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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories retiree Richard Pettit has received the 2005 William Wildhack Award from the National Conference of Standards Laboratories International (NCSLI).
The award is presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of metrology and measurement science. The award was presented Aug. 8 at the organization’s annual workshop and symposium in Washington, D.C.
The award was established in 1970 in honor and recognition of William Wildhack, Sr., a long-time employee of the U.S. National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The award carries an honorarium and includes a bronze and silver medallion bearing the likeness of Wildhack.
Pettit’s award was based on his more than 20 years of service to NCSLI in its management ranks, contributions to the technical successes of NCSLI, management of the NCSLI conference technical program, and his industrial accomplishments in the field of industrial metrology, including numerous technical publications.
He received a bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Michigan in 1966, and a Ph.D. in applied physics from Cornell University in 1971. He began working at Sandia in 1971 in the High Temperature Science Division. In 1986 he was promoted to manager of Sandia’s Primary Standards Laboratory overseeing electrical metrology, a position he held until his retirement.
NCSLI was formed in 1961 to promote cooperative efforts for solving the common problems faced by measurement laboratories. Today, NCSLI has more than 1,500 member organizations from academic, scientific, industrial, commercial, and government facilities around the world.