World Standards Has Its Day (10/14/05)

Mel Torre
ASME Communications

ASME served as the administrating organization for the U.S. celebration World Standards Day 2005. The event was held, Oct. 6, at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., where more than 200 members of the standards and conformity assessment community gathered.

A dinner ceremony, led by June Ling, associate executive director, ASME Codes and Standards, featured the presentation of the prestigious Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award to ASME President Gene Feigel.

ASME President Gene Feigel (right) was honored with the 2005 Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award. Michael Brown, son of the late US commerce secretary and president and CEO of the Ronald H. Foundation presented the award.

The award, named in honor of the late US Secretary of Commence, recognizes those who exhibit leadership in promoting the important role of standardization in eliminating global barriers to trade. President Feigel has been involved with ASME technical standards development for more than 25 years.

"I am honored to accept this award, named for US Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who worked to eliminate regulatory barriers and standards-related obstacles to global free trade," Feigel said. "This award and this day — World Standards Day — help to draw attention to the importance of standards for the safety and security of people throughout the world and the significance of the role standards play in free trade."


Mark W. Hurwitz, president and chief executive officer of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), congratulated Feigel, and acknowledged ASME for its role in organizing the evening's event, including an exhibit showcase.

President Feigel addressed leaders from the standards and conformity assessment community during the 2005 WSD celebration dinner.

"ANSI is proud of the positive, cooperative relationship between our two organizations, which began nearly 90 years ago when ASME served as one of the founding members of ANSI in 1918," Hurwitz said. "Since that auspicious beginning, ASME's leadership has served as a hallmark for the standards and conformity assessment activities of countless industries and individuals around the globe."

The theme of this year's WSD celebration, "Improving Safety and Security Through Standards," emphasized the crucial role that standards play in our everyday lives.

"ASME has served as an important contributor to the standards community's improvement of safety and security to all humanity," Ling said. "The launch of the ASME Standards Technology LLC last year now provides ASME a vehicle for accelerating development of the technical bases for advancing the application of emerging and newly commercialized science and technology."

The aim of World Standards Day is to raise the awareness of the importance of global standardization to the world economy and to promote its role in helping meet the needs of business, industry, government and consumers worldwide. This international event pays tribute to the thousands of volunteers around the world who participate in standardization activities.

Ladislas Biro's Ballpoint Pen is Named an ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark

The ballpoint pen developed by Ladislas Biro in 1943, which served as the design standard for the practical and low-priced writing instruments that flooded the world market in later years, was named an ASME Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark at a ceremony held Sept. 29, 2005, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Society's mechanical engineering landmarks program recognizes technical devices and systems that contribute to social, economic, and technological progress.

The Biro Ballpoint Pen was named an ASME landmark last month.

While the history of the ballpoint pen is traced to the late 1800s, the Hungarian Ladislas Biro overcame earlier problems regarding the pressurization and flow of ink to produce a practical writing tool.

Rather than rely on gravity to feed the ink, Biro developed a process based on capillarity to work in conjunction with a tiny ball fitted at the tip of the pen. As the ball moved along the paper, it picked up ink from a cartridge, applying it cleanly and smudge-free.

Biro established a factory in Buenos Aires to manufacture his new ballpoint pen, which sold throughout Argentina. The pen became popularized as the "birome."

The birome was the world's first practical pen, according to ASME. In a tribute to its inventor, the Society said, "Biro overcame substantial design and manufacturing challenges and constructed a factory for the mass production of pens." Those words are inscribed on a bronze plaque that ASME presented to the Center of Argentinean Engineers in Buenos Aires, which houses a collection of Biro's ballpoint pens.

ASME is celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2005. Throughout the year, ASME is sponsoring programs that illuminate the Society's rich history in the development and progress of mechanical engineering. For further information, visit the Society's Web site, www.asme.org.

Applications Now Being Accepted for '05-06 Diversity Action Grant Program

ASME's Center for Leadership and Diversity is now accepting applications for its Diversity Action Grant (DAG) Program for the 2005-06 academic year.

The program awards grants ranging from $500 to $1,500 to ASME Student Sections to sponsor events which:

• Promote the inclusion of women and under-represented minorities in ASME Student Sections and in mechanical engineering;

• Inspire K-12 students to excel in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education; or,

• Assist minority- and/or women-owned businesses solve engineering design problems.

Projects should be collaborative partnerships with other minority and women's engineering societies on campus, such as the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, or the Society of Women Engineers.

Student section advisers and other university faculty are encouraged to promote the DAG Program within their ASME Student Sections. Applications are due on Nov. 1.

For additional information on the DAG Program, as well as the on-line application, go to www.asme.org/communities/diversities/bdo/dag.html. Questions about the program should be directed to Mary James Legatski in ASME's Center for Leadership & Diversity, (302) 539-1354, e-mail legatskim@asme.org.

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