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IMEKO: The international measurement confederation—Its development over 25 years, 1957–1982
IMEKO: The International Measurement Confederation-Its development over 25 years, 1957 1982 Prof Gyorgy Striker, Secretary General of IMEKO, Vice-President MATE, Budapest, Hungary The paper traces the development of the International Measurement Confederation over the first quarter century of its activity and reviews its current state and plans for the future.
The year 1982 marked the 25th anniversary of the birth of the International Measurement Confederation, the body which now offers the public the first issue of its new publication Measurement. It is only fitting to use this occasion for an historical review of IMEKO's development during the quarter century from its early days onward. Two national conferences on measurement and instrumentation, organised by the Hungarian Scientific Society for Measurement and Automation in Budapest in 1952 and 1954, with an increasing international participation, sparked off an initiative by three leading members of the Hungarian society, Vice-Presidents Istvan B6hm, P6ter Honti and Gyorgy Striker (author of this review and General Secretary of the Hungarian society at the time), to call for collaboration in the organisation of a truly international conference on measurement and instruments. This call was sent in four languages to all bodies and prominent personalities then known to be active in the field concerned, in almost 20 countries. Only two of the addressees responded in the affirmative: the All-Union Scientific Society of the Instrument Industry, USSR; and the Polish Kommittee for Measurement and Automation (PKPA-NOT). In September 1957, 25 years ago, the first meeting took place in Budapest with the participation of the late Prof V. O. Arutiunov, director of the Mendeleiev Metrological Institute in Leningrad; Prof H. Trebert, from the Technical University in Warsaw; and, of course, the three Hungarian delegates mentioned above. It was decided to invite the participation of all the organisations and personalities, known to us at that time to be possibly interested, in an international Measurement and Instrument Conference in November 1958 in Budapest. A 'call for papers' was issued, identifying three main subjects: general and theoretical problems, novel instrument design and application, and production techniques. Since the most widely used language at this first conference was German, the most popular title was 'Internationale Messtechnische Konferenz', and its corresponding abbreviation 'IMEKO', with a K in its spelling. This abbreviation was retained in future years, Measurement Vol 1 No 1 ,Jan--Mar 1983 2*
even though the working language of all events gradually changed to English as time went on. Scientists and engineers from 18 countries participated in the first IMEKO Conference in 1958 and a body was set u p - the International Preparatory Committee - to assure continuity for the future. The IPC comprised official delegates from 12 countries and 'observers' from another eight. The finalised statutes were signed by 14 member organisations in 1965, while the present membership embraces 26 countries from five continents. At the International Preparatory Committee session held concurrently with the second IMEKO Conference at Budapest in 1961, it was decided to stage future three-yearly conferences - later on, congresses - in a variety of countries ready to host these events. In consequence, Stockholm (1964), Warsaw (1967), Versailles (1970), Dresden (1973), London (1976), Moscow (1979) and Berlin (West) (1982) became venues of successive IMEKO Congresses. The next Congress will take place in Prague in 1985. While the total number of participants from the host countries and from abroad varied widely between 800 and 2100, the papers presented ranged between 150 and 300, within the framework of three to five parallel sections. Round table discussions held concurrently with the Congress programme steadily increased to 12 and contributed considerably to ensuring closer personal contact and exchange of opinions among congress participants. Five to eight plenary lectures served to bring participants together for important topics of the day.
Activities of the Technical Committees In parallel with the arrangement of its triennial congresses, IMEKO continually intensified its activities in well-defined specialised fields through the establishment of a number of Technical Committees. Some of these deal with 'horizontal' topics (Higher education, Developing countries, Vocabulary, etc); others treat more specialised themes (eg, Mass and weight, Flow, Temperature). Since the formation of the first TCs in the early 1960s (Education, Photon-detectors), their
Striker number has steadily increased to 14, with further proposals still under consideration. The symposia and colloquia arranged by these T C s - mostly at halfyearly i n t e r v a l s - strictly adhere to the spirit of IMEKO by maintaining a truly international character both in the composition of their Programme Committee and of their final list of participants. Papers presented are published in English language proceedings, available to the general public each year as a volume of about 1000 pages, published either by IMEKO proper, or by the host society. In addition, the proceedings of the triennial IMEKO Congresses are published in three bound volumes (amounting to roughly 2000 pages) which are available through bookstores.
