Friday, March 5, 2010

Had nice visits with Scott on Tuesday and Wednesday. He was here from mid-afternoon until early evening on both days. He had been at a business meeting in Pittsburgh Tuesday morning and another in Columbus Wednesday morning, so the timing was such that he could spend some time here both days. I think the nature of the business in the two cities is interesting. ASTM is, for the first time, getting into the certification of products and people, and the the phase involving people will be part of Scott's responsibility. So he has been talking to organizations that already have certification programs to learn more about how they do it. The one in Pittsburgh, certifies people who rate lubricants. The one in Columbus certifies people who who do non-destructive testing. I find it interesting that both those areas are important to the society and the general public and I never heard of either one. But I understand, for example, that if someone is hired to do non-destructive testing on the steel in a bridge, whoever hired that person would want to know he or she was "certified" to do it. ASTM will be seeking to certify professionals in a wide range of activity, such as evaluation of sites for possible environmental problems caused by previous use etc. I don't think I made all that very clear. but appreciate the opportunity for the visits here.

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