Hello readers, and welcome to the latest issue of CMSC World, which is packed with the latest news and features in the metrology arena.

Registration for CMSC 2009 in Louisville, Kentucky, is now open! As most of you know, this year is an historical landmark for the CMSC. In two months, the Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) will commemorate a major accomplishment—the 25th anniversary of our annual CMSC Conference. Not many events can boast they have been around for a quarter of a century, and continue to grow and meet the technology needs of their attendees.

We are proud to announce that our 2009 keynote speaker will be Mr. Kip Schmidt of Spirit AeroSystems. Mr. Schmidt is the director of new technology at the company’s headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, the Air Capital of the World. Spirit AeroSystems is the world’s largest supplier of commercial airplane assemblies and components, with additional operations in Tulsa and McAlester, Oklahoma, and in Scotland and England.

Please take a minute to view the CMSC promotional video produced for us by our media partner, Quality Digest. This video captures the ambience and the spirit of CMSC through interviews, and clips of the attendees, the exhibition floor, white paper presentations, social events, our traditional Wednesday evening banquet, and more. Don't forget to forward the video as well as CMSC World to your colleagues.

CMSC, the development of CMS, and its many communications and subcommittees are made possible by the work and dedication of the CMS Executive Committee. Each year, two new committee members and one chairperson are elected to replace the members who have faithfully served their term of office. Members are elected for a two-year term and are assigned duties that can range from coordinating exhibitors or technical presentations to managing seminars, education, hotel arrangements, or any number of other responsibilities. A chairperson is elected for a three-year term and moves from vice-chairperson, to chairperson, to past-chairperson.  The vice-chairperson candidate must have Executive Committee experience by having served a minimum of one term. CMS has a respected presence in the industrial community as we extend ourselves to the service of our membership needs. You can be a part of the force that makes this impact—please consider nominations for the CMS Executive Committee!

Our call for papers is now officially closed, and once again we anticipate a stellar lineup of state-of-the-art white paper presentations unrivaled in the industry. Yes, we have come a long way from that small gathering of users and developers back in 1984. With today’s substantial and powerful membership base, the CMS is working hard to forge a strong future for the metrology industry. Our CMS Certification Committee is developing a proposal for a centralized industrial metrologist certification program to help expand the careers and the ranks of 3-D industrial metrology professionals. I highly encourage you to partake in our upcoming certification survey, and learn more about this initiative at CMCS 2009, the premier conference for metrology professionals.

Robert Clem
2009 CMSC Chair