Inter-organisational relations An important aspect of international activities is the establishment of good working relations with intergovernmental and international non-governmental organisations, active in more or less closely related fields. The main aim of these working relations is, of course, to optimise co-operation and to minimise avoidable overlapping. In the case of international non-governmental organisations, this is being accomplished primarily through the establishment in 1970 of the Five International Associations Co-ordinating Committee (FIACC), in which the presidents of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS), the International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (IMACS), and last, but not least, the International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO) are participating and meeting yearly to co-ordinate their activities. IMEKO, by the way, has taken on the responsibility for hosting the FIACC secretariat and the author, as an elected officer since its inception, has volunteered to act as Honorary Secretary. In addition, steadily strengthening working contacts exist between IMEKO and the well-known intergovernmental organisations dealing with Weights and Measures (CJPM, BIPM), with Legal Metrology (OIML), and with standardisation (IEC, ISC). It should be emphasised at this point, that IMEKO does not itself deal with matters of standardisation or with the drafting of legal recommendations. Its primary aim - as set down in the statutes - is to ensure that all specialists in this field exchange their views and experiences at an international level through contacts with their counterparts from other parts of the world at IMEKO congresses, colloquia, symposia and workinggroup meetings. IMEKO will, of course, gladly cooperate with the above-mentioned associations and other organisations in disseminating knowledge in the field of measurement and instrumentation wherever such a need arises.
The evolution of IMEKO's international background It may be of interest to the reader to analyse the background of IMEKO in various countries, as it has developed over the past 25 years.
At the time when IMEKO came into being, there were to our knowledge five independent technical societies in existence, dealing to a greater or lesser extent with measurement and instrumentation: • • • • •
the Instrument Society of America (USA - 1944); the All-Union Scientific Society of the Instrument Industry (USSR - 1945); t h e S o c i e t y of I n s t r u m e n t T e c h n o l o g y ( U K - 1946); the Scientific Society for Measurement and Automation (Hungary - 1952); the Yugoslav Society for Measurement and Automation (JUREMA - 1956)
After the founding of IMEKO - and not entirely without its influence - a significant growth of national professional societies for measurement (and often for automation) has taken place in the past quarter of the century. The growth of IFAC in the same period obviously also had a considerable influence. During the first 10 years, new measurement societies came into being in the Peoples Republic of China, Japan, France, the German Democratic Republic, the F e d e r a l R e p u b l i c of G e r m a n y , Sweden and Austria - in this chronological order. These have been followed since 1969 by similar societies in Australia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, India, Switzerland, New Zealand and Belgium. During this time specialised national IMEKO committees were also formed in Bulgaria, Egypt, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland and Rumania (listed alphabetically). From these data it appears, that the first beginnings of IMEKO have been followed by the establishment of quite a number of national professional societies in many parts of the world, with a total membership of well over 100 000 specialists in the field of measurement and automation.
Personalities in IMEKO In reviewing the history of any organisation, it is in place to make honourable mention of those prominent people who have played a leading role in the course of its development. Those actively engaged in the founding of the Confederation have been referred to earlier, but many others deserve our attention in reviewing the early period of IMEKO. During the first decade of its existence, the International Preparatory Committee and, later, the General Committee of IMEKO, had its sessions chaired in daily rotation by one of a number of prominent delegates. Some of the most active 'rotating chairmen' were S. S. Carlisle (UK), A. N. Gavrilov (USSR), G. Ljungberg (Sweden), J. Pelpel (France), G. Toumanoff (USA), H. Trumpoldt (GDR) and the late O. Winkler (FRG). After adoption of the statutes - providing for the election of presidents for three-yearly periods - the chief delegate from the Society of Instrument Technology (since chartered as the Institute of Measurement and Control), S. S. Carlisle, director of SIRA, was elected as the first President of IMEKO for a term ending with the 1976 London IMEKO Congress. At the same time Dr J. Weiler, delegate of the Swiss MO, was elected Treasurer, and the author, Prof Gy Striker, was re-elected Secretary General. In 1976 Prof V. V. Measurement Vol 1 No 1, Jan--Mar 1983
Striker Karibskii, president of the Soviet member organisation, was elected President for the new three-year term, until the closing of the IMEKO World Congress in Moscow (1979), to be followed by Prof T. Pfeifer of the Aachen Technical University, president of the MO of the Federal Republic of Germany, and presently by Mr L. Kuhn of Czechoslovakia, a long-term member of the General Council.
