Dr. Alessandro Balsamo
INRIM (Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica) (Italy)
Calibration, verification, test uncertainty
The term calibration and verification are often used interchangeably and mistakenly. Which is the correct distinction? Either supports traceability statements but contributes very differently. Calibrations deliver measured error of indications and their uncertainties while verifications deliver a binary outcome instead. In either case, the uncertainty of the individual measurements must be evaluated, as for any measurement value. Even if the resulting uncertainties are conceptually identical for the two, they are evaluated differently because different are the measurands.
Dr. Alessandro Balsamo is a Fellow of the INRIM, the Metrology Institute of Italy. His field of activity is dimensional metrology – coordinate metrology in particular. He is Vicepresident Elect of the CIRP. He convenes the ISO/TC 213/WG 4 on uncertainty and decision rules. He is chair of the CCL-WG MRA responsible for the implementation of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Agreement among Metrology Institutes world-wide in the field of Length.
