They spanned 140 degrees of latitude—from Canada to Chile—and varied widely in age and experience. But their goal was the same: To improve their metrological capabilities for the benefit of their home countries and the Western Hemisphere.

For five extremely full days during the last week of October 2013, 53 students from 29 countries attended the metrology school conducted by NIST in Gaithersburg, Maryland for the Sistema Interamericano de Metrologia (SIM), a consortium of national metrology institutes (NMIs) from all 34 member nations of the Organization of American States.

SIM is one of five current regional metrology organizations recognized within the framework of the International Committee on Weights and Measures Mutual Recognition Arrangement (CIPM MRA), whose mission is to promote and support an integrated measurement infrastructure in the Americas.

Gregory Strouse of the Sensor Science Division leads a laboratory lesson on temperature metrology.

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