**President's Address**

**National Conference on Weights and Measures**

**Chicago, Illinois**

**July 11, 2006**

**Dr. William A. Jeffrey**

**NIST Director**

Determining the accurate weight or volume of an object is fundamental to
ensuring fair commerce. We all know this; everyone in this room lives
this every day. But with the rapidly changing technologies and
globalization of the economy, the types of products we will be called on
to accurately weigh or measure will soon push our current capabilities
to the limits.

So hang on -- the future promises to be an exciting and dynamic ride!

But before we jump into the future, let's take a step back and see where
all this began. The earliest known uniform systems of weights and
measures date back 5000 years -- to the Bronze Age and the ancient
peoples of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley.

At that point, the world population was estimated to be between 7 to 14
million -- about equal to the current population of the state of
Illinois. And not surprising, this period of time also coincided with a
period of human progress and enlightenment including the dawn of
writing.

The critical importance to society in adopting a uniform set of weights
and measures can be demonstrated in that it appears to be a common
discovery in virtually all cultures. Further evidence of its importance
can be derived from the prominence that fair measures are given in
seminal documents such as the Torah, the Bible, the Koran, The Analects
of Confucius, and the religious texts in early India.

Most early measurement systems used parts of the body and the natural
surroundings. Length was first measured with the forearm, hand, or
finger and time was measured by the periods of the sun, moon, and other
heavenly bodies.

The cubit is perhaps the oldest and longest-lived example of a standard
measurement unit. The oldest documented cubit is the Egyptian royal
cubit -- traced back to 2750 BC and used for about 3000 years.

And the Egyptians took their cubit seriously. In fact, it has been
reported that: *"The death penalty faced those who forgot or neglected
their duty to calibrate the standard unit of length at each full
moon\..."*[^1]

To measure volume, people would fill containers with plant seeds which
were then counted. When means for weighing were invented, seeds served
as standards. For instance, the carat, still used as a unit for gems,
was derived from the carob seed.

In China, some 3500 years ago, a system of standard instruments for
measuring length, mass, and volume was created. A special organization,
*perhaps* the predecessor to NCWM, was established with the
responsibility for checking the accuracy of these instruments twice a
year.

The Chinese may also have been the first to use an unvarying physical
constant as a standard of measure. Similar to the way we now use the
distance light travels in a second as a length standard, 2700 years ago
the Chinese used the resonance tone of bamboo whistles to ascertain a
length standard.

The good news is that every country, region, and city-state recognized
the need for a uniform set of weights and measures. The bad news is that
virtually every commercial center developed its own *unique* measurement
system making commerce between trading centers cumbersome.

The problems and confusion caused by this measurement menagerie did not
go unnoticed. The Magna Carta, for example, called for \"*one measure
for ale, one measure for wine, one measure for corn*."

But the problem continued to grow. France in 1788 had about 800
different names for measures and, taking into account their different
values in different towns, resulted in around a quarter of a million
different units.

From this chaos, the beginnings of the metric system emerged.

Everyone in this room is aware that the U. S. federal responsibility for
uniform weights and measures, was written, first, into the Articles of
Confederation and, then, into the Constitution. What you may not know
was how much attention this topic received from our top leaders.

George Washington called for uniform measures in his first State of the
Union Address. Other early proponents of a uniform measurement system in
the United States included Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison,
James Monroe, and Alexander Hamilton.

In 1821, future president and then Secretary of State John Quincy Adams
issued a report that described measurements as one of "*the necessaries
of modern life*." He likened the metric system to the invention of the
printing press and predicted that it would save more human labor than
the steam engine.

In 1836, Congress directed that standards be distributed to the states.
Two years later Congress directed that the Treasury Department
distribute balances to the states to use with those standards.

But serious progress toward uniform weights and measures did not begin
until the turn of the century -- first with the creation of the National
Bureau of Standards (now NIST) and four years later with the first
meeting of the National Conference on Weights and Measures.

