William A. Wildhack Award

The Wildhack Award is presented annually to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of metrology and measurement science, consistent with the goals of NCSL International.

The award was established in 1970 in honor and recognition of William Wildhack, a long-time employee of the U.S. National Bureau of Standards, now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Mr. Wildhack was not only very instrumental in the founding of the NCSL, but also, through his wisdom, his leadership, his dedication and foresight, he helped shape the organization during its early formative years.

The award carries an honorarium and includes a bronze and silver medallion bearing the likeness of Mr. Wildhack. This year's recipient is the 32nd individual to be so honored.

Dr. Howard Castrup has a very diverse background and took a rather circuitous route to becoming involved in Metrology. He at one time or other earned a living as a carpenter, a portrait and landscape painter, and was a boxer whose pugilistic accomplishments in 85 bouts earned him the moniker - the "Montrose Monster". He is an accomplished musician on the piano and guitar and does a respectable impression of Elvis Presley.

His formal education is equally diverse. After graduating from high school he attended Glendale Community College where he initially majored in Chemistry. He chose Chemistry because he felt that is aptitude for mathematics wasn't very strong. During his second year he changed his major to Psychology.

After leaving Glendale Community College he enlisted in the U. S. Army. On completion of basic training, keeping in mind that his formal education up to that time involved Chemistry and Psychology, the Army utilizing typical military logic, posted him to Fort Mammoth, New Jersey as a Microwave Electronics instructor.

To prepare himself for this assignment he had to teach himself trigonometry, calculus and physics. Remember, this was the fellow who a couple of years earlier thought that his mathematical aptitude was perhaps sub-par. But after teaching the Microwave Electronics class for 18 months he gained a newfound appreciation of mathematics and physics.

On completing his 3 year enlistment he took advantage of the GI bill and enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles, in 1969. In 1972 he graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B. S. degree in Engineering. Subsequently he enrolled in UCLA's doctorate program where he majored in solid state electronics with a minor in electromagnetics and quantum mechanics. He received his doctorate in Engineering in 1981.

To supplement his GI bill benefits during the Ph.D. program he applied for a job at TRW and was offered a position as a Metrology Engineer testing and calibrating RF and microwave equipment. In his second year at TRW he was assigned to a project designed to solve an interval analysis problem. It was his work at TRW that launched his career in the Metrology field and where he did his initial work applying statistical methods to interval analysis problems.

In 1980 he was recruited by Science Applications International Corporation to manage a variety of metrology R&D and system development projects, primarily focused on calibration interval analysis. He remained with SAIC for 9 years.

In 1989 he founded his own company. The first few years he performed work as a consultant to companies and organizations such as Lockheed, TRW, and NASA. It was during these years that he saw the need for software tools that could assist engineers and scientists in solving complex metrology related problems. Consequently the company focus was redirected to the development of software tools to evaluate calibration intervals, assess measurement decision risks, and to estimate measurement uncertainty. These software programs have formed the foundation of practical computer application to metrology, calibration, and test processes. He is one of the pioneers in the application of statistical methods to interval analysis and in uncertainty growth modeling. Indeed many of his contributions in the field of measurement uncertainty estimation and calibration interval determination are unique and his work is well known and respected throughout the international measurement community. His company, Integrated Sciences Group, also provides a variety of metrology related training courses.

It was during his years at TRW that he became actively involved with the Measurement Science Conference and NCSL International. His active participation in these conferences has involved presenting numerous papers and lectures, participating in panel discussions and conducting tutorials on a broad range of subjects. He is currently chair of the Metrology Practices Committee. This important committee has four sub-committees that focus their efforts on Calibration Intervals, Measurement Decision Risk Analysis, SPC Methods and Decision Support. He is also the principal author of NCSLI Recommended Practice RP-1, "Establishment and Adjustment of Calibration Intervals", which is routinely referenced by Metrologist's throughout the United States.

He has been a major contributor to NASA Reference Publication 1342, and has published numerous papers and articles on uncertainty analysis, measurement decision risk analysis, statistical process control, calibration interval analysis and continues to improve interval analysis with probability and risk analysis techniques. He is a member of IEEE, Sigma Pi Sigma the National Physics Honor Society, the American Institute of Physics, and the American Association of Physics Teachers.