Catherine (Kitty) H. Pilarz, senior director of product safety for Mattel/Fisher-Price, has been selected by the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day Planning Committee as the 2013 recipient of the prestigious Ronald H. Brown Standards Leadership Award. She will be honored by members of the U.S. standards and conformance community on Thursday, October 3, 2013, at the Fairmont Washington in Washington, DC. Named for the late U.S. Secretary of Commerce, the Brown award recognizes demonstrated leadership in promoting the important role of standardization in eliminating global barriers to trade. The award is presented at the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day, an annual event which honors the U.S. standards and conformity assessment community and recognizes its efforts to promote American competitiveness in a global marketplace, safeguard the environment, and improve the quality of life for workers and consumers around the world. This year's U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day - Standards for a World at Work and Play - will focus on how standards bring confidence to businesses, governments, and consumers, impacting reliability from farm to table, manufacturer to retailer, and workplace to home.
Ms. Pilarz was nominated by the Toy Industry Association (TIA), the Administrating Organization of this year's U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day, for her outstanding contributions to the development, promulgation, and use of standards bolstering the safety of toys played with by millions of children. A noted advocate of voluntary consensus standardization, Ms. Pilarz was one of the recipients of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI)'s 2010 ANSI Chairman's Award in connection with her work on the international harmonization of toy standards.
Ms. Pilarz, the immediate past chair of the Board of Directors of ASTM International and the past president and Board member of the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization (ICPHSO), currently serves as the vice chair of new projects for ASTM Committee F15 on Consumer Products and as the co-chair of its Subcommittee F15.18 on Cribs, Toddler Beds, Play Yards, Bassinets, Cradles and Changing Tables. She is also a member of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), ASME, and a Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) Certification Committee for juvenile products, among other groups.
Celebrated annually, World Standards Day pays tribute to the thousands of volunteers around the world who participate in standardization activities, and helps to raise awareness of the role that standards play in addressing national and global priorities. The event has been celebrated since 1970 and is recognized in nations around the globe. U.S. activities are organized annually by a planning committee consisting of representatives from across the standards and conformity assessment community. ANSI and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) co-chair the event each year.
More information about the U.S. Celebration of World Standards Day 2013, Standards for a World at Work and Play, is available at www.wsd-us.org.