The Research and Development Society

Panel discussion and reception
Tuesday 16 June 2009, 6pm for 6.30pm
The Royal Society, 7 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG - map

Supported by the National Measurement Office and NPL

Measurement is like clear running water or street lighting, it goes largely unnoticed until it fails!

But measurement does have a huge impact on both our economic growth aspirations and our citizen’s quality of life. Measurement spans areas as diverse as; monitoring pollution, controlling radiation in cancer treatments and ensuring the quality and quantity of the gas piped to your home. New challenges for measurement include developing the infrastructure to support nanotechnology applications, detection of ever-diverse chemicals and supporting the growing demands for climate change actions.

This discussion coincides with the consultation period of the National Measurement System strategy “Investing for impact”. You are invited to provide formal response to this consultation either by commenting on the website, or privately by email to nmsconsultation@nmo.gov.uk.

The panel discussion will discuss the future needs on how measurement can impact both economic and quality of life for citizens, and the challenges that it must tackle.

Panellists represent industrial users of measurement, those with roles to deliver a better quality of life for the citizen and academia

The panel

• Sir Peter Williams CBE – Chairman of the National Physical Laboratory and Vice President and Treasurer of the Royal Society. A former president of the Institute of Physics, Chairman of the Engineering and Technology Board and a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
• Professor Brian Collins – Chief Scientific Advisor for Department for Transport and BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills), Professor of Information Systems at the Defence College of Management and Technology, Cranfield University and a Fellow of IET, BCS, IOP and RSA.
• Professor John Pethica – Professor of Material Science at Trinity College, Dublin, and a visiting professor at Oxford University. National Physical Laboratory Chief Scientific Advisor and a Fellow of the Royal Society.
• Philip Rycroft (chair) the Director General of the Innovation and Enterprise Group at BIS (Department for Business, Innovation and Skills). He was a member of the Strategic Board of the Scottish Government.