Thoughts for the future In recent years successive sessions of the General Council have paid more and more attention to the increasing amount of scientific endeavour manifested both in section meetings and in round-table discussions at IMEKO Congresses, and in the work of the growing number of Technical Committees during intercongressional intervals. In an analysis presented by C. G6ransson (Sweden) at the last session of the General Council, an international study group concluded that - while the organisational structure of IMEKO's leading bodies is most expedient for the accomplishment of its aims and purposes - more and more attention should be paid to the scientific level and the true perspective of its activities by both the Standing Committee established for this purpose and the General Council proper at plenary sessions specially dedicated to these important future objectives. In concluding, may the author take the liberty of referring to some thoughts expressed by himself at the end of an earlier period, 15 years ago, and quote as follows? T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t a i m of n e x t IMEKO C o n g r e s s e s ( a n d o t h e r IMEKO e v e n t s ) , is still, h o w e v e r , to bring people of k i n d r e d interest from far-away countries together so t h a t t h e y m a y e x c h a n g e i d e a s with or witho u t t h e aid of i n t e r p r e t e r s , in t h e l o u n g e s as well a s on t h e floor of t h e c o n f e r e n c e hall or at t h e e x h i b i t i o n . P r o b a b l y this u n m e a s u r a b l e benefit has been the most important characteristic of past IMEKO conferences and it remains one of their most valuable and tangible objects. On this, by the joint efforts of an increasing number of member societies, the continued success of the International Measurement Confederation is founded.
Literature Striker, Gy, 1964. 'Geleitwort zur IMEKO III', Zeitschrift fiir Instrument Kunde, 72 (9), 1-2. Striker, Gy., 1966. 'The origin and future of IMEKO', Instrument Review, 9, 442-444. Toumanoff, G., 1964. 'IMEKO-III goes worldwide', ISA Journal, 11, 30-31.
Bibliography of IMEKO publications Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on PhotonDetectors (DGMA, Berlin, 1967, 181 pp) Measurement Vol 1 No 1, Jan--Mar 1983
Proceedings of the Symposium on Higher Education in Measurement and Instrumentation (DGMA, Berlin, 1968, 133 pp) Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on PhotonDetectors (CSVTS, Prague, 1969, 309 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Information Processing in Measurement Systems (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1969, 266 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Moisture Measurement (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1971, 450 pp) Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1971, 475 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Problems of Information Processing in Measurement Systems (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1971, 37 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Microwave Measurement (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1972, 300 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on M e a s u r e m e n t T h e o r y ( I M E K O Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 106 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Force Transfer to Force Measuring Devices (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 100 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on PhotonDetectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 100 PP) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Relation of Measurement Theory to Measuring Systems and Error Definitions (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 100 pp) Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Up-to-Date Verifiable Weighing Machines (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1974, 262 pp) Proceedings of the 6th Inernational Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1974, 430 pp) Proceedings of the Colloquium on the Nature and Scope of Measurement Science (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1975, 88 pp) Proceedings of the International Symposium on Measurement Theory - Measurement Error Analysis (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1975, 240 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Hardness Testing (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1976, 105 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Measurement of Force and Mass (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1976, 101 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Functional Examination of Rockwell C Indenters (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1976, 100 pp) Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1976, 264 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Higher Education (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1976, 20 pp) Proceedings of the Regional Colloquium on the Nature and Scope of Measurement Science (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1976, 270 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Teaching Measurement Science Through Laboratory Experiments (KTH, Stockholm, 1977, 300 pp)
