Event: NIST To Celebrate World Metrology Day with Symposium on Innovation

May 20 in Gaithersburg, Maryland

Published: Thursday, May 6, 2010 - 17:15

(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- “Accurate measurement is at the heart of physics, and in my experience, new physics begins at the next decimal place,” Steven Chu, now the U.S. Secretary of Energy, said at the 125th anniversary of the Metre Convention in 2000. Those sentiments are echoed daily at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

On May 20, NIST will hold its fourth-annual celebration of World Metrology Day commemorating the signing of the Metre Convention, the treaty that created international organizations to maintain metric standards. A NIST symposium in Gaithersburg, Maryland, at the Green Auditorium in Building 1, from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT, will feature talks that focus upon this year’s worldwide theme, “Measurements in Science and Technology… a Bridge to Innovation.” 

NIST engineer David Wollman will talk about metrology (measurement science) and innovation in the Smart Grid, a nationwide network that uses information technology to deliver electricity efficiently, reliably, and securely. NIST scientist Cameron Miller will explain how better metrology will support innovation in the lighting industry, with its emerging technologies such as energy-efficient, environmentally friendly white-light LEDs. Illustrating how measurements help scientists and engineers better understand the tiny devices that scientists and engineers now routinely create, NIST’s Curt Richter will explain how metrology will support advances in nanoelectronics, the creation of electronic devices with dimensions of nanometers, or billionths of a meter. Katharine Gebbie, director of NIST’s Physics Laboratory, will kick off the event.

Additional details and registration information are available at www.nist.gov/public_affairs/confpage/100520b.htm.

About The Author

NIST

Founded in 1901, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a nonregulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. Headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, NIST’s mission is to promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life.