The second meeting of the Conference, held one hundred years ago
fundamentally changed the way this country ensures uniform weights and
measures. In 1906, this new organization drafted the outline of a
\"Model State Weights and Measures Law,\" which was formalized the
following year.

This organization jumped into the breach, addressing an unmet
fundamental need that was undermining the performance of the national
economy.

There are many stories from that period -- each one a telling reminder
of the incredibly valuable role that weights and measures operations
play.

For example, the proceedings of the 1906 meeting pointed out that the
entire salaries of clerks in New York groceries and butcher shops were
paid with the money they cheated out of the public -- by, in effect,
keeping a thumb on the scales.

The inspector's righteous anger was well-founded. Around 1910, NBS staff
tested more than 30,000 scales across the United States and found that
almost 50 % were significantly off -- and, not surprisingly, in favor of
the storekeepers.

The annual loss at that time to the consumer in butter alone amounted to
more than \$8 million.

History repeated itself 90 years later. In 1997, NIST staff assisted a
collaboration of 40 states, the USDA, the FDA, and the FTC in
investigating school prepackaged milk. They found that 45 % of
containers were short filled, at a cost to consumers of nearly \$30
million.

The weights and measures system is a key component of the Nation's
technical infrastructure. It is basic to the flow of commerce, to the
functioning of our economy, and to realizing the Nation's ambitions to
remain a leader in technological innovation.

Ken Alder, a history professor at Northwestern University, reasons that
our measurement systems are, in fact, a defining characteristic of who
we are as a nation. He makes the case eloquently in the prologue of his
book, *The Measure of All Things*:

"*... the use a society makes of its measures expresses its sense of
fair dealing. That is why the balance scale is a widespread symbol of
justice. . . Our methods of measurement define who we are and what we
value."*

Put another way, measurements are about *trust, confidence,* and, in the
antiseptic terminology of the economist, *transactional efficiency.*

Every commercial transaction has an element of trust. Trust cultivated
over time breeds confidence. Reliable, accurate measurements are the
vital ingredients of both, but especially in transactions that lack
transparency, such as in the sale of fuel.

Thanks to what this organization and NIST have accomplished together,
American consumers and businesses can be confident in the quantity of
product being purchased -- making transactions more reliable and cost
effective.

Analyses done in the United States and in other developed economies
demonstrate that weights and measures underpin transactions that account
for over half of the GDP.

And continual verification of the accuracy is critical. In 1997, a
Canadian case study reported that, on average, each weights and measures
inspector discovered and corrected about \$2 million worth of
"measurement inequity."

Unfortunately, we don't have a comparable estimate for the United
States. But we do know that in 2002, the median investment in state
Weights and Measures operations was about \$50,000 a year for each
inspector.

If we assume similar levels of performance in the United States as in
Canada -- about \$2 million in benefits per inspector -- then a rough
estimate of society's rate of return would be 40 to 1 -- a phenomenal
result.

Not all countries have the same rigor in checking and enforcing their
weights and measures. In a 2002 survey, 93 % of U. S. gas meters fully
complied with required standards. Compare that with Mexico. Mexico's
consumer watchdog agency recently found that pumps at 90 % of the
country's gas stations dispense less than indicated -- on average, about
1 liter less for every 20 liters sold. This rigging of gas pump meters
cheats the Mexican consumer out of about \$1 billion per year[^2].

With the advance of technology and the growth of the global economy and
its increasing interdependencies, accurate weights and measures will
become even more important. And like most components of the Nation's
technical infrastructure, the system will be challenged to do better --
and to do more.

Clearly we must keep up with the quickening pace of innovation. New
technologies can transform the marketplace and consumer expectations.
And as these new technologies arrive in the marketplace, we must be able
to continue instilling the level of trust in the transaction that
members of NCWM have been doing for the past century.

