SCRA-led Standards Consortium Honors Akihiko Ohtaka with International William J. Conroy Award
November 11, 2010
CHARLESTON, SC – November 11, 2010 – SCRA, a South Carolina-based global leader in applied research and commercialization, announces today that Akihiko Ohtaka has been selected by PDES, Inc. as the 2010 Award Winner of the International William J. Conroy Professional Standards Award. The award recognizes an individual from the technical community who has shown exceptional leadership in the development or implementation of Product Data Exchange standards.
SCRA and its Advanced Technology International (ATI) affiliate have served as the PDES, Inc. host contractors since the consortium was founded in 1988 to develop STEP related manufacturing standards. This development has culminated in the (ISO) 10303 global manufacturing standard. PDES, Inc. is an international, member-supported consortium that accelerates the development and implementation of standards to support model-based engineering, manufacturing and sustainment.
The Conroy Award was originally established by the U.S. Product Data Association (US PRO) to honor William “Bill” Conroy. Mr. Conroy provided leadership in the standards community as Chairman of the PDES Organization, Director of National Initiative for Product Data Exchange, and Chairman of U.S. Technical Advisory Group. Upon completion of its mission, US PRO was dissolved in 2006 but passed the Conroy Award honor to PDES, Inc. for continued presentation. Individuals considered for the award must demonstrate technical expertise, longevity, commitment, peer recognition, leadership, and contributions to standards development.
This year’s Conroy Award winner, Mr. Ohtaka, is a Senior Specialist with Nihon Unisys, Ltd. and has been a key resource in the ISO TCI84/SC4 standards development community since 1989. He contributed to the development of several parts which have all become International Standards. He has worked jointly and as co-project leader on the development of many standards related to Parametric Corporation systems.
After completing the Parametric-related standards, Mr. Ohtaka began to focus on Product Data Quality, proposing the development of Product Data Quality for Shape (PDQ-S). This led to the establishment of a new Working Group – WG13 Industrial Data Quality. PDQ-S was successfully published as an International Standard in 2008.
In addition to his development work, Mr. Ohtaka serves as the chair of the Japan National Committee for TC184/SC4 and is a core member of WG12 and WG13. Mr. Ohtaka has also contributed to the enrichment of STEP resource modeling and SC4 management.
Mr. Ohtaka was presented his award by Howard Mason, a PDES, Inc. member from British Aerospace.
The development of manufacturing standards that are widely accepted, such as ISO Standards, have real-world implications for a number of industries. These standards allow companies to manufacture large products, such as an airplane at Boeing, by seamlessly fitting together sections that have been built in various locales. For Boeing this may mean a portion of a plane constructed in Charleston will easily fit with another section built in Seattle. Manufacturing standards allow lean manufacturing practices to be utilized for higher production efficiencies and lower manufacturing costs- a goal for all manufacturing companies.
PDES, Inc. is has a strong tradition as a successful applied R&D collaboration. The program includes leading manufacturers, national government agencies, research organizations and academia. Testing of implementations and technical data exchange using the ISO 10303 Standard, commonly called STEP, is an integral part of the consortium. This consortium has improved standard development processes so it takes one to two years to create an international standard instead of the traditional five to nine years. The program also launched a project to develop a Model-Based Design standard that combines widely used design standards.
Organizations that are members of PDES, Inc. include:
- Adobe Systems Incorporated
- BAE Systems
- DoE/Sandia National Labs
- Boeing
- EADS Airbus
- The Georgia Institute of Technology
- IBM
- Lockheed Martin
- National Institute of Standards and Technology
- NASA
- Rockwell-Collins
To see a timeline of PDES, Inc. accomplishments, go to http://pdesinc.org/mission.html.
About PDES, Inc.
http://www.pdesinc.org
PDES, Inc. is an international industry/government consortium committed to accelerating the development and implementation of stands that enable enterprise integrations and product lifecycle management interoperability for its member companies. ATI, an SCRA affiliate, is the PDES, Inc. host contractor.
About SCRA
http://www.scra.org
SCRA is a global leader in applied research and commercialization services with its headquarters in South Carolina. SCRA collaborates to advance technology, providing knowledge-based solutions with assured outcomes to industry and government, with the help of research universities in SC, the US and around the world.
About Advanced Technology International
http://www.ati.org
Advanced Technology International (ATI), a private affiliate of SCRA, builds and operates global teams which develop and apply innovative technology solutions. ATI-led programs offer world-class domain expertise with proven track records of increased market transition rates, reduced cost and risk, improved capabilities, and higher return on investment for government and corporate clients.
