Efforts are being made to equip the Caribbean’s measurement scientists (metrologists) with training skills to assist industry in addressing their calibration needs as well as their counterparts in National Metrology Institutes (NMIs) across the Region.
Eighteen such metrologists, practitioners in the science of measurement, from a number of National Standards Bureaux in the CARICOM Region, are in Barbados this week to participate in a Training of Trainers workshop at the Divi Southwinds Hotel, St. Lawrence Main Road, Christ Church.
At the weeklong workshop, which opened on Monday, July 24 and ends Friday, July 28, 2017, Finance Manager with the CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), Mr. Mohan Nandwani underscored how important the event was to aid in the facilitation of regional trade.
“When we talk about quality, we are not just talking about science, we are talking about developing the financial infrastructure of the Caribbean; trade – that is what it is really all about. Quality will drive the trade that the Caribbean does and it is only through these kinds of workshops and so on that we can build that quality which will eventually feed itself into public and private sector development, and trade is the key here. This is what we are aiming towards,” said Mr. Nandwani on behalf of CROSQ.
The Training of Trainers workshop was facilitated by CROSQ, but funded by the German Federal Government through the “Capacity Building in Technical and Scientific Organisations Using Regional Knowledge and Experience” Project, more commonly called CABUREK and the Regional Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project, known as the R3E Project. Both projects are initiatives of the German National Metrology Institute (PTB).
About this collaboration, Mr. Nandwani said: “This CABUREK project has been organised into three working groups of which the Working Group 2 is tasked with developing a regional training programme in metrology for industry. In addition to developing the curriculum and content for this training course, the Working Group aims to create a group of trainers that are qualified to offer training in mass metrology, temperature metrology, volume metrology and the estimation of measurement uncertainty.”
Calibration is the comparison of a measurement device with an established standard. Businesses of all types need this service to ensure that their measurement devices such as scales, thermometers and other meters are giving accurate readings. Their staff also need to know how to use these measurement devices correctly and how to do their own internal calibrations. This workshop aims to address these training needs of industry and other quality management professionals.
PTB Consultant, Mrs. Anett Matbadal explained a bit more about what CABUREK was and why it was important to the Caribbean and industry.
“The current CABUREK Programme runs from March 2016 to March 2018, so we are pretty much over half of this; and the idea is working with and learning from your peers. You are all representatives of NMIs and you all basically do the same jobs. CABUREK is implemented in Latin America and the Caribbean, so it is just logical to learn from one another.
“Some [of you] are a bit ahead in the development; some are still to find themselves, so it is good to sit together, work together in groups on specific topics, to learn from others, experience the good and bad lessons learnt. That is why this is a pretty interesting concept and you are here working within this programme,” said Mrs. Matbadal.
While Working Group 2 of CABUREK is tasked with Developing a Regional Training Offer, the PTB consultant said that overall the idea is to strengthen the capabilities of the human resource in metrology within the Caribbean.
“We start in the Caribbean . . . and that is the idea, [that this training can] be extended to other regions – Latin America or even beyond that. We started with developing a regional training offer, and you will understand that the basis for a good training offer is a good trainers’ pool, who is capable, well-trained, and our idea is that these trainers use standardised training material. So the idea is to develop certain training courses that the Caribbean needs, using standardised training material. It can be organised in every country, every region. It is targeting primarily, the industrial sector, private sector, public sector, but not the NMI itself,” said Mrs. Matbadal.
The training is being conducted by Mrs. Silvana Demicheli of the National Metrology Institute of Uruguay (LATU), with Mrs. Matbadal and CROSQ’s Technical Officer, Metrology, Mr. David Tomlinson, providing support, as part of the CABUREK group of trainers.
Metrology is the science of measurement and in the Caribbean region, most NMIs are located within the National Standards Bureaux.