For example, anyone who owns a car or pays an electric bill understands
why the government is aggressively pursuing new forms of energy.
Biofuels are already established in some countries and will likely see
increasing demand in the United States requiring new tests for purity
and volume. Since many different processes can convert biomass into
fuel, we need to have a variety of tests and procedures at the ready to
meet the demand.

Slightly longer term, the Nation is committed to exploiting hydrogen to
fuel the economy. Almost every stage of hydrogen production,
distribution, and sale will require new measurement tests and
methodologies to establish confidence in the transaction. Today when we
drive to a gasoline station, we don't worry because we know the fuel
pump reads accurately to better than 0.1 %.

But what happens in the future when we drive to the service station to
buy a tank of hydrogen? The infrastructure to measure hydrogen fuel
accurately does not exist. Anecdotal evidence from current demonstration
facilities indicates that we're at about 8 % accuracy. This is
equivalent to over or undercharging about 20 to 25 cents per gallon of
gasoline-equivalent.

NIST is committed to working with the Department of Energy and state and
local officials to ensure that the required tests are established in a
timely fashion so as not to impede the development of the hydrogen
economy. In fact we are establishing a program at NIST as part of the
American Competitiveness Initiative to accelerate efforts in hydrogen
standards.

New technologies will require novel approaches to addressing
measurements in the future. To get a feel for the evolving demands in
the future, just look at the magnitude of current weights and
measurement requirements in today's laboratories -- which often
foreshadow the requirements in the marketplace.

Researchers at NIST currently have requirements to measure force from
picoNewtons to MegaNewtons (18 orders of magnitude). For example, NIST
has a 4.4 MegaNewton deadweight machine that is used for testing the
strength of bridge abutments. This is the largest such device in the
world.

On the small end, we are measuring the force to pull apart a single DNA
molecule -- 65 picoNewtons -- which is equivalent to the momentum
imparted from the photons from 6 laser pointers.

And as nanotechnology quickly evolves into a potentially trillion dollar
industry over the next decade, the requirements for measuring mass and
size at the smallest scales will become critical. We are not yet ready
for the amazing potential that nanotechnology offers, so NIST -- again
as part of the American Competitiveness Initiative -- is also
accelerating its efforts in the development of nanometrology.

NIST is committed to work with the Conference to ensure that the
requisite weights and measures methodologies are developed before the
consumer demands them. Supporting this mission is one of NIST's oldest
-- and remains one of our most important -- functions.

In this year's State of the Union address, President Bush outlined the
American Competitiveness Initiative, which is designed to enhance the
Nation's capacity to innovate and remain globally competitive. As part
of this initiative, NIST's core budget will be increased, while most of
the federal Government's non-defense discretionary budget experiences a
decrease. This is a tremendous recognition of the importance of the NIST
mission and the recognition of the role that weights and measures plays
in keeping the United States economically strong.

For over a century, NIST and the Conference have been strong partners.
Going forward, we must build on our shared accomplishments. The world is
smaller, trade is global, and technology is international. Weights and
measures must keep up with the changes.

NCWM can benefit from NIST's technical expertise, its experience with
standards development, and its position in the international measurement
system.

NIST can benefit from NCWM\'s forum for bringing all stakeholders
together, their ability to reach many jurisdictions simultaneously, and
their ability to influence state and local programs.

While it's impossible to predict where the future will lead, it's likely
that it will require the NCWM, NIST, and our weights and measures system
to reach new heights, address new needs, and build new capabilities --
including some that may even appear alien to our shared experience over
the last century.

NIST looks forward to working with NCWM over the [next]{.underline}
century in making this all possible. Thank you.

**Chairman\'s Address**

**National Conference on Weights and Measures**

**Chicago, Illinois**

#### July 11, 2006

**Don Onwiler**

**Nebraska Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures**

Thank you, Dr. Jeffrey, for your support of the important work of the
National Conference on Weights and Measures and the NIST Weights and
Measures Division, as exemplified by your presence here today and your
comments. The pulse rate of volunteer organizations, government
agencies, and private industries may weaken from time to time under the
influence of economic constraints, but the necessity of the work we do
does not waiver. It is in our mutual best interest to assist each other
in strengthening our abilities to meet our respective charges that are
so frequently for the benefit of common stakeholders.

