SIM Council Meeting
February 01st, 2004
 

San Jose - Costa Rica
DRAFT MINUTES

ATTENDANCE LIST

COUNCIL MEMBERS

Felipe Urresta President SIM, INEN
Yoshito Mitani, Chairman, SIM PDC, CENAM
Oscar Harasic Executive Secretary, OAS
Steve Carpenter Technical Advisor, NIST
Luis Mussio Technical Committee Chair / JCRB Representative
Luis Carlos Gomes On behalf of Past President, INMETRO
James McLaren On behalf of NORAMET Coordinator
Jose A. Dajes Castro ANDIMET Coordinator, INDECOPI
Miguel Tevez On behalf of CAMET Coordinator

Taynah Lopes SIM Recording Secretary, INMETRO

OBSERVERS

Annalina Camboim On behalf of SIM Secretariat
Jose Ricardo Silva INMETRO, Brasill
Hratch Semerjian NIST, USA, QSTF Chairman
Beatriz Paniagua LACOMET, Costa Rica
Willie May NIST, EUA, Chemical Metrology WG Chair

AGENDA

1. Introduction and Welcome / Introdución y Bienvenida
2. Verification of Quorum / Verificación de Quórum
3. Approval of Agenda / Aprobación de Agenda
4. Approval of the Minutes from previous Council Meeting / Aprobación de la Acta de la Reunión Anterior del Consejo
5. Matters arising from the Minutes / Asuntos derivados de la Acta
6. Report on 2003 Budget and Redistribution of Remaining Funds among Working Groups / Infome sobre el Presupuesto de 2003 y Redistribución de los Fundos Restantes entre los Grupos de Trabajo
7. Definition of SIM Activities with the 2004 OAS Project/ Definición de las actividades del SIM con el Proyecto de la OEA 2004
8. OAS project preparation for fiscal year 2005 / Preparación del Proyecto de OAS por ejercicio económico 2005
9. Designation of a Working Group for organizing next GA / Designación de un grupo de trabajo para la organización de la GA
10. Report from SIM Representative to JCRB / Informe del Representante del SIM en el JCRB
11. Proposal for the central subject of GA/2004 presented by Venezuela / Propuesta del tema central de la GA/2004 presentada por Venezuela
12. 2004 SIM Calendar / Calendário SIM 2004
13. QSTF Report / Informe del QSTF
14. Other Business / Otros Asuntos

Meeting:

1. Introduction and Welcome / Introdución y Bienvenida

President Felipe Urresta welcomed the Council Members.

2. Verification of Quorum / Verificación de Quórum

The quorum was verified, eight members of Council being present.

Jose Ricardo called for the Council Members' attention, to inform about the absence of Joao Jornada'. He explained Joao Jornada has had a health problem and could not be present neither at last NCSL meeting nor to the Council Meeting. He apologized for the inconvenience, informing that Luis Carlos Gomes would be the Past President's representative at the council Meeting.

3. Approval of Agenda / Aprobación de la Agenda

It was proposed to include another item in the agenda - point 13: QSTF Report. The agenda was approved with this amendment.

4. Approval of the minutes from previous Council Meeting

The minutes of previous Council Meeting, held in Panama in September, were approved with no amendments.

5. Matters arising from the minutes

Hratch Semerjian commented that in item 5 of the minutes there was a decision from the Council concerning the necessity of having financial reports as a permanent issue in Council Meetings' agendas. From now on, this item is going to be included in the agenda of next meetings.
There should also be another item in the agenda for the next Council Meeting regarding a report from the General Assembly working group. The report should inform all SIM members not only of the positive points discussed during the events, but also indicate some deficiencies occurred in the organization of the General Assembly to serve as a guide for future activities.

6. Report on 2003 Budget and Redistribution of Remaining Funds among working Groups

Steve Carpenter explained that he and Luis Mussio are still concluding the 2003 report about SIM Budget. He has already received a report from two of the national metrology institutes responsible for the financial activities within SIM - NIST and CENAM. Steve Carpenter then remarked that he has not received the report from LATU and that only then will he be able to conclude whether there are any funds left. In case there are any resources left, they will have to be returned to OAS.
Steve Carpenter then presented the main figures he has received to the Council, explaining that it was still a draft report and that the final report shall be distributed to the SIM Council as soon as he receives all information from LATU. He also gave this draft report to the Secretary to include it in the minutes and the final report shall be distributed after it is concluded.

