(ISO: Geneva) -- As vehicles become more complex, with new features like driver assistance systems or electronic-based functions, it is more important than ever to identify potential risks of software and hardware failures whose consequences could be fatal. For this purpose, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has published a new standard to ensure the functional safety of electrical and electronic systems in road vehicles.

(TÜV SÜD: Peabody, MA) -- TÜV SÜD America has added Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE) examinations to its personal certification services in the Americas region through TÜV SÜD Examination Institute.

(ANSI: New York) -- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) announces the availability of two key documents:
• 2012 edition, ANSI Essential Requirements: Due process requirements for American National Standards (ANSI Essential Requirements)

(ANSI: Washington, D.C.) -- The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. voluntary standardization system, and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) invite certificate-awarding entities that develop and administer energy efficiency and renewable energy programs to apply for participation in a pilot accreditation program. Successful participants will be awarded accreditation under a program designed to provide quality assurance to the programs.

(FDAnews: Falls Church, VA) -- Is failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) the cornerstone of your risk management program? Consider this quote from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) quality systems regulation expert Kim Trautman: “Are FMEA or FMECA… good tools? Yes. They are very good tools that can be utilized. Are they in and of themselves a risk management system? Absolutely not. I can’t tell you how many manufacturers I have seen that have tried to present their risk management system by simply presenting a FMEA—that is not a risk management system.

(PRI: Warrendale, PA) -- To better understand the “value” of Nadcap accredited certification, the International Accreditation Forum (IAF) surveyed businesses in 40 different economies to clarify the drivers for seeking certification, the factors involved in choosing a certification body, and the extent of any benefit derived from the certification process.

(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- A new collaboration between the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program (BPEP), The Alliance for Performance Excellence, and The Alternative Board (TAB) will provide resources and training for small businesses to improve their performance through the use of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. The purpose of the partnership is to facilitate the teaming of local TAB boards with their state performance excellence programs so that small businesses utilizing TAB services can learn about the Baldrige program.

(ANSI: Washington) -- The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will once again track Santa and his reindeer as they travel the globe on Christmas Eve. Using Google Earth and Google Maps to display Santa’s flight path, NORAD will offer the latest updates on Santa’s progress to kids of all ages.

(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- In fire experiments conducted in uniformly furnished but vacant Chicago-area townhouses, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers uncovered temperature and heat-flow conditions that can seriously damage facepiece lenses on standard firefighter breathing equipment, a potential contributing factor for first-responder fatalities and injuries.

(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced that it is accepting proposals for funding for a broad range of potential research projects and related activities that support the institute’s measurement science and engineering programs. The combined announcement for the NIST Measurement Science and Engineering (MSE) Research Grant Programs, issued on Dec.