New Chair Approved for Nanotechnology Advisory Panel
Dr. Ajit Jillavenkatesa, Ph.D., of NIST has been approved as chair of the U.S. Technical Advisory Group to the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 229, Nanotechnologies. ISO TC 229 has five working groups, including health, safety, and environment (WG 3).
ANSI announced Jan. 6 that Dr. Ajit Jillavenkatesa, Ph.D., of the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been approved as chair of the American National Standards Institute-accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group to the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 229, Nanotechnologies. Jillavenkatesa replaces Steven Brown, formerly of Intel Global Environmental Health and Safety, who had served as chair since 2011.
Administered by ANSI, the committee is responsible for formulating all U.S. positions and proposals with regard to ISO standardization in the field of nanotechnology. ISO TC 229 has five working groups focused on the development of international standards in the areas of terminology and nomenclature (WG 1); measurement and characterization (WG 2); health, safety, and environment (WG 3); materials specifications (WG 4); and products and applications (WG 5).
Jillavenkatesa is a materials scientist by training and co-chair of the ANSI-Nanotechnology Standards Panel. He joined NIST in 1997 as a post-doctoral fellow and now serves as the senior standards policy adviser with the standards coordination and program coordination offices and as a member of Commerce's digital economy office. He specializes in standards and technology related policy issues in South Asia, Asia-Pacific and Europe, with a particular focus on China, Japan, and India, and in emerging technologies such as nanotechnology and information and communication technologies/digital economy technologies.
ANSI's announcement said he is an active participant in international standards development activities who has been involved with the TC 229 U.S. TAG for more than a decade and has been an active participant in WG 1 and a contributor to WGs 3 and 4.
"The U.S. has been an active participant and effective leader within ISO TC 229 since the formation of the committee in 2005, playing a key role in influencing the strategic and technical direction of the committee's standardization initiatives," said Fran Schrotter, senior vice president and chief operating officer at ANSI. "As TAG Chair, Dr. Jillavenkatesa not only brings to the table his professional and technical expertise, but also strong diplomatic skills, which promise to help the U.S. achieve consensus on positions that will be beneficial to industry and government. We look forward to continuing to work with him in this new leadership role."
Participation on the committee is open to all materially affected U.S. national interested parties. For more information, contact the TAG administrator, Heather Benko, at hbenko@ansi.org.