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This Just In!

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David Wineland (left) and David Nesbitt

Wineland, Nesbitt Elected to Academy

 

David Wineland of the Time and Frequency Division and David Nesbitt of the Quantum Physics Division have been elected Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The new members will be inducted at a ceremony on October 12, 2013, at the Academy’s headquarters in Cambridge, Mass.

Flemming Awards: Four to Go

Four PML researchers are being honored with 2012 Arthur S. Flemming Awards:

Gretchen Campbell (Quantum Measurement Division) is being honored in the “basic science” category for pioneering accomplishments in the emerging field of atomtronics.

Michal Chojnacky (Sensor Science Division) is being honored in the “social science, clinical trials and translational research” category for translating research in temperature measurement to public health clinics and primary care physician offices to help ensure the potency of over $3.6 billion dollars of vaccines distributed each year through programs administered by the CDC.

Clockwise from top left: Campbell, Ullom, Pibida, Chojnacky

Leticia Pibida (Radiation and Biomolecular Physics Division) is being honored in the “leadership and/or management” category for her tireless efforts to ensure that the Nation's security and first response communities have the radiation detection equipment they need, designed to the highest standards and for the intended users in their continuing efforts to guard the Nation against radiological and nuclear threats on U.S. soil.

Joel Ullom (Quantum Electronics and Photonics Division) is being honored in the “applied science and engineering” category for developing and deploying a revolutionary new type of high-resolution radiation detector to solve important national measurement problems related to nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear forensics, and advanced materials analysis.

In a speech before the Washington, D.C. Downtown Jaycees in the late 1940s, Dr. Arthur S. Flemming suggested that the group create an award to recognize exceptional young employees within the federal government. In 1948, the Downtown Jaycees established and presented the first Flemming Awards. Since 1998, the awards have been administered by The George Washington University, which this year will present the awards at a ceremony on June 10.

MEMS Metrology Milestone

PML scientists played a major role in the arrival of a new industry-group document, released May 3, 2013, which is expected to hasten acceptance of industry-wide performance standards for testing microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) such as accelerometers, magnetometers, gyroscopes, and pressure sensors.

MEMS device testing and calibration can consume 30% to 60% of total manufacturing cost. In 2010, NIST and the MEMS Industry Group (MIG, a trade association) worked together to organize a Testing Standards Workshop, after which Michael Gaitan of the Semiconductor and Dimensional Metrology Division was invited to lead the MEMS Technology Working Group (TWG). Since then, industrial participation in the TWG has grown to more than 60 companies worldwide. TWG documented the need for testing standards and has been developing the concept of an integration path for roadmapping.

Now MEMS manufacturers and systems integrators have joined together to tackle the first step in developing standards for device data sheets: Standardized Sensor Performance Parameter Definitions. "Such terminology documents are often the first step in developing a standards program," Gaitan says. "In this case, they are a prelude to standards for device performance tests.”

At a recent OWM training session, inspectors test a home heating oil delivery truck’s meter for accuracy. Photo courtesy of Jerry Buendel.

OWM Training Hits the Road

During the week of April 22 – 26, 2013, PML’s Weights and Measures Program conducted a training session, hosted by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) in Olympia, WA, on Vehicle Tank Meters and Loading Rack Meters. Attendees included weights and measures inspectors from Arizona, Utah, Alaska, Idaho and the City of Seattle along with our staff for the course. The training focused on meters used on petroleum delivery trucks and meters used at large fuel terminals, where tanker trucks fill up to deliver to retail and wholesale fuel outlets. 

OWM instructors Tina Butcher and Marc Buttler furnished course materials, and enriched the training by arranging for manufacturers to bring cutaways of their meters and talk about the features of the devices. WSDA Inspector Bruce Feagan presented the safety segment of the training. 

Historic Conference Coming to NIST

NIST’s Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF III) is partnering with the Cornell High Energy Synchrotron Source and the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility to host the 17th Pan-American Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation Conference. The gathering will be held on the NIST Gaithersburg campus from Wednesday, June 19, 2013 to Friday, June 21, 2013. The conference was last held at NIST in 1993.

In addition, workshops will be held Monday, June 17 and Tuesday, June 18. One day-long event, titled “50 Years of Atomic Physics with Synchrotron Radiation,” will celebrate 50th anniversary of the landmark Madden and Codling paper “New Autoionizing Atomic Energy Levels in He, Ne, and Ar” at NBS/SURF. This paper was the first publication using synchrotron radiation in an atomic physics experiment.