NFPA and SAE Announce Second Annual Electric Vehicle Safety Summit
American National Standards Institute(ANSI) members the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and SAE International will co-sponsor the 2nd Annual Electric Vehicle Safety Summit on September 27 - 28, 2011, at the Marriott Detroit Renaissance Center Hotel in Detroit.
The event is a continuation of the dialogue begun at last year's summit, which sought to develop the base elements for an action plan for the safe implementation of electric vehicles, using fire and electrical safety standards as the primary mechanism for this action plan. [See related news item]
To learn more, visit www.evsafetytraining.org/summit or www.sae.org/events/nevss.
DOE Opens Funding Opportunities for Transformational Manufacturing Technologies and Innovative Materials
In support of President Obama's Advanced Manufacturing Partnership, the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Industrial Technologies Program (ITP) has announced funding opportunities for its Innovative Manufacturing Initiative.
DOE is seeking applications to invest in manufacturing engineering and development to enable rapid, low-cost, energy-efficient manufacturing. Projects involving innovations in the earlier stages of development, such as applied research or proof-of-concept projects, are eligible for awards of up to $1 million. Projects further along in their development, such as laboratory testing or verification of a prototype system, are eligible for awards of up to $9 million. DOE expects to select 35 to 50 cost-shared projects.
Applicants must submit a Letter of Intent by August 1 in order to be eligible to submit a full application by August 25. For more information, see the DOE press release and funding announcement.
ASME IShow Recognizes Three Universities for Innovation
The 2011 ASME Innovation Showcase (IShow), held on June 11, has awarded a student team at Johns Hopkins University with its first prize for an implantable medical device that provides reliable vascular access in dialysis treatments.
A team from Rice University won second place for NeoSyp - a neonatal syringe pump designed to improve neonatal care in the developing world. The University of Michigan received third place for DIIME (Design Innovations for Infants and Mothers Everywhere), a low-cost medical device designed improve blood transfusions for women during ruptured ectopic pregnancies, which is the largest contributor to first-trimester maternal mortality in underdeveloped nations.
The IShow competition was founded by ASME, an ANSI member and accredited standards developer, to promote technical design innovation, business skills, and entrepreneurship. Ten collegiate teams participated in the 2011 ASME IShow.
ISO and World Organization for Animal Health Sign Cooperative Agreement
With an eye toward improving animal health and welfare, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) will cooperate on international standards related to the trade of animals and products derived from animals.
An intergovernmental organization concerned with the safety of trade in animals and products of animal origin, the OIE is one of the so-called "three sisters," along with the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the International Plant Protection Convention, whose standards, guidelines, and recommendations are specifically recognized in the World Trade Organization's Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.
Areas of ISO work of interest to the OIE include standards for food products, microbiology, animal feeding stuffs, fisheries and aquaculture, conformity assessment, agricultural and forestry machinery, quality management, biological evaluation of medical devices, consumer policy, ships and marine technologies, and social responsibility. Click here to learn more.
AIHA Announces World Accreditation Day Trivia Winners
The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) Laboratory Accreditation Program (LAP) has announced the winners of its World Accreditation Day trivia challenge.
Launched in 2008 by the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) and the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC), World Accreditation Day is an annual event honoring the important role that accreditation plays in the global standards and conformity assessment community.
To learn more about the AIHA LAP trivia challenge and its winners, click here.