For more than 30 years, Standards Australia has celebrated individuals, accredited Standards Development Organisations (SDOs) and committees that have made significant contributions to standards development across the wider industry sector.
Other categories include: the W.R. Hebblewhite Medal; Meritorious Contribution (national); Meritorious Contribution (international); Emerging Leader Innovation; and Outstanding Committee.
Previous winners are eligible for renomination, and self-nominations are invited.
Nominations close on March 27 with winners announced in June.
Globally there are well over half a million published standards from more than 1000 recognised standards development organisations.
Standards Australia celebrated its centenary year in 2022, marking 100 years of driving innovation, 100 years of empowering imagination and 100 years of keeping Australians safe.
An exclusive distribution arrangement with SAI Global has been in place since 2003 and the organisation continues to work with the multi-national business services company SAI Global, based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
SAI Global (now referred to as SAI360) delivers more than 125,000 audits and training courses to over 100,000 people across 130 countries.
Standards have been around a long time. There is evidence of standards being used 7000 years ago by the civilisations of Babylon and ancient Egypt.
Standards started as a benchmark for weights and measures. They provided a single reference point against which all other weights and measures in that society could be standardised. As societies evolved, the need for mutually agreed standards grew too.
With the development of trade and commerce, standards extended into agriculture, ships, buildings and weapons.
After the rapid industrialisation of the early 19th century, the lack of national standardisation caused huge inefficiencies. Proof of this lack of conformity is still apparent today, for example, in the number of different railway gauges that still exist.
After the Industrial Revolution, occupational injury became a major issue for many workers. By the late 1870s, workplace explosions were causing more than 50,000 fatalities each year. In response to this, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), one of the first voluntary standardising bodies, was established in 1880.