4 Women Guide ASTM Standards To Make Every Day 'Women's Day In Science'

The failure of Apple's Health app to include a function to let women track their periods was an infamous example of the blind spots that exist in monocultures. That is why it is critical for standards bodies like ASTM International to include a diversity of voices as they shape the technical standards that steer future products and projects. 

With consideration of female perpectives from the creation of technical standards and onward throughout the product development process, women should be free of the "shrink it and pink it" mentality in products and services.

Watch President Kathie Morgan and four ASTM International members — Teresa Alleman from U.S. National Renewal Energy Laboratory; Laura Woodburn from Hersheypark; Elena Messina from U.S. National Institute of Science and Technology; and Yong-Li McFarland of Southwest Research Institute — discuss the importance of diversity in standards development.

John Blyler is a Design News senior editor, covering the electronics and advanced manufacturing spaces. With a BS in Engineering Physics and an MS in Electrical Engineering, he has years of hardware-software-network systems experience as an editor and engineer within the advanced manufacturing, IoT and semiconductor industries. John has co-authored books related to system engineering and electronics for IEEE, Wiley, and Elsevier.