IMEKO XIX World Congress, Lisbon, Portugal, 2009

Welcome to Lisbon, Portugal

Pedro Silva Girão
(Instituto Superior Técnico/Instituto de Telecomunicações – Portugal)

General Chairman

As General Chairman of the IMEKO XIX World Congress it is an honour and a privilege to welcome you to Lisbon, capital of Portugal, the western continental European country that in, the 15th century, gave new worlds to the World.

The theme chosen for the Congress is “Fundamental and Applied Metrology”. By choosing this theme, the organization wants to stress the importance of both Fundamental Metrology, which encompasses the bases of Metrology, and all the Metrology aspects more closely related to applications. More than ever, everyday life and trade rely and depend on the development of state-of-the-art technological-based metrology. The theme is clearly broad and opens the possibility of participating to all people working in Metrology coming either from academia or industry, from scientists to engineers, from mathematicians to chemists and physicists, from instrumentation designers to measuring techniques developers. The emphasis on Fundamental and Applied Metrology is also present in the subjects of the five invited talks that we hope will constitute hallmarks of the IMEKO XIX World Congress.

The Programme Committee and the Organizing Committee did their best to put-up a Congress at least as successful as the previous ones, namely of the 2006 XVIII World Congress in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Special attention was paid to the reviewing process in order to maintain and try to increase the quality of the accepted papers and, thus, of the Congress. I do hope that such goal was achieved and that we were able to further contribute to the continued effort of reaching excellence in IMEKO events.

It is my special pleasure to host this IMEKO XIX World Congress for you. I hope that you find it technically fulfilling and highly entertaining and that it will constitute an opportunity for useful interaction and communications with colleagues.

Beyond the technical contents of the Congress, I do hope that you will have the opportunity to enjoy Lisbon and its surroundings as well as the many cultural and recreational activities available in Portugal.

Pedro M. Ramos
(Instituto Superior Técnico/Instituto de Telecomunicações – Portugal)

Vice-Chairman

On behalf of the Organizing Committee it is a privilege to welcome you to Lisbon, site of the IMEKO XIX World Congress. The Congress will take place in a modern Congress Centre located in the riverbanks of the Tagus River where the EXPO98 was organized.

As Vice-Chairman of the Congress I must thank all the authors that submitted papers, the chairmen of the Technical Committees of IMEKO and in particular the 198 reviewers who contributed with their valuable time and expertise.

Overall, 694 papers from 48 countries were originally submitted. Of these, 610 were accepted, 34 were rejected and 50 were conditionally accepted pending a second review of the final paper. In the end, 551 accepted full papers were received for publication. The Congress program is divided into oral and poster sessions with 389 papers to be presented in the oral sessions and 162 in poster sessions. In addition to the regularly submitted papers, five invited speakers were selected. Their presentations cover different topics in metrology, instrumentation and measurement. Proposed by the TC chairmen, four workshops are included in the program. The topics include the new definition of the kilogram, the VIM, analog-to-digital converters and on measuring the impossible – measurement of characteristics related to human perception and interpretation. Round tables on the VIM, on continuous and dynamic calibration in force and torque, on traceability in chemistry, health, food and nutrition and on higher education in the 21st century are also included in the Congress program. I hope you find this final program, rich and diverse as is the tradition of IMEKO.

To complement the technical program and to underline the strong connection between IMEKO and industries, an exhibition is also present in the halls of the congress centre. Although the Organizing Committee hoped for a larger number of exhibitors, the worldwide economic situation has forced many companies to reduce their budgets which has prevented their participation in the Congress. Nevertheless, we must thank all the exhibitors who showed their confidence in the organization and whose participation, we believe, will help make this Congress a success.

Finally, I must thank the members of the Organizing Committee for their contribution in the Congress Organization.

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