Tokyo will be the location of the 2010 spring meeting of the ASTM International board of directors. The ASTM board meetings, as well as other events, will take place in Japan on April 12-15, 2010.
 
The 25-member ASTM International board of directors comprises top industry and government executives engaged in standards activities, including senior executives from leading global companies such as Alcoa, Coca Cola, Disney, Dow and Honeywell; regulatory personnel such as the deputy assistant secretary for Manufacturing and Services in the International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce; the standards executive for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; and the directors of the Brazilian and German national standards bodies (ABNT and DIN, respectively).

The extensive acceptance and use of ASTM International standards by Japanese industry makes Tokyo an excellent host city for the ASTM leadership team. ASTM also has close ties to Japan’s national standards body, the Japanese Industrial Standards Committee (JISC), as well as with the Japanese Standards Association (JSA), the country’s standards dissemination entity. JSA president, Mr. Masami Tanaka, is currently serving the second of a three-year term as a member of the ASTM board.

“For many years, our relationship with our colleagues at the Japanese Standards Association has helped advance the important U.S.-Japan bilateral trade and economic relationship,” says ASTM International President James A. Thomas. “Our continued cooperation is evident today as technical experts from Japanese industry and government are actively engaged in over 60 different ASTM standards committees serving a diverse range of industries from petroleum, steel and plastics to emerging technological areas such nanotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturing.”

Industry Conference
A highlight for ASTM’s governing body is attending and participating in the industry conference titled Standardization and the Global Marketplace, to be held on Monday, April 12. The event, co-sponsored by JSA and ASTM International, will take place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in downtown Tokyo. Presentations will address standards as they relate to industry, government policy and competitiveness. The event will be conducted in English with Japanese interpretation, and it will conclude with a question-and-answer panel discussion. Mr. Tanaka will serve as the conference moderator.

ASTM Member Orientation
Also part of the day will be a member orientation for ASTM members residing in Japan. The program will showcase aspects of ASTM International’s advanced electronic tools, standards development process, policy perspectives and more. The ASTM member orientation precedes the industry conference on April 12.

Outreach Day
In addition to the formal board sessions, which begin on April 13, ASTM board members and staff will meet with the leadership of Japanese trade associations and ministries representing various industry sectors in which ASTM standards are globally influential: metals, energy, chemicals, building construction and more. To date, 48 separate outreach visits are scheduled with local industry, government and academic representatives in what has been designated as “ASTM Day in Tokyo.” 

University Visits
Academic outreach visits will be made to five universities in Tokyo, where the ASTM board and staff will speak to students and professors about standards education and the role of standards in the classroom. One of the institutions of higher learning on the visitation list in Tokyo is Waseda University, which offers one course specifically dedicated to the subject of standards, titled, “Business and Global Standardization,” sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.  ASTM is in its sixth year of academic outreach efforts, and the society has some 5,000 student members from around the world. Student membership in ASTM International is free.
 
The Japanese capital represents a return to Asia by the ASTM board; in 2006, the ASTM board met in Beijing. Additional meeting locations outside of the United States include Berlin, Mexico City, Stockholm and Toronto.
 
For more information on the ASTM Board of Directors meeting in Tokyo, contact Jim Olshefsky, ASTM International (phone: +1-610-832-9714; fax: +1-610-834-7084; jolshefs@astm.org).

ASTM Staff Contact: Jim Olshefsky, Phone: +1-610-832-9714; jolshefs@astm.org
ASTM PR Contact: Barbara Schindler, Phone: +1-610-832-9603; bschindl@astm.org

Release #8541