7. Definition of SIM activities with the 2004 OAS Project

Steve Carpenter presented the Execution Plan for 2004, the detailed file shall be annexed to the minutes and distributed to the Council. He then remarked the necessity of being aware that the Agency has been demanding more details about the application of the resources that are being distributed. He also reminded that the first disbursement of SIM resources shall only happen in March, but he will try to receive it some time before.
Willie May then made some comments related to the Chemical Metrology Working Group Meeting in Venezuela and the activities for the Chemical Metrology in 2004.Willie May explained that the samples are distributed among NMIs and their designated laboratories. The left samples were being distributed among those laboratories that historically had a position in the development of chemical activities.
Willie May also presented all activities carried through 2003, emphasising the training activities that were held in all SIM subregions, except for NORAMET, where there was no necessity for that.
Hratch Semerjian emphasised the necessity of having a report on SIM-PTB Project activities, specially concerning an estimated analysis of the amount invested by PTB in SIM activities related to Chemical Metrology.
James McLaren then commented that NRC was willing to receive people interested in training in NRC, as long as there is a financing from SIM - what could be included in SIM-PTB project activities.
Felipe Urresta then made a remark concerning an offer made by NCSLI to provide some resources that could then be used for training some people. Felipe Urresta then asked Luis Carlos to inform Joao Jornada about the necessity of articulating with NCSLI about their offer and have a more formal information on these resources.
Steve Carpenter then made a presentation on the Evaluation of OAS Project which was carried out in 2003. The final report will be sent to SIM Members through the Secretariat. Most of the evaluation was based on the responses to the questionnaires answered by the NMIs. The report was sent to Steve Carpenter to be reviewed.
The Council discussed the necessity of preparing a response to the report sent by the evaluator. Steve Carpenter will be responsible for preparing this response as he is co-ordinating the process. He is going to send a draft of the response to the Council to make their comments within one week.

8. OAS Project Preparation for Fiscal Year 2005

The Council then moved to discuss whether there would be any changes on the way the project has been being operated. Steve Carpenter explained that this was not necessary, only if the Council decided to. The Council discussed this matter and decided to keep the project as the way it is.

9. Designation of a Working Group for organising next GA

The Program Committee Members were designated in last meeting in point "Other Business". It is going to be composed of: Felipe Urresta, Joao Jornada, Luis Mussio, Haygas Kalustian and Jose Dajes. The Council reaffirmed the composition of this Program Committee for organising next General Assembly.

10. Report from SIM Representative to JCRB

Luis Mussio presented a joint report on JCRB and TC activities, explaining that the minutes of the meetings occurred during 2003 were circulated among MWGs chairs. He also presented the main activities for 2004.
Luis Mussio emphasised that even though he requested the WGs to send their action plans and demands for 2004, he has only received the request from the EMWG.
The Council then discussed the necessity of having a proposal from each MWGs to decide which activities shall be carried through the year. They shall be contacted one more time with the request of having more information on their needs.
Luis Mussio mentioned the need of having a SIM representative at the APMP meeting in April. As Dianna Lalla-Rodriguez is in charge of the QS activities within this event, it was decided to contact her to see if she can represent SIM and make a presentation about SIM activities in a broad sense.
Felipe Urresta also offered himself to be present at the NCSLI International Section which will be held in July. Luis Mussio shall be in the booth and, as there is another position for one more member, the Council shall try and see if there is any other volunteer for that.
Luis Mussio also mentioned that there are still some pending issues within TC and JCRB activities, like: 1) translation of documents, 2) directory updating and formatting, 3) design of the content of CDs (to be distributed in NCSLI conference), 4) new SIM brochure.
Luis added that Infosim has already been paid and shall be distributed by next month.

11. Proposal for the central subject of GA/2004

The Council then moved to discuss the date for the next General Assembly, which will be held in Venezuela. As the Venezuela representative was not present, the Council decided to send an e-mail to Haygas Kalustian to suggest the date of the first week of November.
Felipe Urresta suggested to hold the GA in Quito, in case it is not possible to hold it in Venezuela.
The theme for the seminars in the GA should be chosen by the hosting country.

12. 2004 Calendar

Luis Mussio presented the draft calendar for 2004. The Council made some comments and suggestions. Felipe Urresta also invited all NMIs to inform their activities on metrology to inform all other interested members. The calendar shall then be publicised on SIM webpage.

13. QSTF Report

Hratch Semerjian reported the last activities on the review of the Quality Systems of NMIs and mentioned that there would be two meetings on the days after the Council Meeting.
Hratch Semerjian informed the Council that he could not longer continue as the QSTF chair and the designation of Bill Andersen from NIST for the QSTF chair, who is also a member of the CCEM.
The Council accepted the suggestion and the transition period will be up to May.

14. Other Business / Otros Asuntos

Status of the SIM-PTB Colaboration on Chemical Metrology
Oscar Harasic informed that the formal agreement has not been signed yet. There are still some pending issues, like the official language to be used in the agreement, for example. He said in the next two months all questions shall be solved and the agreement will be signed.

Oscar Harasic then informed that the Office of Science and Technology (OCYT) at the OAS is organising a Ministerial meeting in the area of science and technology to be held in Lima Perú in November. Ministries at the meeting will be responsible to elaborate policies in this area to support initiatives in S&T, like SIM, and at the same time explore funding mechanisms to provide additional resources to promote activities related to Science and Technology. Two workshops have already been organised by the OCYT as part of this meeting. One in Buenos Aires that was directly related to the productive sector including a session dedicated for metrology and quality, with participation of various NMI's (CENAM, INMETRO, INTI, NIST, etc.). The other workshop took place in Quito-Ecuador and cover specific areas in S&T. The third one is being held this week in Rio de Janeiro and the last one will be held in Jamaica.

Hratch Semerjian then suggested the preparation of a book about the history of metrology in Americas to be publicised. He offered himself to prepare the plan for the book and the volunteers to take part at the group responsible for the book were: Anna Camboim (Inmetro), Oscar Harasic (OAS), Felipe Urresta (INEN) and Jose Dajes (Indecopi).

Having no more subjects to be discussed, the meeting was closed.