Thank you, NCWM, for what has proven to be a journey beyond my
expectations of serving as your Chairman. Never did I expect to receive
so many offerings of assistance and support. It makes serving all the
more an honor, knowing such fine professionals are at one's side to
assure success.

Never did I expect the magnitude of professional growth offered by
serving in this capacity. Had I known a year ago what I know now, there
are a few things I would do differently, but there are no regrets.

Never did I expect to be so sorry, yet so grateful, to see it come to an
end. It will be good to get back full time to my duties at home, but
this has been a wonderful year and I am excited with the prospects for
the future of NCWM.

Our theme this year has been *Back to Basics as Stepping Stones to our
Future*. In all of our activities, I have done my best to ensure that we
are implementing those basic elements that have proven successful in the
past in helping us reach our objectives. It has not been my goal to make
a mark or leave a legacy except that we would be on the right track in
all of our endeavors.

One of those endeavors has been to continue revitalizing our working
relationship between the NCWM and NIST. We faced a potential setback
when, just prior to assuming my Chairmanship, we learned that Henry
Oppermann was leaving his position as Chief of the NIST Weights and
Measures Division. The selection of Carol Hockert as the new Chief put
any of my anxieties to rest. Carol has demonstrated a commitment to
continue working effectively with NCWM toward goals of mutual benefit.
Carol's understanding of weights and measures in the United States is
only surpassed by the level of energy she brings to everything she does.
Carol, I congratulate you and wish you every success.

One of the difficulties faced by field officials and the NCWM has been
in finding an effective and responsible method of addressing software in
weighing and measuring systems. To address this problem, the NCWM has
implemented the National Type Evaluation Technical Committee approach.
Also known as "sectors," these groups have been most successful in the
past in dealing with device-related issues. As we discussed yesterday,
the Software Sector is up and running. Our thanks go to Jim Truex for
his willingness to serve this sector as its Chair. As a side note, Jim
and I were amused to have so many software engineers in one room, yet
none of them had a definition for software. He mentioned at the CWMA
meeting this spring that we defaulted to a definition from a 1970
dictionary sitting on a shelf back in Nebraska. Judy Cardin was quick to
point out that in Nebraska software is defined as a no-starch cotton
shirt with bib overalls.

Another focus has been to conduct our first NCWM marketplace survey,
targeting inspection of random-weight meat and poultry packages wrapped
and labeled for sale at retail. We started with joint planning between
the Board of Directors and NIST Weights & Measures Division. Soon, we
were carrying out our respective roles to ensure its success. Roger
Macey of the California Division of Measurement Standards stepped up to
manage this initial survey. Thank you, Roger, for your assistance and,
Mike Cleary, for sharing the talents of your staff with us. This survey
has been a fine example of the cooperative spirit within our system.

With the preparation and field inspections completed, we will proceed
with data entry and begin analyzing that data. Our goals for this survey
are simple. This marketplace snapshot should demonstrate a difference in
levels of compliance between those jurisdictions with a regulatory
presence and those jurisdictions without a regulatory presence in the
discipline of package testing. The data may aid jurisdictions in
securing adequate funding for these activities, especially where funding
has been limited primarily to device inspections. We will also examine
our ability to use this type of survey data to gain stronger public
awareness and appreciation for weights and measures regulatory
activities.

A basic element to the success of NCWM is a large and diverse membership
base and strong participation at our meetings. We understand that two
things must happen as we recover from the economic stresses of the past
five years. First, we must provide real value in membership. Second, we
must have a method of outreach to prospective members, the stakeholders
whom we affect. As an organization becomes less effective, members find
less benefit in participation. A downward spiral ensues to the point
where the organization can no longer support its mission. Conversely, as
an organization becomes stronger and provides increased benefit for
membership, current and prospective members can see value in
participation. Under this scenario, the organization increases its pool
of experts and volunteers. It becomes easier for the organization to
take on difficult issues with methodical proficiency.

