Patrick McLaughlin
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Like many issues of Cabling Installation & Maintenance, this one includes several references to standards and standards-making organizations. For example, Ron Tellas mentions ANSI/TIA-758-B in his article on outside plant cabling. BICSI's new intelligent building design standard, ANSI/BICSI 007, is part of our news coverage. And we discuss the merger of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) and QuEST Forum in this issue as well.
In addition, I recently learned of an accolade that didn't make it into any other part of the magazine, but I want to share with you here. Masood Shariff, a senior principal engineer at CommScope and a stalwart member of the TIA's TR-42 Engineering Committee, received the Edward Lohse Information Technology Medal from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) this year. ANSI explained the medal "honors an individual who has participated in the development of information technology standards both at the national and international levels, demonstrated leadership in the promotion of such standards within the information technology standards community, and fostered cooperation among the bodies involved in global standardization."
Shariff has authored and contributed to countless articles, presentations, technical papers and other information sources not just about standards, but also about the technologies they address. We at Cabling Installation & Maintenance are just one of many information outlets that Shariff has enriched by providing knowledge and insight, and we are grateful for it.
We often have asserted that standards are the bedrock upon which many cabling and communications systems are built. Standards' importance to the everyday responsibilities of industry professionals can't be overstated. I'll end this column and end this year with a preview of some news for which we'll have more detail in the months ahead. Cabling Installation & Maintenance will team up with the TIA in 2018 to bring the industry a full-day meeting devoted to the standards that shape our industry, and that take their shape from our industry. We are excited to partner with the TIA on this endeavor, and are just as excited to offer this educational opportunity to the industry.
When detailed information is available, you'll see it here and at our website, cablinginstall.com. We're looking forward to bringing that detail to you soon.