Striker Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Industrial Weighing (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1977, 450 PP) Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Flow Measurement of Fluids (North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1978, 587 pp) Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1978, 523 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on the Application of Statistical Methods in Measurement (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1978, 450 pp) Proceedings of the 1st Symposium on Flow Measurement in Industry (Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, Tokyo, 1979, 303 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Load Cells and Force Measuring Devices- Common Characteristics and Differences (Istituto di Metrologia 'G. Colonnetti', Torino, 1980, 20 pp) Proceedings of the Colloquium on Problems and Trends in Measurement and Instrumentation Education- Microprocessors and Allied Techniques (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1980, 318 pp) Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Weighing Technology (NOT, Krakow, 1980, 254 pp) Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on PhotonDetectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1980, 384 PP) Proceedings of the IMEKO/IFAC Symposium on Application of Microprocessors in Devices for Instrumentation and Automatic Control (Institute of Measurement and Control, London, 1980, 404 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on the Metrological Assurance of Measurements for Environmental Control (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1981, 672 PP) Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Technical Diagnostics (Institute of Measurement and Control, London, 1981, 182 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Computerised Measurement (JUREMA, Zagreb, 1981, 306 pp) Proceedings of the 1st Summer School on the Application of M i c r o c o m p u t e r s in M e a s u r e m e n t (JUREMA, Zagreb, 1981, 161 pp) ACTA IMEKO 1958 - Proceedings of the 1st IMEKO Congress (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1958 2000 PP) ACTA IMEKO 1961- Proceedings of the 2nd IMEKO Congress (IMEKO Secretariat, fiudapest, 1961, 1700 pp) ACTA IMEKO 1 9 6 4 - Proceedings of the 3rd IMEKO Congress (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1964, 1500 pp) ACTA IMEKO 1 9 6 7 - Proceedings of the 4th IMEKO Congress (Akad6miai Kiad6, Budapest, 1967, 2000 pp)
6
Measurement and Instrumentation (ACTA IMEKO 1973) - Proceedings of the 6th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akaddmiai Kiad6, Budapest, 1973, 2000 pp) Practical Measurement for Improving Efficiency (ACTA IMEKO 1976)- Proceedings of the 7th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akad6miai Kiad6, Budapest, 1976, 1500 pp) Measurement for Progress in Science and Technology (ACTA IMEKO 1979) - Proceedings of the 8th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akaddmiai Kiad6, Budapest, 1979, 2127 pp) Technological and Methodological Advances in Measurement (ACTA IMEKO 1982) - Proceedings of the 9th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akaddmiai Kiad6, Budapest, 1982, 1650 pp)
Force Standard Machines of the National Institutes for Metrology (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1978, 234 pp) A World Directory of Institutes Providing Higher Education in Measurement and Instrumentation (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1979, 40 pp) A Working List of Books Published on Measurement Science and Technology in the Physical Sciences (Delft University of Technology, 1980, 79 pp) Hardness Standard Machines of National Institutes for Metrology (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1981, 159 pp) Glossary of Terms on Instrumentation and Measurement Technique (English-German-Russian in a limited edition) (Research and Information Institute for Instruments and Control Systems, Moscow, 1982, 340 pp)
VDI-Berich No 137, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1969 VDI-Berich No 176, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1971 VDI-Berich No 202, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1972 VDI-Berich No 212, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1974 VDI-Berich No 312, VDI-Berlag, Dtisseldorf, 1978 contained papers presented at the 1st, 2nd 3rd, and 7th Conferences of the TC 'Measurement of Force and Mass' and VDI-Berich No 308, VDI-Verlag, Dfisseldorf, 1978 contained papers presented at the 2nd Symposium on 'Hardness Measurement in Theory and Practice'.
