ASTM International
Standards, Student Projects, and
Workforce Development
Building the Future of Standardization in COPANT
April 22, 2014 – Havana, Cuba
What is ASTM?
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Global platform for the development
of international consensus
standards and related services
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Private sector, not-for-profit
organization
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Founded in 1898
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Headquartered outside of
Philadelphia. Other offices:
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Beijing, China
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Brussels, Belgium
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Mexico City, Mexico
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Ottawa, Canada
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Washington, DC, USA
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30,000 technical expert members
from 150 countries
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Participating Members work
within 143 technical committees
— often in multiple committees
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12,000+ total ASTM standards
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90 industry areas covered
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ASTM Academic Outreach
Why learn about standards?
Survey to members, customers asked:
• Knowledge of ASTM standards
important?
– 60% see it as “Important, Very important or
Critical”
• Provide on-the-job training about
ASTM standards?
– 34% - Yes
– 44% - Possibly or probably
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What ASTM Offers Students/Professors
Students
Free membership
Scholarships
Project Grants
Paper competitions
Internship in
Washington DC
– Virtual seminars
– Campus visits
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Professors
– Professor’s Tool
Kit
– Low cost standards for
class
– Suggested curricula
– Bi-Annual Professor of
the Year Award
– Guest lecturers
– Videos
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ABET Engineering Standards
Education Requirement
Criterion 4: Professional Requirements (2000, ABET)
– The curriculum must prepare students for
engineering practice culminating in a major design
experience based on the knowledge and skills
acquired in earlier coursework and incorporating
engineering standards and realistic
constraints that include most of the following
considerations: economic, environmental,
sustainability, manufacturability, ethical,
health and safety, social, and political.
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Best Practices for Integration of
Standards Education in Curriculum
 Early exposure to standards
 Student membership
 Hands-on activities
 Specifying standards for projects
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Early Exposure to Standards
Basic mechanical property
tests
ASTM E8 Standard Test
Methods for Tension Testing
of Metallic Materials
 Scope, purpose, specimens
 Comparison of test
results
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Student Membership
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Hands-on Activities
Apparatus set-up and calibration
Preparation of test specimens
Recording the results
Performing the
calculations
■ Writing a test report
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Key Examples from Accredited
Universities
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Properties of Engineering Materials II
(3rd year students)
 3 hours per week lecture, 2 hours laboratory
 Study several mechanical property test standards
to gain an understanding of what gives a metal
strength
 Concluding exercise requires students to
select a random metal and strengthen it in the
laboratory
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Key Examples from Accredited
Universities
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mechanics of Structures and Soils
(3rd year students)
 4 hours per week lecture, 4 hours laboratory, 1 hour
recitation
 Both the underlying theory and actual geotechnical
test procedures are studied
 Techniques and approximations used in structural
and geotechnical engineering using laboratory
assignments that are consistent with the
requirements in the actual technical standards
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Key Examples from Accredited
Universities
Kettering University
Properties of Polymers
(4th year students)
 4 hours per week lecture
 Test standards are studied to learn fluid properties
and time dependent behavior of plastics
 Students are required to develop a standard test
procedure for a sample plastic product, correlate it to an
existing testing standard, and relate the behavior
of the product to mechanical and thermal
behaviors of polymers
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Specifying Standards for Projects
 Interpreting test results
 Realistic constraints
 Supervising testing
 Social concerns
(green standards)
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2012 Project Grant Winners
o University of Pennsylvania
o Titan: A Powered, Upper Body Exoskeleton;
o Case Western Reserve University
o Mechanical Characterization of 316 LVM Wires;
o University of Alabama
o Interface for Ultrasonic C-Scan System;
o San Diego State University
o Local Deformations and Failure Mechanisms in Tapered
Sandwich Core Closeouts
o University of Pennsylvania
o Expandable Endotracheal Tube for Veterinary
Patients
Conclusion
Technical standards provide a
common language to discuss
complex technical issues and
bridge the gap between the
classroom and real-world
applications
Awareness, exposure and hands-on use of
technical standards is critical in helping
future engineers adapt to the workplace
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Thank you
Jim Olshefsky
jolshefs@astm.org
www.astm.org/campus
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