The full attention of undergraduate and graduate engineering students was directed toward the speakers on the evening of February 6 on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University (ASU). There, representatives of ASTM International made presentations on the subject of technical standards to students interested in the field of civil engineering.
With ASTM standards development meetings under way in Phoenix during the same week, the ASTM visit offered ASU students the opportunity to connect face-to-face with a technical expert currently involved in drafting ASTM standards.
The session was the second of its kind that reinforced a renewed effort by ASTM International to convey the strategic importance of standardization to the future careers of university-level students. The event was coordinated with the ASU student section of the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE). Derek Boland, ASCE student section president at ASU delivered the welcoming remarks. Twenty students and three ASU faculty attended the informational session, which began at 6:30 p.m.
Following a brief overview of ASTM International given by Brynn Iwanowski, an ASTM staff liaison in the Technical Committee Operations Division at ASTM International, Beth Martin, a member of ASTM standards developing Committee D18 on Soil and Rock addressed the room. With extensive experience involving ASTM International, Martin provided examples of the importance of understanding standards throughout various stages of ones professional career in her presentation titled, "My Life at ASTM." Martin has been involved with Committee D18 for over 20 years and has authored five standards. Throughout her presentation she emphasized the benefits that she has experienced by working so closely with the standards on which her employer relies. Learning about the state-of-the-art practices, networking with other professionals, personal satisfaction, and enjoying comradely were some of the benefits highlighted in Martins presentation.
Martin is Chief of the Compliance and Pollution Prevention Section with the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) in Fort Meade, Md. The mission of USACHPPM is to provide worldwide technical support for implementing preventive medicine, public health, and health promotion/wellness services into all aspects of Americas Army. Throughout the time Martin has been with ASTM Committee D18, the USACHPPM has adopted 12 ASTM standards as internal protocols. Martin summed up her involvement with ASTM in a quote of John Heywood (1497-1580) "Two heads are better than one."
For more information on education outreach at ASTM International, contact Teresa Cendrowska, director of external relations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9718; tcendrow@astm.org). For more information on ASTM Committee D18 on Soil and Rock, contact the ASTM staff manager for Committee D18, Robert Morgan (phone: 610/832-9732; rmorgan@astm.org). For information on student membership in ASTM International, which is free of charge, visit the ASTM Campus website at www.astm.org/studentmember.
Release #7339