Author Archives: mike@standardsmichigan.com

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Banished Words 2025 (And words that refuse to be banished)

“He who does not know foreign languages knows nothing of his own.”

– Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Lake Superior State University Michigan

 

Standards January | Language

What is Happening to the Family, and Why?

“The family is nature’s masterpiece”

— George Santayana

 

Educated at Yale College, Somerville College, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard Medical School and Columbia Law School, Amy Wax speaks to the Buckley Institute, founded by William F. Buckley (Yale 1950). Links to National Centers at Bowling Green State University, the University of Virginia and the University of Nebraska.

Inside Higher Ed (September 24, 2024): Amy Wax Update

Overcoming the Feminization of Culture


You Might Start by Reducing the Size of Government


In popular culture:

The Anthropology of Karens

People grow up in a web of relationships that is already in place, supporting them as they grow. From the inside out, it includes parents, extended family and clan, neighborhood groups and civic associations, church, local and provincial governments and finally national government.

International Student Cap

Standards Ontario

 

The province of Ontario is effectively cutting back on the number of new international students through reduced allocations of study permits and provincial attestation letters (PALs).This stems primarily from federal government caps on international study permits, which Ontario implements by distributing fewer spots to colleges and universities. The reductions have been ongoing since 2024 and continue into 2026.

For further reading:

Ontario cuts international student permits for 2026, focuses on in-demand careers

Canada International Student Cap for 2026 Set at 408,000 with New Graduate-Level Exemptions

Ontario universities struggle with revenue losses amid international student cap

Standards Curricula Program

NIST Standards Coordination Office Curricula Development Cooperative Agreement Program.

How to Apply | Awardees 2012-2025 | News Items

NIST Headquarters (Click on image)

 

NIST continues its Standards Curriculum program through the Standards Coordination Office Curricula Development Cooperative Agreement Program (SCO CD CAP), formerly known as the Standards Services Curricula Development Cooperative Agreement Program.  This ongoing initiative, started in 2012 (initially as Education Challenge Grants), funds U.S. colleges and universities to develop and integrate undergraduate and/or graduate-level curricula on documentary standards, standards development, and standardization into courses, modules, seminars, and learning resources.  The University of Michigan is a past recipient of a standards education award through this program.

The most recent funding round was for Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25):

  • The Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity (NOFO) was released on January 14, 2025.
  • Applications were due by April 14, 2025.
  • NIST anticipated awarding up to 8 grants, each up to $100,000, with project periods of up to 3 years (potentially extending into 2027–2028).

Projects funded under FY25 involve curriculum development and implementation that may continue into 2026 and beyond, including required workshops.

As of early 2026, no new Notice of Federal Funding Opportunity (NOFO) has been announced for FY2026. The program has historically issued funding rounds annually or near-annually, with recent awards in prior years (e.g., 2024 awards totaling over $1.1 million to 8 universities). However, due to proposed budget reductions for NIST in FY2026, future rounds may be impacted or delayed.


2024 Update: NIST Awards Funding to 8 Universities to Advance Standards Education


The Standards Coordination Office of the National Institute of Standards and Technology conducts standards-related programs, and provides knowledge and services that strengthen the U.S. economy and improve the quality of life.  Its goal is to equip U.S. industry with the standards-related tools and information necessary to effectively compete in the global marketplace. 

Every year it awards grants to colleges and universities through its Standards Services Curricula Cooperative Agreement Program  to provide financial assistance to support curriculum development for the undergraduate and/or graduate level. These cooperative agreements support the integration of standards and standardization information and content into seminars, courses, and learning resources. The recipients will work with NIST to strengthen education and learning about standards and standardization. 

The 2019 grant cycle will require application submissions before April 30, 2019 (contingent upon normal operation of the Department of Commerce).  Specifics about the deadline will be posted on the NIST and ANSI websites.  We will pass on those specifics as soon as they are known.

The winners of the 2018 grant cycle are Bowling Green State University, Michigan State University,  Oklahoma State University, and Texas A&M University. (Click here)

The University of Michigan received an award during last year’s grant cycle (2017).   An overview of the curriculum — human factors in automotive standards  — is linked below:

NIST Standards Curricula INTRO Presentation _ University of Michigan Paul Green

Information about applying for the next grant cycle is available at this link (Click here) and also by communicating with Ms. Mary Jo DiBernardo (301-975-5503; maryjo.dibernardo@nist.gov)

LEARN MORE:

Click here for link to the previous year announcement.

