Seventh International Symposium on Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments

Abstract

The Seventh International Symposium on Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments was held on 6–8 September 2005 at the University of Huddersfield, UK.Although originally held in the People's Republic of China, the popularity and relevance of the Symposium has been such that it has grown into an international event attracting many distinguished participants from around the world. Such is the nature of the Symposium that its programme is allowed to reflect to some degree the particular strengths of the host institute, in this case the Centre for Precision Technologies at Huddersfield University. Although relatively young, the Centre has quickly become a focus in the UK and EU for surface metrology and related subjects under the expert guidance of Professors Jiang and Blunt.The bulk of the Symposium papers, after peer review, have been published by Institute of Physics Publishing in the Journal of Physics: Conference Series, together with a selected number of posters. However, those papers deemed best to reflect the aims and objectives of the Symposium have been published separately in this special issue of Measurement Science and Technology. Many of the current problems of surface and nanometrology are addressed in this issue. These include the measurement, characterization and instrumentation of the areal (3D) properties of surfaces as well as their standardization, traceability and underpinning mathematics. Also included are some aspects of `free form geometry' and many other related subjects. Traditional sensors and instruments have not been neglected; they ensure the continuity of subjects between this and preceding symposia.It is hoped that this special issue of Measurement Science and Technology will stimulate more research work in the fascinating and highly relevant subject of Measurement Technology and Intelligent Instruments.