Happy New Year 2023 from the NIST Office of Weights and Measures! OWM recently celebrated the retirement of the U.S. Survey Foot, explored new opportunities with our National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program partnership, planned for new programs and projects related to EVSE test instrumentation, reviewed the expansion of the SI prefixes, announced undergraduate research opportunities, and more.
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EVSE Fast Charging Network: Challenges for Calibration and Traceability
The New Year 2023 brings accelerated expansion of a nationwide network of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Transportation Joint Office of Energy and Transportation through the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). An ambitious goal has been set to build a nationwide network of 500,000 electric vehicle (EV) chargers to help expand infrastructure for zero-emission transportation. A significant portion of the funding is to support the deployment of convenient, direct current (DC) fast charging stations to be installed within communities, working and shopping areas, and along highway corridors to facilitate long-distance travel.
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Blast from the Past |
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New Year’s Eve 2023 Marked the Retirement of the U.S. Survey Foot
At the stroke of midnight on January 1, 2023, the U.S. survey foot was deemed obsolete and the international foot (i.e., 1 foot = 0.3048 meter exactly) definition officially superseded the U.S. survey foot. This retirement has been planned by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NIST for several years to provide national uniformity in the measurement of length.
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NIST Office of Weights and Measures – National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program Partnership: New Faces and New Opportunities
OWM has long coordinated the accreditation of the State legal metrology laboratories through the OWM Recognition Program (NIST Handbook 143) in partnership with NIST’s National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program.
Kari Harper was responsible for coordinating NVLAP’s support and accreditation of State legal metrology laboratory programs, and after over 30 years with NVLAP and NIST, she has retired from Federal service. NVLAP welcomes Robert Knake as the new NVLAP coordinator to the Recognition Program.
Starting April 2023, NVLAP accreditation fees will increase by approximately 15 % and 8 % in administration and assessment fees, respectively. OWM is prepared to continue to support participating State legal metrology laboratories seeking NVLAP accreditation per their customers’ needs throughout this period.
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SI Prefix Progress
In December 2022, the BIPM SI Brochure (9th Edition, December 2022, V2.01) was published to include the four new International System of Units (SI) prefixes recently adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in November 2022. The SI prefixes were expanded from 20 to 24 with the addition of ronna, ronto, quetta, and quecto. It was determined that the previous range of SI prefixes was not meeting the needs of the scientific community, especially data science with the need to express digital information quantities in excess of yotta (1024).
Top 10 Tips for Teaching the Metric System
Calling all teachers, parents and students. It’s easy to learn the metric system — or, as it’s more formally called, the International System of Units (SI). Explore these top 10 tips for teaching the SI. Let’s begin the countdown with …
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Catch the Wave - NIST SURF for Career Success: Announcing 2023 OWM Undergraduate Research Opportunities
During the summer of 2023, OWM plans to host two undergraduate students who are passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education and using the International System of Units (SI). During the annual 11-week paid internship appointment, scheduled from May 22 to August 3, 2023, participants will gain experience in legal metrology, calibration laboratory operations, the metric system, and federal public service. Please share these opportunities within your professional and community networks. Encourage qualified undergraduate students to apply today!
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Remembering Otto Warnlof
Byline: Tina G. Butcher I was very sad to hear that Otto Warnlof, a longtime friend and former NIST colleague recently passed away at age 98. I have fond memories of working with Otto over the years and debating many a “weights and measures” issue! From the time I first joined NIST in 1987, Otto was always willing to share his considerable expertise in weights and measures and provide advice on difficult legal metrology issues. Otto delivered his advice in a straightforward and direct manner, but always with a sense of humor and a genuine desire to help educate me (and others) about weights and measures. I’ll always be grateful for Otto’s friendship, generosity of spirit, and wise counsel.
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The Twelve Days of Metric
As we closed out 2022, the NIST Taking Measure Blog shared a NISTified version of a classic seasonal song about a topic that is near and dear to NISTers (and many other scientists) year-round: the wonders of the metric system. So without further ado … The Twelve Days of Metric. On the twelfth day of metric, a NISTer gave to me …
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Weights and Measures in the News |
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