The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is honoring this occasion by announcing the winner of the 2011 U.S. Celebration of World Accreditation Day paper competition. Kenneth Zabel was awarded first place for his paper, "Accreditation in Today's Global Marketplace."
Announced in February, the theme for this year's competition, "Accreditation - Supporting the Needs of Regulators," celebrated the role of accreditation in supporting a robust regulatory framework and helping regulators at the federal, state, and local levels determine compliance of products, services, and personnel with legal and regulatory requirements. [see related article]
"On behalf of the entire American National Standards Institute, I extend my congratulations to Mr. Zabel for his prize-winning paper," said Lane Hallenbeck, ANSI vice president of accreditation services. "By examining how conformity assessment has evolved, his paper captures the spirit of World Accreditation Day, communicating how regulators and other specifiers have come to appreciate the importance of credible accreditation programs based on internationally recognized standards."
Mr. Zabel has been involved with international testing and certification since 1989 when he worked in the testing laboratories of the National Sanitation Foundation, today known as NSF International. At NSF he worked with manufacturers who submitted their commercial food equipment for NSF Certification. After working in the quality engineering departments of several automotive and aerospace suppliers, Mr. Zabel returned to the certification arena to train and mentor engineers at two other ANSI-accredited agencies: Intertek (ETL Semko) and CSA International.
Mr. Zabel was awarded $1,000 for the winning submission, which was judged such by representatives of the ANSI accreditation programs. ANSI invites all interested stakeholders to read the paper, which is available on the Institute's online library.
Around the world, international specifiers, regulatory bodies, and stakeholders are celebrating World Accreditation Day through their own promotional events, seminars for industry and regulatory officials, and press campaigns. A number of major international organizations have recognized the value of World Accreditation Day, including the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
For more information on World Accreditation Day 2011, visit the ILAC site.