European Committee for Standardization (CEN) and European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC) are working hard to develop European Standards. For the first time, the two committees have published a combined annual Work Programme that gives an overview of the most significant standardization activities to be carried out in all the fields and sectors that they are dealing with, as machinery and materials.
In relation to machinery, CEN will proceed with standardization work regarding the safety of elevators on offshore drilling rigs. The committees will also work on additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, that is a process that involves making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. Each new object is manufactured using an additive process, in which layers of material are laid down in different shapes. CEN and CENELEC are paying close attention to European research and development activities in relation to additive manufacturing, notably through their joint strategic Working Group on Standardization, Innovation and Research. In 2014, CEN will continue to liaise with relevant research and development activities in order to identify potential standardization activities in relation to additive manufacturing.
CEN and CENELEC are also working on nanotechnologies and nanomaterials, that are important in many fields of scientific study, with practical applications across a wide range of industry sectors. Nanotechnologies and nanomaterials are enabling important innovations in many different areas such as aerospace, chemical engineering and materials. CEN and CENELEC will develop standardization activities regarding nanotechnologies and nanomaterials, working in close cooperation with ISO and with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (EC mandate M/461). The committees also will organize a conference to present the first outcomes of ongoing standar-dization activities in this area, and to encourage and facilitate the involvement of relevant stakeholders.
