Dr. Hyun-min Park participated in the 36th General Assembly (hereinafter referred to as “GA”) of the Asia Pacific Metrology Programme (hereinafer referred to as “APMP”) for the first time since his inauguration (Feb. of 2020) as President of KRISS held online from November 26 to 27.

Dr. Park also had a chance to share the recent research outcomes of KRISS including Kibble Balance and development of reference materials of COVID-19 during this GA.

Delegates of APMP member countries discussed the metrology issues within the Asia and Pacific regions and voted on major decisions, although GA was held online because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In response to the growing demand for online teleconferences due to COVID-19, the meeting was held in the meeting room of the Administration Building, which is recently renovated to enable to hold online meetings properly.

The 2020 APMP GA had been scheduled to be held in Bangkok, Thailand, but due to severe COVID-19 pandemic, it has been replaced online meeting. Against this backdrop, APMP members shared the understanding that international cooperation is required more than ever among NMIs for metrology science and technology research and agreed to actively conduct joint research related to COVID-19 at the level of APMP and expand support for developing countries.

As the current pandemic is expected to stretch into the next year, the 2021 APMP GA scheduled to be held in Manila, Philippines, was determined to be held online as well. It was decided to hold the 2022 APMP GA in Tokyo, Japan and the 2023 APMP GA in Manila, Philippines at this GA.

During this GA, delegates from APMP member countries also approved the extension of activities of EC Members and the TC/FG Chair and held the inauguration and farewell ceremonies. Dr. Yon-kyu Park’s term as an EC(Executive Committee) member was extended for another year until 2021 GA by unanimous consent of the APMP members. Dr. Chu-shik Kang who was in charge of Lead TC Chair since 2017, and Dr. Sang-il Lee, who had been the Chair of FG-CCCA(Focus Group-Climate Change and Clean Air), finished their terms successfully.

 

Dr. Dai-hyuk Yu has started his three-year term as the Chair of TCTF(Technical Committee for Time and Frequency) after this GA. KRISS now assumes three chair positions out of 12 APMP TCs, together with Dr. Hyung-kew Lee, the Chair of TCEM(Technical Committee for Electricity and Magnetism), and Dr. In-seok Yang, the Chair of TCT(Technical Committee for Thermometry).

Dr. Yong-tae Kim and Dr. Byung-joo Kim was approved as a Chair-elect of TCAUV(Technical Committee for Acoustics, Ultrasound and Vibration) and TCQM(Technical Committee for Amount of Substance), respectively, and their official term will begin after 2021 APMP GA.

At the APMP GA which was held as the first online meeting amid the unprecedented global crisis, the delegates of NMIs around the world decided to continue close communication and collaboration in various areas in the prolonged era of COVID-19, including sharing each institution’s response and cooperating in related research activities.