This is the direction I believe our organization is moving. We must
improve in providing meaningful benefits to membership while we increase
efforts to market our organization to these prospective members. Success
will be measured not only by numbers, but more importantly, by our
agility in addressing the difficult issues that are brought to our
table.

Most of you have had an opportunity to participate in a survey to help
us fully understand where we can improve. Based on the responses to that
survey, a team within the Board of Directors has developed marketing
strategy options designed to promote membership and participation in
NCWM. The Board was presented with these options this week. Some
improvements you will soon see include on-line meeting registration and
on-line membership renewal capabilities on our website.

There are many interesting dynamics in serving the NCWM as its Chairman.
Ultimately, I would say effective communication is the key in everything
we do. As an example of communication barriers, I'll share a story.
During a break at the NEWMA meeting this spring, Mark Coyne of Brocton,
Massachusetts, said to me, "All this increase in ethanol use must be
really good for the con business in Nebraska." I said, "Excuse me?" I
did [not]{.underline} appreciate Mark characterizing the ethanol
business in Nebraska as some sort of scam. He said, "The con business
must be really good in Nebraska right now with all the ethanol." At this
point, I was beside myself, when Bob McGrath came to the rescue. Bob
said, "The [corn]{.underline} business, Don." Now, it's not that Bob
speaks any differently than Mark. Bob's from Massachusetts, too. But Bob
and I have served on the Board together and, as scary as it may be, I
can actually understand the man.

Just the week before, I was attending the Milestones in Metrology
Congress in The Netherlands. If I can have difficulty communicating with
a guy I've known for years right here in my own country, imagine how
difficult it can be communicating with people from various parts of the
world whom I'm meeting for the first time. The words we use may be taken
very differently than intended. We have to overcome this and communicate
more effectively and more frequently. In the process, we will begin to
know and understand each other.

It was suggested to me by one of the attendees at the Milestones meeting
that because the United States is the largest economic power in the
world, we have the attitude that it's our way or no way when it comes to
weighing and measurement standards. I was surprised by this comment
considering all the efforts and progress we've made toward harmonization
over the past several decades. I simply smiled and told him many of my
colleagues in the United States say the same thing about the European
Union. We both found this amusing, realizing that the combination of
attitudes and limited communication can go a long way in supporting
barriers to progress.

Thank you, Pieter van Breugel, Director of NMi in The Netherlands for
being here this week to learn more about the NCWM. It is another step
toward gaining mutual understanding in the international community.
Thank you also, Pieter, for the opportunity you gave me to speak,
listen, and learn at the Milestones meeting. The primary purpose for
NCWM presence was to help the rest of the world understand our system
and our approach to the Mutual Acceptance Arrangements for OIML, but it
also provided me a much greater understanding of the dynamics in play in
the international community. It was a terrific exercise in
communication.

Of course, the NCWM has long recognized the need to work together with
outside interests toward harmonization and mutual recognition. NCWM and
Measurement Canada have collaborated for many years. We have learned
through this cooperative effort that it is not necessary for our
standards to be identical, yet we can still allow for a single type
evaluation to serve both countries' type approval needs. In 1994, the
NCWM and Measurement Canada broke new ground by forming a Mutual
Recognition Agreement that allowed sharing of type evaluation data for
the purpose of administering our respective type approval programs. This
early agreement was for scales up to 500 kilograms in capacity and for
electronic indicators used for scales. In 2002, we initiated a pilot
program, expanding the Mutual Recognition Agreement to include retail
motor-fuel dispensers. These Mutual Recognition Agreements signify our
desire to work together for the betterment of our organizations and our
stakeholders in North America. It is my honor at this time to invite
Alan Johnston, President of Measurement Canada, to join me in signing a
renewal of the Mutual Recognition Agreement for retail motor-fuel
dispensers, expanding it from a two-year term to a five-year term.

