The Trustees of the ANSI Research and Education Foundation have awarded a $10,000 grant to support university outreach efforts that will benefit higher-education faculty and students during the 2004-2005 academic calendar year and beyond.
The grant request was submitted on behalf of the ANSI Committee on Education (CoE) by John Kalemkerian, ANSI vice president of membership, communications and education. The monies awarded will enable the CoE to move forward with its goals to raise awareness of standards and conformity assessment programs and to incorporate standards-related information into the curriculum of colleges, universities, and even high schools. The CoE takes it direction from Goal 11 of the National Standards Strategy for the United States.
The purpose of the ANSI Research and Education Foundation is to “facilitate special research projects and/or educational initiatives. It is the first of the four foundations established by a resolution of the ANSI Board of Directors on December 14, 2001, to award grant monies. The other foundations exist to support consumer-related initiatives, U.S.-hosted General Meetings of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and U.S.-hosted meetings of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) General Assembly.
“This grant represents an important step forward in ANSI’s long-term commitment to the inclusion of standardization and conformity assessment information in university curriculum,” said Dr. William Kelly, Chairman of the ANSI CoE.
Four major projects were identified in the request for funding by the foundation:
- Sponsorship of a free faculty workshop that will be held in October 2004 in conjunction with the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Fall Regional Conference at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. The workshop, entitled Incorporating Standards into Capstone Design Courses, will provide educators with a better understanding of the importance of standards and a toolbox of techniques to incorporate practical standards materials into their curriculum. This supports current Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) engineering criteria, which stipulates that students must be prepared to incorporate engineering standards into design. The workshop will be co-sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and held at The Catholic University of America.
- ANSI participation in the 2004 International Conference on Education and Information Systems, Technologies and Applications (EISTA) in Orlando, Florida. Two representatives of the ANSI Committee on Education, a representative from the DoD, and an ANSI staff member led a panel presentation on standards and education and research, e-learning technologies, global trade and more during this conference sponsored by the Inter-American Organization of Higher Education.
- ANSI participation as a member of a panel on Scientific Discussion and Practical Qualification in the Field of Standardization to be held in Hamburg, Germany at the University of der Bundswehr. The focus of the presentation will be on the role of standards-related education in educating tomorrow’s workforce about globally recognized and accepted standardization, certification and accreditation programs.
- The development by ANSI of an online “Standards Resource Guide” for use by the university faculty and students to locate specific standards information, resources, and contacts at standards developing organizations. The Institute has called upon the standardization community to participate by providing ANSI staff with a list of links to any standards or conformity assessment-related information that can be freely accessed from the website being developed. The genesis of this project is the EPA-sponsored “P3” Award competition which, in part, helps to facilitate the incorporation of standards into sustainable design and research projects.
For more information about ANSI's university outreach program, please contact Pamela Suett ([email protected] or [email protected]; tel: 212.642.4976)