Measurement Vol 1 No 1, J a n - M a r 1983
The year 1982 marked the 25th anniversary of the birth of the International Measurement Confederation, the body which now offers the public the first issue of its new publication Measurement. It is only fitting to use this occasion for an historical review of IMEKO's development during the quarter century from its early days onward. Two national conferences on measurement and instrumentation, organised by the Hungarian Scientific Society for Measurement and Automation in Budapest in 1952 and 1954, with an increasing international participation, sparked off an initiative by three leading members of the Hungarian society, Vice-Presidents Istvan B6hm, P6ter Honti and Gyorgy Striker (author of this review and General Secretary of the Hungarian society at the time), to call for collaboration in the organisation of a truly international conference on measurement and instruments. This call was sent in four languages to all bodies and prominent personalities then known to be active in the field concerned, in almost 20 countries. Only two of the addressees responded in the affirmative: the All-Union Scientific Society of the Instrument Industry, USSR; and the Polish Kommittee for Measurement and Automation (PKPA-NOT). In September 1957, 25 years ago, the first meeting took place in Budapest with the participation of the late Prof V. O. Arutiunov, director of the Mendeleiev Metrological Institute in Leningrad; Prof H. Trebert, from the Technical University in Warsaw; and, of course, the three Hungarian delegates mentioned above. It was decided to invite the participation of all the organisations and personalities, known to us at that time to be possibly interested, in an international Measurement and Instrument Conference in November 1958 in Budapest. A 'call for papers' was issued, identifying three main subjects: general and theoretical problems, novel instrument design and application, and production techniques. Since the most widely used language at this first conference was German, the most popular title was 'Internationale Messtechnische Konferenz', and its corresponding abbreviation 'IMEKO', with a K in its spelling. This abbreviation was retained in future years, Measurement Vol 1 No 1 ,Jan--Mar 1983 2*
even though the working language of all events gradually changed to English as time went on. Scientists and engineers from 18 countries participated in the first IMEKO Conference in 1958 and a body was set u p - the International Preparatory Committee - to assure continuity for the future. The IPC comprised official delegates from 12 countries and 'observers' from another eight. The finalised statutes were signed by 14 member organisations in 1965, while the present membership embraces 26 countries from five continents. At the International Preparatory Committee session held concurrently with the second IMEKO Conference at Budapest in 1961, it was decided to stage future three-yearly conferences - later on, congresses - in a variety of countries ready to host these events. In consequence, Stockholm (1964), Warsaw (1967), Versailles (1970), Dresden (1973), London (1976), Moscow (1979) and Berlin (West) (1982) became venues of successive IMEKO Congresses. The next Congress will take place in Prague in 1985. While the total number of participants from the host countries and from abroad varied widely between 800 and 2100, the papers presented ranged between 150 and 300, within the framework of three to five parallel sections. Round table discussions held concurrently with the Congress programme steadily increased to 12 and contributed considerably to ensuring closer personal contact and exchange of opinions among congress participants. Five to eight plenary lectures served to bring participants together for important topics of the day.
Activities of the Technical Committees In parallel with the arrangement of its triennial congresses, IMEKO continually intensified its activities in well-defined specialised fields through the establishment of a number of Technical Committees. Some of these deal with 'horizontal' topics (Higher education, Developing countries, Vocabulary, etc); others treat more specialised themes (eg, Mass and weight, Flow, Temperature). Since the formation of the first TCs in the early 1960s (Education, Photon-detectors), their
Striker number has steadily increased to 14, with further proposals still under consideration. The symposia and colloquia arranged by these T C s - mostly at halfyearly i n t e r v a l s - strictly adhere to the spirit of IMEKO by maintaining a truly international character both in the composition of their Programme Committee and of their final list of participants. Papers presented are published in English language proceedings, available to the general public each year as a volume of about 1000 pages, published either by IMEKO proper, or by the host society. In addition, the proceedings of the triennial IMEKO Congresses are published in three bound volumes (amounting to roughly 2000 pages) which are available through bookstores.
