Greeting

The objective of VAMAS (Versailles Project on Advanced Materials and Standard) is to promote world trade by innovation and adoption of advanced materials. To this end, the technical basis for measurement methods is being developed through international collaboration. At present, VAMAS consists of 14 countries and two regions. The pre-standardization activities of VAMAS are being conducted by 16 Technical Working Areas (TWA). NIMS is taking a leadership as the representative organization for VAMAS activities in Japan. VAMAS has a close relationship with ISO and IEC as a liaison organization. Many of international standards issued by ISO and IEC have been developed based on results of VAMAS international collaboration. This means that by participating in VAMAS activities, research accomplishments can be implemented in society as international standards. Forty years after its establishment, VAMAS is still regarded as an important international collaboration project for the international standardization of advanced materials and their evaluation methods. We engage in VAMAS activities with the aim of standardizing the technologies that are truly needed for materials to be used.

October 30, 2023

Gen Nishijima

Group Leader
Superconducting System Group
National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS)

Greeting

At the G7 Economic Ministerial Meeting held in Versailles in 1982, VAMAS (Versailles Projects on Advanced Materials and Standards) was established to ensure the international equivalence of advanced materials and their evaluation methods, which are being developed daily.
The establishment of VAMAS at the same year of the invention of STM, at the dawn of nanotechnology, was highly visionary, as it was intended to lead technological innovation with advanced materials by establishing an internationally coordinated evaluation methods.
Now, more than 40 years after its establishment, innovations in numerous process technologies, including nanotechnology, have led to the development of advanced materials with high functionality and quality, which have been further incorporated into high-value-added components and products that enrich our lives.
In today's world of close global logistics, it is considered an important requirement for the smooth dissemination of products and technologies that evaluation methods with high reliability and international equivalence be in place in parallel with their development.
The ISO/IEC, one of the leading international standards, has revised its rules for the rapid development of international standards, and VAMAS, which allows for flexible activities in the pre-standardization stage, has become more important than ever. We hope that VAMAS activities will contribute more effectively to the smooth development of the manufacturing industry, which is one of Japan's strong points.

September 1, 2023

Toshiyuki Fujimoto

Chief Standardization Officer
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)

Chair,
VAMAS Domestic Committee of Japan
Representative of Japan for VAMAS