(Signing of the MRA)

For several decades, the NCWM has recognized the benefit to industry
that international harmonization would provide. Our partners at NIST
have been diligent in representing the United States at the
international table so that harmonization can take place on both sides
for better and more uniform standards for everyone. As we have learned
from our experience with Canada, it is possible to collaborate in type
evaluation even though our respective standards are not identical.

Now we find ourselves again breaking new ground in international
recognition agreements in legal metrology by entering into the Mutual
Acceptance Arrangement for OIML R 60, load cells. Under this
arrangement, NCWM will accept type evaluation data from participating
laboratories in other countries for the purpose of issuing NTEP
certification. Chuck Ehrlich and Steve Cook of NIST and Steve Patoray,
our NTEP Director, have been instrumental in helping NCWM reach this
point. They have represented U. S. and NCWM interests in international
meetings and provided great assistance to the NTEP Committee and Board
of Directors as we formed our decisions.

Today, I will sign two more documents on behalf of NCWM. The first is
the Acceptance Form indicating we accept all participants in the
agreement. The second is the Document of Mutual Confidence, or DoMC.
This is the formal document entering the NCWM and the United States into
the Mutual Acceptance Arrangement for R 60 load cells. We have the added
honor today of witnessing Alan Johnston sign the DoMC entering Canada
into the MAA for R 76 and Pieter Van Breugle signing the DoMC entering
The Netherlands into the MAA for R 60. So now, it is my privilege to
invite Regine Gaucher, BIML, to present these documents for signature.
Alan and Pieter, please join me as we celebrate in the signing of these
documents. I also invite Chuck Ehrlich, Steve Cook, and Steve Patoray to
join us in recognition of their dedicated efforts to make this event
possible for the NCWM.

(Signing of the MAA)

The NCWM has continued to move forward through difficult challenges
thanks to the hard work of many people and organizations, including our
partners at NIST, our colleagues from across the ocean, our neighbors in
Canada, the staff at Management Solutions, and of course, all of you
within NCWM who volunteer your time, talent, and expertise. There is a
reason why we present awards of recognition each year during our opening
ceremony. In the course of the history of NCWM since 1905, volunteerism
has been the key to our success. We celebrate you.

Thank you.

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**New Chairman's Address**

#### National Conference on Weights and Measures

**Chicago, Illinois**

**July 13, 2006**

**Michael Cleary**

**California Department of Agriculture/Weights & Measures**

Thank you, Don, and hello to everyone. And thank you all for being here.
I know you are all probably anxious to return home to your families. I
promise I won't keep you too long. I am truly honored and privileged to
stand here today as your Chairman.

I want to thank everyone for the many expressions of congratulations and
offers of assistance that I have received -- not only this past week but
in the last year as I made my rounds as your Chair-Elect.

I would also like to express my thanks and appreciation to all those
past officers, committee members, chairmen, and industry representatives
who, through their diligence, commitment and long hours, have ensured
the continuation and maintenance of our wonderful conference.

I consider our conference to be one of the best examples in the world of
a time-tested consensus organization comprised of government, industry
and consumer interests working together towards our collective common
goals -- consumer protection, equity in the marketplace which results in
a level playing field for everyone to do business.

That having been said, I would like to tell you what my theme for this
year is and why I have chosen the phrase, "United by common purpose we
can and shall prevail in all that we do.\" First of all because it
sounds cool, and I've always wanted to use the word 'prevail' in a
sentence. But in all seriousness, more now than any other time it is
imperative that we find ways to work closely with our partners to
achieve success. Now more than ever we have to realize how, in the words
of Thomas Freidman, "The World is flat and getting flatter by the day."
The global marketplace is a reality, and we must face that challenge
head on.

Considering our existing agreements with our partner nation Canada and
our upcoming OIML agreement on R 60, we have started to face that
challenge, but there is more work to be done. Whether it be in the USA,
Asia, Europe or anywhere else in the world our many partnerships take
us, our collective mission remains the same -- equity, quality,
fairness, and, when at all possible, uniformity.

