USNC Names Participants for 2012 IEC Young Professionals Workshop

NEW YORK, June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. National Committee (USNC) of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is pleased to announce the U.S. winners of the IEC Young Professionals Workshop competition.

Held in conjunction with the 76th IEC General Meeting in Oslo, Norway, on October 1-5, 2012, the workshop will bring together professionals from around the world who are at the start of their careers in electrotechnical standardization and conformance.

Now in its third year, the Young Professionals Workshop aims to cultivate long-term national involvement in the international arena, strengthen the future of technology transfer, and encourage the participation of young professionals in shaping the future of standardization and conformance. Ninety-one percent of last year's participants reported their interest in becoming more involved in IEC work as a result of the workshop.

The USNC received a number of applications for well qualified candidates, making the selection committee's job difficult. The winners are:

• Aisha Bajwa
  Ms. Bajwa is a field applications engineer for Alcan Cable, a division of Alcan Products Corporation. Her interests lie with the work of IEC Technical Committee (TC) 20, Insulated power cables, and how cable requirements affect other TCs and international standards, such as solar panels, switch gear, and control gear.
• Kevin S. Duncan
  Mr. Duncan is senior staff electrostatic discharge (ESD) engineer at Seagate Technology, and a member of the ESD Association. He has been actively engaged with IEC TC 101, Electrostatics, most recently as convener of Maintenance Team 9, Flooring.
• Manyphay Souvannarath
  Ms. Souvannarath is a senior systems engineer with General Electric, where she focuses on smart grid architecture. She has been actively engaged with IEC Strategic Group (SG) 3, Smart grid, and was the system engineering lead on the development of the IEC SG3 Standards Mapping Tool.

The USNC's selectees will attend a dedicated workshop alongside recipients from other nations where they will learn more about the IEC, standardization strategies, and conformity assessment. They will also have the opportunity to attend the technical meetings where standards are developed, observe a meeting of the IEC Standardization Management Board and the IEC Conformity Assessment Board, and benefit from extensive networking opportunities in an international setting.

"Working with a small, diverse group of highly motivated and intelligent professionals was a highlight of the program for me," said Jonathan Colby, hydrodynamic engineer at Verdant Power, and a 2011 U.S. Young Professional awardee. "I was able to gain valuable insight into the way different countries and organizations utilize standards and contribute to the IEC."

Mr. Colby was one of three international IEC Young Professionals voted a 2011 Young Professional Leader at the 75th IEC GM in Melbourne, Australia. As such, he will seek to promote the continued engagement of 2011 members in the YP program and the IEC at large.

"On behalf of the USNC, I'd like to particularly congratulate our three winners, and express the wish that we could have recognized all of the candidates," said Phil Piqueira, global standards leader for General Electric (GE) Industrial Solutions and president of the USNC. "We look forward to having these truly deserving recipients participate in the Young Professionals Workshop as part of the 76th IEC General Meeting in Oslo this fall."

About the USNC/IEC (www.ansi.org/usnc)
The U.S. National Committee of the International Electrotechnical Commission (USNC/IEC) serves as the focal point for U.S. parties who are interested in the development, promulgation, and use of globally-relevant standards for the electrotechnical industry. The Committee is also engaged in the assessment of conformance to standards, undertaking work in areas such as testing, certification, and accreditation.

As the U.S. representative to the IEC and many related regional standardization bodies, the USNC/IEC serves as a conduit to the global standards-setting community for technical and policy positions arising in the U.S. and brings issues from the global arena to the U.S. for review, consideration, and response. The USNC/IEC is a totally integrated committee of the American National Standards Institute.

About ANSI (www.ansi.org)
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.

The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is a U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

SOURCE American National Standards Institute