Inter-organisational relations An important aspect of international activities is the establishment of good working relations with intergovernmental and international non-governmental organisations, active in more or less closely related fields. The main aim of these working relations is, of course, to optimise co-operation and to minimise avoidable overlapping. In the case of international non-governmental organisations, this is being accomplished primarily through the establishment in 1970 of the Five International Associations Co-ordinating Committee (FIACC), in which the presidents of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), International Federation of Operational Research Societies (IFORS), the International Association for Mathematics and Computers in Simulation (IMACS), and last, but not least, the International Measurement Confederation (IMEKO) are participating and meeting yearly to co-ordinate their activities. IMEKO, by the way, has taken on the responsibility for hosting the FIACC secretariat and the author, as an elected officer since its inception, has volunteered to act as Honorary Secretary. In addition, steadily strengthening working contacts exist between IMEKO and the well-known intergovernmental organisations dealing with Weights and Measures (CJPM, BIPM), with Legal Metrology (OIML), and with standardisation (IEC, ISC). It should be emphasised at this point, that IMEKO does not itself deal with matters of standardisation or with the drafting of legal recommendations. Its primary aim - as set down in the statutes - is to ensure that all specialists in this field exchange their views and experiences at an international level through contacts with their counterparts from other parts of the world at IMEKO congresses, colloquia, symposia and workinggroup meetings. IMEKO will, of course, gladly cooperate with the above-mentioned associations and other organisations in disseminating knowledge in the field of measurement and instrumentation wherever such a need arises.
The evolution of IMEKO's international background It may be of interest to the reader to analyse the background of IMEKO in various countries, as it has developed over the past 25 years.
At the time when IMEKO came into being, there were to our knowledge five independent technical societies in existence, dealing to a greater or lesser extent with measurement and instrumentation: • • • • •
the Instrument Society of America (USA - 1944); the All-Union Scientific Society of the Instrument Industry (USSR - 1945); t h e S o c i e t y of I n s t r u m e n t T e c h n o l o g y ( U K - 1946); the Scientific Society for Measurement and Automation (Hungary - 1952); the Yugoslav Society for Measurement and Automation (JUREMA - 1956)
After the founding of IMEKO - and not entirely without its influence - a significant growth of national professional societies for measurement (and often for automation) has taken place in the past quarter of the century. The growth of IFAC in the same period obviously also had a considerable influence. During the first 10 years, new measurement societies came into being in the Peoples Republic of China, Japan, France, the German Democratic Republic, the F e d e r a l R e p u b l i c of G e r m a n y , Sweden and Austria - in this chronological order. These have been followed since 1969 by similar societies in Australia, Czechoslovakia, Finland, India, Switzerland, New Zealand and Belgium. During this time specialised national IMEKO committees were also formed in Bulgaria, Egypt, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland and Rumania (listed alphabetically). From these data it appears, that the first beginnings of IMEKO have been followed by the establishment of quite a number of national professional societies in many parts of the world, with a total membership of well over 100 000 specialists in the field of measurement and automation.
Personalities in IMEKO In reviewing the history of any organisation, it is in place to make honourable mention of those prominent people who have played a leading role in the course of its development. Those actively engaged in the founding of the Confederation have been referred to earlier, but many others deserve our attention in reviewing the early period of IMEKO. During the first decade of its existence, the International Preparatory Committee and, later, the General Committee of IMEKO, had its sessions chaired in daily rotation by one of a number of prominent delegates. Some of the most active 'rotating chairmen' were S. S. Carlisle (UK), A. N. Gavrilov (USSR), G. Ljungberg (Sweden), J. Pelpel (France), G. Toumanoff (USA), H. Trumpoldt (GDR) and the late O. Winkler (FRG). After adoption of the statutes - providing for the election of presidents for three-yearly periods - the chief delegate from the Society of Instrument Technology (since chartered as the Institute of Measurement and Control), S. S. Carlisle, director of SIRA, was elected as the first President of IMEKO for a term ending with the 1976 London IMEKO Congress. At the same time Dr J. Weiler, delegate of the Swiss MO, was elected Treasurer, and the author, Prof Gy Striker, was re-elected Secretary General. In 1976 Prof V. V. Measurement Vol 1 No 1, Jan--Mar 1983
Striker Karibskii, president of the Soviet member organisation, was elected President for the new three-year term, until the closing of the IMEKO World Congress in Moscow (1979), to be followed by Prof T. Pfeifer of the Aachen Technical University, president of the MO of the Federal Republic of Germany, and presently by Mr L. Kuhn of Czechoslovakia, a long-term member of the General Council.
