World Metrology Day 2010: IRMM celebrates with 50th anniversary brochure

The JRC's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) is celebrating World Metrology Day on 20 May 2010 by releasing online a 50th anniversary commemorative brochure.

World Metrology Day celebrates the signature of the Metre Convention on 20 May 1875, which set the basis for universal weights and measures. During World Metrology Day, more than eighty States will celebrate the impact of measurement on our daily life, no part of which is untouched by this essential, and largely hidden, aspect of modern society. The 2010 theme concentrates on how measurement influences science and stimulates innovation.

JRC-IRMM's activities range from basic conceptual metrology to the technical realisation of measurement standards. Symbolic of JRC-IRMM's deep involvement in metrology at international level, the institute possesses a standard kilogram certified to an uncertainty of less than 30 μby the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), and which is comparable to those in the national metrology institutes. This is used as the anchor point for many of the reference measurements performed at JRC-IRMM.

The commemorative brochure describes the history and evolution of the institute since its establishment 50 years ago in 1960. The institute started as a central bureau for nuclear measurements providing standards for the emerging nuclear sciences and over the years the activities expanded to cover also health and life sciences, environment, engineering materials and food safety and quality.

Source: Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM)