Standardization News

Over the years, the value of an ASTM membership has grown significantly. For example, we’ve added many new features and tools to enhance your experience in the standards-development process. With that in mind, I thought it prudent to share all the exciting benefits that come with your ASTM membership.

As a member, you’re entitled to a free volume of the ASTM Book of Standards in print or online, with access to many standards within your industry. The online version also comes with the benefit of Compass, featuring redlined standards, historical versions, version compare, research reports, and much more.

In addition to discounts on standards, an ASTM membership also includes reduced fees for symposia and workshops, as well as free meeting attendance – allowing for the opportunity  to network with a diverse group of the world’s leading technical experts during ASTM’s in-person and virtual standards-development meetings. Many ASTM members have made lifelong friendships through attending ASTM events. This past January, I was delighted to have four members of D18, all with more than 50 years of membership service, join Chair Bill Ells and myself in a ceremonial first cut of our 125th anniversary cake. I love to hear them talk about what ASTM has meant to them over the years.

With membership, you’re also able to access the MyCommittees page, which includes customized space for gathering your meeting materials and the agenda creator tool, as well as access to roster and meeting minutes and agendas. And you’ll have 24/7 access to ballots so you can track the progress of key votes and work items.

In recent years, we’ve also seen the expansion of a variety of additional online features available to members including collaboration areas, Online Meeting Platform Access, and the Online Terminology Dictionary. You’ll also have the opportunity to take advantage of onboarding and leadership training. 

And it goes without saying that you’ll have direct access to staff support, readily available to answer questions, provide guidance through the standards-development process, and so much more. I’m biased, but I believe ASTM staff are some of the best in the world. 

Of course, there is one value of membership that is perhaps the most important: the ability to effect meaningful change across industries, from spaceflight to steel to sustainability. 

As an ASTM International member, you have the unique opportunity to significantly impact your industry by developing, revising, and maintaining voluntary consensus standards that underpin safety and performance. By the very nature of the work put into these standards, they can be dynamic and responsive to the needs of a given industry at a given point in time.

To me, there is no greater value than this. As a staff manager for ASTM’s consumer products committee, I was always impressed by the ability of members to make an impactful difference for consumers through the development and revision of key standards. As ASTM’s president, this feeling is amplified tenfold, and I am fascinated by the development of new standards that support traditional activities such as petroleum and steel and emerging industries like additive manufacturing, robotics and automation, and exo technology, to name just a few.

It’s never been a more exciting time to be an ASTM member. We hope you enjoy membership as much as we enjoy and value the expertise you bring to ASTM.

Visit go.astm.org/membership for more information.

Katharine E. Morgan
President, ASTM International