As we celebrate World Metrology Day this year, the impact of quality measurements in healthcare is even more transparent. After more than a year of global pandemic actions, we can see how much our industry has been involved in the medical device manufacturing process as well as vaccine production and transportation.
Fluke Chief Corporate Metrologist Jeff Gust explains why measurements matter, and continue to matter, every step of our journey in the fight against COVID-19.
The history of World Metrology Day
In 1875, seventeen nations came together at the Metre Convention. These representatives had one goal: create a measurement system that is uniform throughout the world. Every year, on May 20th, we celebrate the vision and progress on the path these representatives started for us.
The international treaty, signed in Paris, France created the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM), the home of the International System of Units (SI) and the international reference time scale (UTC). This group also hosts the General Conference on Weights and Measures (GCPM) which meets in Paris every four years.
The original seventeen nations who signed the treaty at the 1875 Metre Convention were Argentina, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Norway, Switzerland, Ottoman Empire, United States of America, and Venezuela. However, the ongoing conference (GCPM) now has 63 member states and 40 associate members.