Thoughts for the future In recent years successive sessions of the General Council have paid more and more attention to the increasing amount of scientific endeavour manifested both in section meetings and in round-table discussions at IMEKO Congresses, and in the work of the growing number of Technical Committees during intercongressional intervals. In an analysis presented by C. G6ransson (Sweden) at the last session of the General Council, an international study group concluded that - while the organisational structure of IMEKO's leading bodies is most expedient for the accomplishment of its aims and purposes - more and more attention should be paid to the scientific level and the true perspective of its activities by both the Standing Committee established for this purpose and the General Council proper at plenary sessions specially dedicated to these important future objectives. In concluding, may the author take the liberty of referring to some thoughts expressed by himself at the end of an earlier period, 15 years ago, and quote as follows? T h e m o s t i m p o r t a n t a i m of n e x t IMEKO C o n g r e s s e s ( a n d o t h e r IMEKO e v e n t s ) , is still, h o w e v e r , to bring people of k i n d r e d interest from far-away countries together so t h a t t h e y m a y e x c h a n g e i d e a s with or witho u t t h e aid of i n t e r p r e t e r s , in t h e l o u n g e s as well a s on t h e floor of t h e c o n f e r e n c e hall or at t h e e x h i b i t i o n . P r o b a b l y this u n m e a s u r a b l e benefit has been the most important characteristic of past IMEKO conferences and it remains one of their most valuable and tangible objects. On this, by the joint efforts of an increasing number of member societies, the continued success of the International Measurement Confederation is founded.
Literature Striker, Gy, 1964. 'Geleitwort zur IMEKO III', Zeitschrift fiir Instrument Kunde, 72 (9), 1-2. Striker, Gy., 1966. 'The origin and future of IMEKO', Instrument Review, 9, 442-444. Toumanoff, G., 1964. 'IMEKO-III goes worldwide', ISA Journal, 11, 30-31.
Bibliography of IMEKO publications Proceedings of the 3rd Symposium on PhotonDetectors (DGMA, Berlin, 1967, 181 pp) Measurement Vol 1 No 1, Jan--Mar 1983
Proceedings of the Symposium on Higher Education in Measurement and Instrumentation (DGMA, Berlin, 1968, 133 pp) Proceedings of the 4th Symposium on PhotonDetectors (CSVTS, Prague, 1969, 309 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Information Processing in Measurement Systems (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1969, 266 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Moisture Measurement (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1971, 450 pp) Proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1971, 475 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Problems of Information Processing in Measurement Systems (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1971, 37 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Microwave Measurement (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1972, 300 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on M e a s u r e m e n t T h e o r y ( I M E K O Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 106 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Force Transfer to Force Measuring Devices (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 100 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on PhotonDetectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 100 PP) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Relation of Measurement Theory to Measuring Systems and Error Definitions (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1973, 100 pp) Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Up-to-Date Verifiable Weighing Machines (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1974, 262 pp) Proceedings of the 6th Inernational Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1974, 430 pp) Proceedings of the Colloquium on the Nature and Scope of Measurement Science (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1975, 88 pp) Proceedings of the International Symposium on Measurement Theory - Measurement Error Analysis (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1975, 240 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Hardness Testing (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1976, 105 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Measurement of Force and Mass (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1976, 101 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Functional Examination of Rockwell C Indenters (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1976, 100 pp) Proceedings of the 7th International Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1976, 264 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Higher Education (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1976, 20 pp) Proceedings of the Regional Colloquium on the Nature and Scope of Measurement Science (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1976, 270 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Teaching Measurement Science Through Laboratory Experiments (KTH, Stockholm, 1977, 300 pp)