This next year we will continue to work to enhance our partnership with
NIST WMD, our closest and most-valued federal partner. I very much look
forward to working with Dr. Jeffery, Belinda Collins and Carol Hockert
as this long-time, mutually beneficial partnership continues to evolve
and improve. I feel our collective success depends on our mutual
reciprocity. And by partnership I do mean full partnerships with all
those we work with. We, the NCWM, will not follow; we will not and
cannot afford to wait to be led.

Our national marketplace survey is an example of how we must seize
opportunities as they occur and lead when necessary. We have to be
proactive and anticipate the changes that will most certainly occur in
this modern global economy. Working together we can and will accomplish
wonderful things and make investments in our future. One example of this
is how our PDC committee is working in partnership with our regional
associations in order to improve the competency of our membership
through training and certification. Another is how our L&R and S&T
committees, along with our sector groups, are working diligently and in
the true spirit of due process and disclosure with all those concerned.

This professional effort has resulted in some of the most comprehensive
and well thought-out proposals in the history of this conference. I will
continue to support any and all recommendations on how to improve that
process. But know this, I have confidence and trust in the standing
committees, and I am secure in the talent we have to do the work we need
to do. I promise not to get in the way.

Will there be challenges? Of course! We will need to address issues
within the conference itself such as the recruitment and mentoring of
new talent for leadership in this organization. We also need to
concentrate on the recruitment of new members in general, retain current
membership and improve this conference in order to increase the overall
value to our members.

We must also make sure to take every opportunity to get our message of
value out to the public at large. This is a big challenge, I know, but I
am confident that, working together, we shall and will prevail in all
these areas of concern.

In closing I would again like to thank you all for this opportunity to
serve, and for your trust in me and your Board of Directors. At this
time I would like to make the following appointments to the standing
committees:

To the BOD to fill the vacancy caused by Judy Cardin's advancement to
Chair-Elect, I have recommended to the Board, and they have voted in the
affirmative, Steve Malone from Nebraska.

To the L&R Committee, I have re-appointed Joe Benavides for another
term.

To the S&T Committee, I have appointed Kristin Young from Colorado.

To the PDC, I have appointed Stacy Carlson, Marin County, California;
John L. Sullivan, Mississippi; and Ross Andersen, New York.

Nominating committee:

Thomas Geiler

Ross Andersen

Steven Malone

Dennis Ehrhart

Maxwell Gray

Jim Truex

Chaplain:

Mike Belue

Parliamentarian:

Lou Straub

Credentials Committee:

Raymond Johnson

**NCWM 2006 Annual Meeting Honor Award Recipients**

  ------------------ ---------------------------------- ----------- ----------
  **Full Name**      **Organization**                   **State**   **No. of
                                                                    Years**

  Steven Cook        NIST, Weights & Measures Division  MD          10

  Clark Cooney       Oregon Department of Agriculture   OR          10

  Rodney Cooper      Actaris Neptune                    SC          10

  Chuck Ehrlich      NIST, Weights & Measures Division  MD          10

  Dennis Johannes    California Div. of Measurement     CA          10
                     Standards                                      

  Vincent Orr        ConAgra Foods                      NE          10

  Cary Woodward      Hamilton County Weights & Measures IN          10

  Richard Suiter     NIST, Weights & Measures Division  MD          20

  Aves D. Thompson   Alaska Div of Measurement          AL          20
                     Standards/CVE                                  

  James Truex        Ohio Department of Agriculture     OH          25

  Charles Carroll    Massachusetts Division of          MA          25
                     Standards                                      

  Thomas Geiler      Town of Barnstable                 MA          30
  ------------------ ---------------------------------- ----------- ----------

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[^1]: "Metrology -- in short" 2^nd^ edition, December 2003; an EU
    publication

[^2]: Source: *Los Angeles Times*, June 13, 2006