Temperature: Its Measurement and Control in Science and Industry, Volume 8, Proceedings of the 9th International Temperature Symposium

The International Temperature Symposium (ITS) on "Temperature: Its Measurement and Control in Science and Industry" is the longest running series of symposia on this subject. It was first held in 1919 and has since been held approximately every ten years. Since its inception, the ITS has always been organized by the United States National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). In 2012 NIST once again honored this tradition by organizing the Ninth International Temperature Symposium (ITS⁹) in Anaheim (near Los Angeles), California, from March 19-23, 2012. Volume 8 of Temperature: Its Measurement and Control in Science and Industry (TMCSI⁸), contains the proceedings of this Symposium.

There were several "firsts" for this ITS. For the first time, the Symposium was transported to the west coast of the United States. The ITS⁹ was held in the Disneyland Hotel, on the premises of Disneyland, giving it a distinctively playful ambiance to go along with all the serious discussions on research. The lighthearted atmosphere even prompted the ITS⁹ General Chair, Greg Strouse, to sport sunglasses while giving many of his announcements! Also for the first time, the ITS took place in conjunction with the Measurement Science Conference (MSC), enabling ITS⁹ participants to attend the MSC presentations, view the huge selection of MSC instrumentation exhibits, and enjoy the MSC social events. In addition, for the first time the Symposium offered sponsorship opportunities to the temperature metrology industry, allowing them to participate more actively in the Symposium. Finally, ITS⁹ was the most internationally attended ITS to date, with considerably more representation from China and South America.

The ITS9 program consisted of three plenary sessions, forty parallel sessions, and for the first time, two poster sessions. We were very fortunate to receive five excellent speakers for our plenary talks. In particular, our key note speaker, Dr. Michael Kuhne of the Bureau International de Poids et Mesures, delivered an excellent presentation of the new International System of Units for a joint ITS9-MSC plenary session. We also heard plenary talks by Joachim Fischer, Mike Moldover, Graham Machin and Peter Thorn, all of which were very interesting and well received.

The topics of ITS⁹ followed the traditional ones of past Temperature Symposia: new measurement technologies, new and established temperature measurement applications, calibration methods, thermophysical modeling, temperature-sensor design, temperature fixed points, and temperature scales. As in the past, there were a considerable number of presentations on resistance thermometry, thermocouples, radiation thermometry, international comparisons of temperature standards, and thermometer calibration methods. In addition, there were some topics that were new or which got considerably more representation in ITS⁹: Boltzmann constant determinations, high-temperature fixed points, phosphor thermometry, and geophysical thermometry (of great interest to the subject of global warming). Finally there was a diversity of presentations on miscellaneous applications of thermometry, including nuclear power production, human-body diagnostics, semiconductor processing, and vaccine storage.

All presenters at ITS9 were invited to submit papers to TMCSI⁸, and all submissions were subjected to a rigorous peer review. Of the 246 ITS9 presentations, 187 are represented in TMCSI⁸. The regular contributed papers have been limited to the customary six pages. In addition, there are seven invited papers containing up to twelve pages. The authors of the invited papers are Joachim Fischer, Hash Hashemian, Ken Hill, Graham Machin, Anatoly Pokhodun, Peter Thorne, and Rod White, and we thank them for honoring TMCSI⁸ with these submissions.

The publication of TMCSI⁸ would not be possible without the authors whose dedicated work produced the final 187 papers appearing in this volume. Writing scientific papers is a difficult and time-consuming process, especially when writing in a language that is different from one's mother tongue. We sincerely thank all those ITS9 participants who labored to write up their presentations for these proceedings. TMCSI⁸ would also not be possible without the many peer-reviewers who graciously donated their time to evaluate these papers. Authors get credit for their papers, but reviewers, by necessity, unfortunately never get public recognition for their hard work. We whole-heartedly thank all those who conscientiously carried out this thankless task. Ever since the publication of the first volume of TMCSI, it has been both a tradition and expectation that the ITS proceedings be of archival-journal quality. Through the combined efforts of authors, reviewers, and the editor, we believe we have produced a volume which again meets this standard of excellence.

Now that TMCSI⁸ is published, all activities associated with ITS⁹ are finished. It is therefore a proper time to thank everyone who helped make ITS⁹ successful. We greatly appreciate all the hard work by the ITS⁹ program committee, who are listed on the Acknowledgements page. We also thank Bob Everly and the organizers of the 2012 MSC for their help in providing an outstanding venue that included a terrific location, a great exhibit hall, delicious food, and even The Beatles! Finally, we are extremely grateful to the 258 participants who took the trouble to travel to California to attend the symposium. We are especially grateful to the attendees who traveled from outside the United States, particularly those who came from countries that have not traditionally provided participants to the ITS. Thank you all for making this the best International Temperature Symposium ever!

Christopher Meyer, TMCSI⁸ Editor
Gregory Strouse, ITS⁹ General Chair
Weston Tew, ITS⁹ Program Chair
Howard Yoon, ITS⁹ Vice Program Chair
Dawn Cross, ITS⁹ Secretary