Striker Proceedings of the 6th Conference on Industrial Weighing (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1977, 450 PP) Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Flow Measurement of Fluids (North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1978, 587 pp) Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Photon-Detectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1978, 523 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on the Application of Statistical Methods in Measurement (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1978, 450 pp) Proceedings of the 1st Symposium on Flow Measurement in Industry (Society of Instrument and Control Engineers, Tokyo, 1979, 303 pp) Proceedings of the Round Table Discussion on Load Cells and Force Measuring Devices- Common Characteristics and Differences (Istituto di Metrologia 'G. Colonnetti', Torino, 1980, 20 pp) Proceedings of the Colloquium on Problems and Trends in Measurement and Instrumentation Education- Microprocessors and Allied Techniques (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1980, 318 pp) Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Weighing Technology (NOT, Krakow, 1980, 254 pp) Proceedings of the 9th Symposium on PhotonDetectors (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1980, 384 PP) Proceedings of the IMEKO/IFAC Symposium on Application of Microprocessors in Devices for Instrumentation and Automatic Control (Institute of Measurement and Control, London, 1980, 404 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on the Metrological Assurance of Measurements for Environmental Control (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1981, 672 PP) Proceedings of the 2nd Symposium on Technical Diagnostics (Institute of Measurement and Control, London, 1981, 182 pp) Proceedings of the Symposium on Computerised Measurement (JUREMA, Zagreb, 1981, 306 pp) Proceedings of the 1st Summer School on the Application of M i c r o c o m p u t e r s in M e a s u r e m e n t (JUREMA, Zagreb, 1981, 161 pp) ACTA IMEKO 1958 - Proceedings of the 1st IMEKO Congress (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1958 2000 PP) ACTA IMEKO 1961- Proceedings of the 2nd IMEKO Congress (IMEKO Secretariat, fiudapest, 1961, 1700 pp) ACTA IMEKO 1 9 6 4 - Proceedings of the 3rd IMEKO Congress (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1964, 1500 pp) ACTA IMEKO 1 9 6 7 - Proceedings of the 4th IMEKO Congress (Akad6miai Kiad6, Budapest, 1967, 2000 pp)
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Measurement and Instrumentation (ACTA IMEKO 1973) - Proceedings of the 6th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akaddmiai Kiad6, Budapest, 1973, 2000 pp) Practical Measurement for Improving Efficiency (ACTA IMEKO 1976)- Proceedings of the 7th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akad6miai Kiad6, Budapest, 1976, 1500 pp) Measurement for Progress in Science and Technology (ACTA IMEKO 1979) - Proceedings of the 8th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akaddmiai Kiad6, Budapest, 1979, 2127 pp) Technological and Methodological Advances in Measurement (ACTA IMEKO 1982) - Proceedings of the 9th IMEKO Congress (North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, and Akaddmiai Kiad6, Budapest, 1982, 1650 pp)
Force Standard Machines of the National Institutes for Metrology (Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1978, 234 pp) A World Directory of Institutes Providing Higher Education in Measurement and Instrumentation (IMEKO Secretariat, Budapest, 1979, 40 pp) A Working List of Books Published on Measurement Science and Technology in the Physical Sciences (Delft University of Technology, 1980, 79 pp) Hardness Standard Machines of National Institutes for Metrology (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig, 1981, 159 pp) Glossary of Terms on Instrumentation and Measurement Technique (English-German-Russian in a limited edition) (Research and Information Institute for Instruments and Control Systems, Moscow, 1982, 340 pp)
VDI-Berich No 137, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1969 VDI-Berich No 176, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1971 VDI-Berich No 202, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1972 VDI-Berich No 212, VDI-Verlag, Diisseldorf, 1974 VDI-Berich No 312, VDI-Berlag, Dtisseldorf, 1978 contained papers presented at the 1st, 2nd 3rd, and 7th Conferences of the TC 'Measurement of Force and Mass' and VDI-Berich No 308, VDI-Verlag, Dfisseldorf, 1978 contained papers presented at the 2nd Symposium on 'Hardness Measurement in Theory and Practice'.
Measurement Vol 1 No 1, J a n - M a r 1983