made a significant contributiontoward addressing the mission and goals of the Division. The presentation of the2006 award was delayed this time specifically so it could be presented here, infront of this audience of the recipient's friends and peers.

This year's award goes to a person who has certainly been tireless in promotingmetrology in general, with particular emphasis on the education and training ofmetrologists. In addition

He has been a member of ASQ for nearly 30 years, and is a founding memberof the Measurement Quality Division.

He has been professionally active in the measurement sciences for well over60 years.

He is a past President of the Measurement Science Conference, and has


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attended every one of them so far. He actively promotes appropriate education for professional metrology

practitioners. His writing on that topic has made him easily the most prolificcolumnist over the history of MQD's newsletter, The Standard.

He is always ready and willing to share insights from his experience or just

war stories with we who are younger in the field.

So with great pleasure I would like to present this award to Phillip A. Painchaud.

In his acceptance speech, Phil said:

Our luncheon speaker yesterday stressed PASSIONpassion for whateverendeavor we are engaged in, as the driving force for success in whatever we do.For nearly seventy years some aspect of METROLOGY has been my passion. Iam appreciative of that recognition in the presentation of this Award.

The renowned English philosopher, Sir Francis Bacon is reputed to have

once said, GREATNESS IS LIKE A TWO SIDED COINTHE REVERSE SIDEIS HUMILITY ; I prefer to keep it that way. Thank you for this recognition.

Phil Painchaud making his acceptance speech, Dilip Shah in the background


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This year was a first for MSC where the Woodington award was presented to three very

worthy individuals for their contribution to analytical metrology instead of just one

individual. Congratulations to Howard Castrup of Integrated Sciences Group (MQD

member), David Deaver of Fluke Corporation (MQD member) and Dennis Jackson ofNSWC Corona!

L-R Howard Castrup, David Deaver and Dennis Jackson


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Phil Painchaud at the MQD booth

Duane Allen at the MQD booth

Miguel Decos Another MQD member and past MQD paper presenter at 2006 NCSLI


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MSC was very gracious to pay tribute to both DeWayne Sharp (The Standards first

editor) and to Dr. Eugene Watson, who sadly passed away last year.


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MSC also presented the first student achievement award this year to Shay Edwards, a

high school sophomore for his work on infrared photography which he presented at the

MSC.

Bob Fritzsche, presenting the student award to Shay Edwards.

MQDs sponsored session at the MSC featured a panel discussion on the newly formed

NCSLI Sub-committee 164.1 titled Metrology Education & Training Outreach. The

session was hosted by Dilip Shah and the presenter included Phil Smith (MQD Member)

of A2LA, Elizabeth Gentry of NIST, Mark Lapinskes of Sypris and Michelle Foncannon

of CalSource.

In addition, Dilip Shah also presented a paper in Georgia Harriss Education & Training

session on the CCT Body Of Knowledge development. Both session were well attended

including members of the international metrology community.

All picture in this report courtesy of Mr. Phil Painchaud.


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CCAA LL LL FFOORR PP AA PP EE RR SS YY EE AARR 22 00 00 88

Metrology and Metrics: Measuring Today's Products and

Tomorrow's TechnologiesMarch 10-14, 2008

Disneyland Hotel Convention CenterAnaheim, CA

M e a s u r e m e n t S c i e n c e C o n f e r e n c e

AuthorsYou are invited to participate in the 2008 MSC Conference by presenting a paper on any topic of interest to those involved in theapplication of measurement disciplines. Please submit a 500 word abstract to the Program Chairman as soon as possible. Earlysubmissions will receive the maximum exposure in mailed brochures and on the MSC website. To present at MSC, you mustsubmit a a er.

SessionChairsIf you are interested in chairing a technical session, please contact the Program Chairman. Send your name, address, telephonenumber, and a short description of your session. Preference will be given to the developers with a full slate of papers.

Suggested TopicsMeasurementsElectrical Pressure ResistanceCapacitance Temperature VibrationTime Frequency MassGas, Liquid Flow Humidity RF & MicrowaveAir Quality Optical Short Wave LightTransducers Verification Chemical-Biological Coordinate Measuring MachinesPharmaceutical Advanced Technologies (NANO, etc.) MedicalDimensional CMM in the factory FDA Regulated EnvironmentsTorque IR/UV Optics

ProcessesTraceability Laboratory Accreditation Laws & RegulationsInterval Adjustment Procedures Development AutomationTechnician Training Error & Data Analysis Pharmaceutical EnvironmentsLegacy Equipment Support Audits & Quality Control Equipment DevelopmentOn-Site Calibration Data Mining ISO and Other Written StandardsHazardous Materials Handling Quality Standards Equipment ManagementLab Management Business Practices Outsourcing Services

TutorialWorkshopsMSC has an extensive tutorial workshop program on the day prior to the conference. The Tutorial Workshops are half-dor full day instructional seminars. You are invited to submit a tutorial workshop proposal in addition to or instead of a conferenpaper. Please contact the tutorial chairman as soon as possible as space is limited.

Program ChairmanPlease submit before 23 MayContact: Mark KaufmanPhone (866) [email protected]

Tutorial ChairmanContact: Arman HovakemianPhone: (866) [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

the standard mar07

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