The International Symposium Series on Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments (ISMTII) has progressed considerably over the 15 years of its existence. The first and second conferences were held in 1989 and 1993, respectively at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in China in conjunction with the University of Birmingham in the UK, and organised by Professor Zhu Li, the founding chairman. The third symposium was held in 1996 at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. The fourth in the series was held in 1998 at the University of Miskolc, Hungary, the fifth was held at the National Institute for Standards, Egypt in 2001 and the sixth conference was organised by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2003. The seventh in the series and an associated seminar on "History and Future Prospects in the Field of Measurement and Instrumentation" were hosted at the University of Huddersfield, UK.
The subject covered in this series is wide-ranging and detailed. "Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments" is in fact a combination of enabling technologies brought together to make possible more meaningful metrology of a wide range of disciplines. This involves bringing together subjects such as the design and use of sensors measuring displacement and its derivatives; flow, pressure, temperature. Of critical importance is calibration and traceability without which quality control cannot be guaranteed. One aspect of measurement which is attracting much interest is the optimisation of information obtained from sensors and the use of the more significant information to improve instrument usage. Automatic checks on the data can be made to improve fidelity and speed up operation.
Much effort has been expended in understanding the nature of the measurand and utilising the latest mathematical techniques to isolate hitherto untypical parameters such as scratches. Many of these new parameters lie outside the capability of traditional instruments. It is hoped that exposure of these new techniques in the proceedings will open the door to their use in a much wider range of applications than occurs at present. Also some papers devoted to measurement problems in conventional applications such as the railways should reassure sceptics that advanced theory in mathematics and associated software algorithms is useful today as well as in the future.
Another aim of the publication is to demonstrate that measurement problems in nanotechnology and macro metrology are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Engineering and physics as well as biology and chemistry can all benefit from the integration of ideas and methods as shown.
The global relevance of the subjects depicted in this series of papers is reflected in the diverse backgrounds and disciplines of the contributors. It is hoped that this trend will be accelerated by the publication.
Huddersfield University's Centre for Precision Technologies is an ideal venue for the 7th ISMTII Conference, being committed to all aspects of measurement, instrumentation and productivity.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
