Proceedings

GLOBALISATION AND THE INTEGRATION OF THE EUROPEAN MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS: THE MERA PROJECT

Industry, trade and increasingly the quality of life depend on the ability to make leading edge measurements. However, within Europe the ability to deliver state-of-the-art measurement capability with the confidence necessary to underpin research, innovation and development, is dependent on the metrology infrastructure being able to meet ever-growing demands with resources that are not increasing at a comparable rate. A strategy has been developed within EUROMET to address these issues and this paper describes the MERA project, which will plan the implementation of the strategy.

CALIBRATION OF ELECTROSTATIC FIELD METERS

A method for electrostatic field meters calibration is presented in the article. A workplace for this measurement is also described and calibration results for two different electrostatic field meters are given.

METROLOGY FOR IMPROVED MEASUREMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL REGULATION AND TRADE: THE REGMET PROJECT

The operation of the economy on a global scale and the quality of life for the individual citizen depends on reliable measurements and tests, which are trusted and accepted internationally. Although broadly harmonised, differences in measurement practice amongst regulators and associated bodies still exist even within the EU. This is because the approach by the regulatory community in Europe is still influenced by historical practice and awareness of measurement issues varies significantly. Equally, development of national measurement capability does not always take optimum account of the...

THE PROBLEMS OF MAINTENANCE OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT AND THE EFFECT OF IT ON RESEARCH AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA

Developing countries are regarded as recipients of technology and advanced scientific equipment, however most of equipment is unavailable due to breakdowns and lack of maintenance. Maintenance of scientific and technical equipment appears to enjoy very low priority in the main activities of Universities, Research and Technological Institutions in Africa. These institutions are expected to train manpower in the fields of science and engineering and to conduct research at a level comparable to other similar institutions worldwide, but this cannot be achieved if essential instruments/equipment...

THE OS&T OF THE OAS AND METROLOGY IN THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

SPECIFIC POINTS AND FEATURES IN DEVELOPMENT OF QUALITY SYSTEM AT ULUSAL METROLOJI ENSTITÜSÜ

Setting up a quality system at the level of national metrology laboratories became especially important after the signing of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). Each laboratory, signatory of MRA, must demonstrate its technical competence and confidence, where an established and smooth running quality system is a critical milestone. This paper presents details of a rather sophisticated quality system established at the Turkish National Metrology Institute. General recommendations to other institutes and possible ways for further improvements are also discussed in the paper.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INSTRUMENTATION REPAIR AND SUPPORT SERVICES IN MALAWI - A HISTORIC BACKGROUND AND NATIONAL EXPERIENCES

Malawi is one of the developing countries in Africa, as such her economy is donor driven. Being a developing nation, there are a number of scientific institutions such as Universities, National Standards Body, Polytechnics, Medical Institutions, Government Agricultural Research Centres, Water Development, Research Institutes, Environmental Protection and Research Institutes, Industrial Research and Development Centres, Telecommunications Development and many more. These institutions house from simple to most complicated electronic equipment /instruments. Since 1964, when Malawi became...

EXPERIENCES OF SETTING-UP INSTRUMENTATION CENTRE AT KENYA BUREAU OF STANDARDS

The modern industry, Metrology and Testing laboratories have diverse types of measuring instruments which range from simple to very complex computer-aided measuring systems reflecting the state of art. The Instrumentation Centre plays a vital role to Quality of measurement results, products, services and contributes to over-all economy of a country. To maintain an instrumentation centre in a health state; an efficient, qualified, well-trained team coupled with modern business management skills is not only necessary but a must. This paper will address the ‘experiences of setting-up an...

A MAINTENANCE STRATEGY FOR THE SCIENTIFIC EQUIPMENT IN THE MOROCCAN UNIVERSITY

The scientific equipment pool in the Moroccan universities has suffered from the lack of maintenance policy. This is why the LIS has built an appropriate strategy of maintenance, constructed on 3 main pillars: i) The knowledge of the current state of the existing equipment and human resources. So, according to the inventory, launched by LIS since 1998, in average, 19% of the scientific equipment is out of use. This percentage is higher than 50% for complex instruments. Only less than 1% of the equipment have maintenance contract, 4% have technical manuals and 14% with maintenance manuals,...

MEASUREMENT SUPPORT SERVICES

The participation of the developing countries in the international trade put even stronger emphasis to the safe operation of their quality systems throughout the whole economy (industry, agriculture, scientific research, public health services, higher education, etc.) The operation of these systems need ever more sophisticated and expensive instruments. These instruments also are a sizeable part of national wealth. The safe operation of the precision measuring instruments has essential importance in the creditable performance of the quality systems, and it needs support (background) services...