The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), coordinator of the U.S. voluntary standardization system, and its Committee on Education (CoE) are pleased to announce that Jannatul Bushra and Habibor Rahman of the University of Arizona are the first-place winners of the annual ANSI student paper competition. Patrick Henderson of Drexel University is the second-place winner. The competition is part of an ANSI-led effort to raise awareness about the strategic importance of standards and conformance among U.S. undergraduate and graduate students.
To address the 2021 theme, The Use of Standards in the Global Fight against COVID-19, applicants were asked to submit papers that explore the use, or absence, of standards in response to the COVID pandemic.
The ANSI student paper competition, an annual contest, was open to students of any discipline enrolled in an associate, undergraduate, or graduate-level program at a U.S. academic institute of higher learning.
The winning paper, "How Standards Can Facilitate the Global Fight against Pandemics and Improve Preparedness," explores how standards can enable agile productions of emergency medical supplies using additive manufacturing (AM). The authors identify some available standards that can be leveraged in designing, producing, and evaluating medical products. They also recommend some additional standards for AM to ensure secure and responsive manufacturing operations, product quality and performance, and support rapid production of on-demand medical supplies for future pandemics.
The second-place entry is titled "Educational Standards and the Future of Digital Badging in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Promising Alternative for Reinforcing Student Competencies." The author analyzes the standards set forth by organizations such as the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Physical Activity Society, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to demonstrate how educational professionals can identify methods for improving student fluency in the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for obtaining professional certification in the exercise sciences.
Each winner will receive a cash prize for their paper.
ANSI will announce details about the 2022 student paper competition soon.
For more information about the competition or the ANSI Committee on Education, please contact Lisa Rajchel ([email protected]).