PROFESSION WATCH RONNA AND QUETTA TO BECOME SI
Scientific and government heavyweights agree new measures within International System of Units
Measurement scientists and government representatives have gathered at the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) in Versailles, France, and agreed to expand the range of prefixes within the International System of Units (SI). Dr Richard Brown, head of Metrology at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Middlesex, the UK’s national metrology institute, led the proposal recommending the new names – ronna and quetta – as SI prefixes for 1027 1030
and , respectively.
They are joined by their microscopic counterparts, ronto for 10-27 for 10-30
, and quecto . The proposal was approved by
the CGPM and these new prefixes have been incorporated into the SI with immediate effect, becoming the first expansion to the range of SI prefixes since 1991. The expansion has been driven by the
requirements of data science, digital storage and the exponentially growing size of the global datasphere, which is
already using prefixes at the top of the existing scale. Additionally, the prefixes for very small numbers are useful for quantum science and particle physics. SI is the only accepted worldwide
system of units, catering for every type of measurement. As the UK’s National Metrology Institute, NPL is responsible for maintaining and developing the UK’s primary measurement standards for SI units and ensuring their comparability internationally. According to Brown, SI prefixes have
expanded over the years in response to advances in science and technology requiring access to an increased range of orders of magnitude relating to measurement. “These new SI prefixes will
allow clear and unambiguous communication of these measurements for many years to come,” he concludes.
❱❱ Larger orders of magnitude can be accommodated with new SI prefixes
SHH… STRATHCLYDE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH STUDENT GAINS
BAE Systems has recognised a postgraduate researcher from the University of Strathclyde with its “PhD Student of the Year” award for his innovative engineering concept for marine vessels. Callum Stark, 26, from the university’s
Naval Architecture, Ocean & Marine Engineering (NAOME) department was selected as the overall winner for his research to create quieter marine propellers. Human-related underwater radiated noise (URN) has a detrimental impact on marine organisms which use the acoustic environment to perform key biological functions. As the propellers are a significant contributor to noise pollution, it is important to mitigate their effect and minimise the impact. The bio-inspired concept is based on leading-edge tubercles – the raised bumps on the pectoral fins of humpback whales, which are believed to improve manoeuvrability. When the concept is
32 /// Testing & Test Houses /// December 2022 10 ❱❱ PhD student Callum Stark gains recognition for his work on noise reduction on propellors
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