Technical Requirements for Weighing & Measuring Devices

Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent

 

2025-2026 Student Paper Competition

ANSI Rebrands Flagship Conference: ANSI Innovation Summit Replaces World Standards Week

“Boy Writing with Sister” 1875 Albert Anker


 

ANSI Student Paper Competition paused for 2025

No award for the 2024 cycle (per COE Chairperson)

“A Girl Writing; The Pet Goldfinch” 1870 Henriette Browne

 

The Society for Standardization Professionals Paper Competition 2025

 

 


Updated January 7, 2024

 

For nearly twenty years now,  the American National Standards Institute Committee on Education administers a student paper competition intended to encourage understanding of the global standards system that also provides a solid prize — in the $1000 to $5000 range.  The topic of the 2024 Student Paper Competition will be What Role Do or Could Standards Play in Safe and Effective Implementation of Artificial Intelligence Applications/Systems?

Student Paper Competition Flyer 2024 – Entries due 7 June 2024

For the past six years Standards Michigan has hosted Saturday morning workshops to help students (and faculty) interested in entering the contest.   We will soon post those dates on our CALENDER.  We typically host them — three sessions ahead of the deadline — on Saturday mornings.

We provide links to previous paper winners and refer you to Lisa Rajchel: lrajchel@ansi.org for all other details.

Related:

 

“Normal” Things Americans Do That The Rest Of The World Will Never Understand

ANSI Accredited Standards Developers | Contact Information

2023 Student Paper Competition

2022 Student Paper Competition

2020 Student Paper Winner / Remanufacturing

2020 Student Paper Winner / Road Traffic Safety

ANSI 2019 Student Paper Winner: Cybersecurity & Ukraine Power Grid Attack

2019 Student Paper Winner / Standards in Crisis Prevention & Response:

2018 ANSI Student Paper Winner / Internet of Things

2017 ANSI Student Paper Winner / Cyborg Gen 2330

2016 Student Paper Winner | Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness

2016 Student Paper Winner / World Without Standards

United States Standards Strategy

Myron Hunt Architect

Myron Hubbard Hunt (February 27, 1868 – May 26, 1952) was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California; most notably, the Rose Bowl Stadium, where the University of Michigan Football team appears routinely on New Year’s Day.  Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects in 1908.


How To Build A Football Stadium

Michigan 34 | Washington 13

Winter Bonfire

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Café hopping…

Standards Indiana

Bowling and Billiards

Farmer’s Dinner Theatre

Cooperative Extension Service

“Kentucky Landscape” 1832 James Pierce Barton

This project was created a few years ago in Kentucky to bring awareness to farm safety  through a dinner theatre is continuing to gain momentum in rural communities. The focus now is more on farm mental health and wellness. 

https://youtu.be/ztDxdsWW4q0?si=qaQ6OTpKSSP2mMY3

Standards Kentucky


Morrill Land Grant Act

This program has been adopted or implemented by extension services and related organizations in several other states. This initiative uses short plays performed during a community dinner to educate farmers and their families on health, safety, mental health, and farm-related issues in an engaging, non-traditional way:

  • Nebraska — Cooperative Extension services have hosted events as part of the program’s expansion.
  • North Carolina — The program is active through local extension efforts.
  • Tennessee — Events have been held, often in collaboration with extension agents.
  • Virginia — Particularly notable in the Shenandoah Valley, where Virginia Cooperative Extension offices (e.g., in Rockingham County) partnered with local groups like Valley Urgent Care and Future Farmers of America (FFA) chapters to organize Farm Safety Dinner Theaters, adapting the UK model for community-based participatory approaches.

The program is designed to be replicable nationwide. The University of Kentucky provides an online Farmers Dinner Theater Toolkit for any cooperative extension service, community group, or organization to stage their own events, customizing scripts to local needs. This has enabled wider adoption beyond the original sites. These efforts focus on helping farmers by addressing critical topics like injury prevention, hearing loss, skin cancer, stress, and suicide awareness in a social, farmer-friendly setting that encourages discussion and behavior change.

Sweet Apple Pork Chops

Standards Nebraska

Click image for recipe

 

Loeffel Meat Shoppe

Nebraska Building Code: Agricultural Buildings

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