Greetings,

Chair's message for the F02 Newsletter

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone! It is also a brand new and exciting year for Committee F02. It's the start of our second half century, the beginning of a new term for officers and Executive Committee members, and new methods on the horizon. It could be a very good year!

If you were not at the 50th anniversary celebration of F02, you missed a good party! Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves as you can see by the photos included in this newsletter. The ASTM staff organizers and the anniversary committee did an outstanding job. One of the highlights of the evening was honoring Mike Troedel as the newest ASTM Fellow with the Award of Merit. The Award of Merit is the highest award granted to an individual member for distinguished service and outstanding participation in ASTM committee activities. Congratulations, Mike, for a well deserved honor! F02 also recognized several members for their continued service with 25 year pins: George Laybourne, 37 years; Darrel Morrow, 35 years; Alexander Castle, 34 years; Mike Troedel, 31 years; Nick Winters, 29 years; Craig Loebig, 26 years; and Bob Fiedler, 25 years. The evening concluded with some humorous, historical anecdotes from John Spitzley and Bob Demarest. I would be remiss if we did not recognize and thank our sponsors for their generous contributions that made the evening a success.

2008 also brings new members to the Executive Subcommittee, F02.90. We welcome Marilyn Baker of The Coca-Cola Company as the new subcommittee chair of F02.15 on Chemical and Safety Properties, Diona Sommario of Boston Scientific Scimed as the Recording Secretary, and Craig Loebig of Loebig Associates, once again, as a Member-At-Large. I wish to thank Nice Winters, immediate past Recording Secretary, for his time and efforts with the minutes of F02 Main and F02.90 Sub.

The success of any ASTM committee is based on new methods that generate interest and participation in subcommittee activities. At last fall's meeting several new methods were presented, discussed and proposed as ASTM standards. At our upcoming April meeting you will hear about abrasion resistance (more than one), seal strength testing method for cup lidding, head space analysis, testing for pinholes in flat film using dye penetration, expansion of the dye leak test to include an edge dip method and a different dye solution to accommodate film and foil pouches, package integrity test for extra-large packages, and guidance for hole size to leak rate conversions.

Yes, it could be a very good year. We hope you can make it to our committee meetings this year. We are on the west coast at the Anaheim Marriott for April 9-10 and the east coast at Miami's Fontainebleau for October 1-2. You folks in the middle of the country can pick and choose.

Hal Miller, F02 Main Committee Chair

Named Technology All-Star by Women of Color Magazine for her achievements in the work place and in the community, Marilyn Baker has recently been elected chair of the subcommittee F02.15 on Chemical and Safety properties. As the first African-American woman engineer in corporate packaging, Marilyn has achieved numerous accomplishments including obtaining the first FDA approval for food-contact of recycled plastic materials. Baker is currently responsible for governance issues for flexible, fountain and concrete packaging at the Coca-Cola Company. The F02 is proud to have Marilyn Baker serving in an active committee position and we look forward to the contributions Marilyn will make to our chapter and the incredible impact she will continue to make in her community.

ASTM Book of Standards - Volume 15.10
Please remember when renewing your ASTM membership that the Annual Book of Standard Volume 15.10 now contains the standards from Committee D10 on Packaging and Committee F02. There are three different ways to receive your complimentary volume - as a hard copy book, a CD or a virtual volume – please contact me with any questions or changes.

Revamp of Standardization News
ASTM's magazine, Standardization News, has been redesigned and revamped beginning with the January/February 2008 issue. Now a bimonthly publication, SN has been reorganized to offer broader feature article content and more helpful information about developing standards in ASTM

New Chairman of the Board
Richard F. Kayser, director of the Materials Science and Engineering Laboratory (MSEL) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), U.S. Department of Commerce, is the 2008 chairman of the ASTM Board of Directors. Also, the April 2008 Board of Directors meeting will take place in Stockholm, Sweden.

Future Meetings
Committee F02 will meet at the Anaheim Marriott on April 9-10, 2008, then at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami on October 1-2, 2009 as scheduled. In 2009, the April 22-23 meeting will be at the Hyatt Regency in Vancouver, British Columbia. As for the October meeting that is scheduled for Atlanta, there is discussion of moving that to be part of a tentative European Committee Week. More information will be available later this year. Also, note that Committee D10 is still discussing its meeting schedule for 2009.

New ASTM President's Leadership Award
The new ASTM President's Leadership Award salutes the inspiration and positive contributions of individuals early in their ASTM career. It is designed for members with less than five years of membership that have made outstanding contributions to ASTM. The deadline for nominations is February 1, 2008.

During the Anaheim meeting, ASTM staff will present two Learning Modules with light refreshments:
Subcommittee Chairmen Responsibilities, Including the New Online Tool, Roster Maintenance (Wednesday) 12 noon
This module is designed to provide information and guidance to subcommittee chairmen and subcommittee members on the role of the subcommittee chairman. This module will focus on preparing for a meeting, preparing items for ballot, handling negative votes at the subcommittee level, and will discuss in detail the new online Roster Maintenance feature that allows subcommittee chairmen and membership secretaries to maintain their committee rosters

Process of a Standard's Development (Tuesday) 12 noon
This editorial workshop will follow one standard from inception to publication. The workshop will cover the key roles of your editor and the standard's technical contact, as well as reviewing how to write, ballot, and review a standard as it proceeds through the ASTM process until it becomes an approved, published standard. Included in the workshop will be a brief review of work item registration and the three stages of balloting.

If you have any questions or comments about ASTM or the website, please let me know.

Kevin Shanahan
F02 Staff Manager
kshanaha@astm.org