Mr. Mike Frisz

Mike Frisz started his metrology career in the us Air Force. Enlisting in 1994 having chosen PMEL (Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory) as his career field, Mike went on to managing the DC/LF laboratory before leaving in 1998. Mike left the USAF in 1998 and began working for Simco Electronics in San Diego CA until 2001 where he spent time doing commercial calibrations for local industry that included pharmaceutical manufacturers and hi tech companies that require onsite calibrations all over Asia. In January of 2001 Mike got married and moved to his home state of Florida and began working for Tony Anderson, past NCSLI president, at the Orlando based Guildline Instruments Inc. facility. While working for Guildine, he became the technical and Laboratory Manager overseeing the calibrations of DC/LF operations and supporting the sales activities. When Guildline Instruments Inc. was renamed in 2005, Mike continued to work for Tony Anderson at the newly renamed Gulf Calibration Services (GCS) where he focused on sales of metrology equipment from Transmille Inc from the U.K. and Alpha Electronics from Japan. In June of 2008, Mike left GCS and began working for Measurements International (MI) in the Orlando office. While there he has provided sales engineering, technical support, training and product design for many of the top metrology laboratories in the us and NMI’s as well.

Mr. James Smith "Smitty"

Jim (Smitty) Smith is a 30 year Test & Metrology professional currently working for Boeing’s BT&E (Boeing Test & Evaluation) in Various Test Asset Management roles around the U.S. Starting in rural Illinois Smitty joined the US Navy leading to a career in Metrology/Calibration spending four years as a Navy “Instrumentman” calibrating a wide variety of Physical, Mechanical & Dimensional instruments in support of Fleet activities. Then recruited, by McDonnell Douglas Aerospace he applied his calibration training and experience to the Space industry, with MDC later merging with Boeing. Since entering the civilian workforce in 1988 Smitty has worked as a Calibration specialist, Instrument Standards Technician, Equipment Management Analysts, Trainer, Sr. Quality Engineer, Project Lead, Test Engineer/Scientist and Sr Project Manager. Currently the 140 Lab Operations VP, his career with NCSLI has taken him from Orange County Coordinator in 2000 to Publicity Chair to Membership Chair, The 155 Committee “TEAM” (Test Equipment, Asset Management), Southwest Region Coordinator and now to his present VP position. Smitty has been married 27 years to Jennifer Smith, whom he served with in the Navy and is a Management professional for Southern California Edison, they have three children: Darren, Cody and Jessica all in the vocational trades and residing in Southern CA. Mr. Smith has a B.A. in Business Administration from the University of LaVerne, is an ASQ CCT, with additional studies in Vocational & Industrial science, Marketing and Management. He also is a practitioner of “Life Long Learning” and adult practical training philosophies.

Ms. Danae Powell

Danae Powell started her career in metrology in 1986 as a Test Measurement & Diagnostic Equipment (TMDE) Technician in the USMC. Her background includes the alphabet soup of regulated industries to including DOD, FCC, FDA, cGMP, DOE, FAA, SAE, IATF, and NRC. Working in multiple industries and disciplines has given her an opportunity to experience the field of metrology from many perspectives. She is passionate about training up the next generation of metrologists and driven to see metrology advanced as a recognized critical infrastructure to nearly all areas of business. Danae joined Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) in the Energy & Environment Nuclear Sciences Division working as a Metrologist for Radiation Measurements and Irradiations (RMI) at the Hanford site in Richland, WA in 2022. She is also currently serving as the National Conference of Standards Laboratories International Vice President Industrial Metrology Programs and is active in multiple working groups.

Dr. Jon Harben

Chief Metrologist for Keysight Global Services Organization where he is responsible for global metrology decisions. Previously, he served as a Metrologist at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) where he worked in the Standards Lab, maintaining electrical reference standards for multiple measurement disciplines. He joined Keysight Technologies in Santa Rosa, California in 2013. Jonathan earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida, and a Masters degree in Optics from the University of Central Florida College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL). Jonathan has been active in NCSLI since 2010 and serves as Vice President of the Board’s Standards and Practices.

Mr. Mark Lapinskes

Mark spent over 20 years in the US Army TMDE (Metrology) field. His jobs ranged from Calibration Technician to Team Chief then finally to Instructor Supervisor in the Calibration School at Keesler AFB, MS. He went with the Army’s move to relocate the school to Redstone Arsenal, AL where he later retired. After a brief tenure with Yulista at the Army Primary Standards Lab at Redstone, he took the position of National Technical Training and Support Manager with Sypris Test & Measurement. In this role, Mark has worked on interactive training, training databases and curricula, quality assurance, applications engineering, uncertainty analysis, and setting up new capabilities in the Sypris Primary Standards Lab and throughout their national network. After the acquisition of Sypris in 2009, he presently continues in this role with Tektronix Inc., and also manages their Flexible Staffing Team.

Mrs.Helga Alexander

Helga Alexander is the Calibration Program Manager for International Accreditation Service (IAS).  She is responsible for assessments, maintenance, renewals and other activities related to calibration laboratories pursuing IAS accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025.  She is also responsible for providing training for the ISO/IEC 17025:2017 standard, measurement uncertainty and other calibration related topics for assessors and laboratories. She is also involved in accreditation at the international level, being the Convener of the Asia Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (APAC) Calibration Working Group, as well as being a member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) Metrology Working Group.  She is also a peer evaluator for APAC in the field of calibration.

In previous roles, Ms. Alexander served as Quality Systems Manager for Southern Research in Birmingham, Alabama, and Metrology Manager for Keithley Instruments in Cleveland, Ohio, where she implemented the ISO/IEC 17025 standard in the primary standards laboratory.  

Throughout her career in metrology, Ms. Alexander has been active with NCSL International, a trade organization for metrology professionals, serving on various committees.  She is currently the Region Coordinator for the NCSLI’s Southern US Region. Ms. Alexander received a BS in physics from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and an MS in Physics from Cleveland State University.  

Mr. Edward O'Brien

Edward O’Brien is currently the project leader of the Alternating Current (AC) Laboratory at Sandia National Laboratories Primary Standards Laboratory. In this position, Edward supports measurements throughout Sandia with a focus on pulsed voltage & current, AC-DC Difference, impedance, turns ratio, time and frequency. Edward graduated from SUNY Binghamton with his Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering and was part of the SURF program at NIST during his undergraduate studies.

Mrs. Ingrid Ulrich

Ingrid Ulrich is currently the President of IMU Holdings, providing executive advisory services in the areas of financial and operational management to both privately held and public corporations. She previously held the position of Vice-President, Operations & Administration of Transcat Canada Inc., which operates the largest commercial calibration service company in Canada, for seven years from 2014 to 2021. Ingrid began her career with Ulrich Metrology in 1996 as Controller, and subsequently Chief Financial Officer, and then President from 2004 until 2014, year that Ulrich Metrology was acquired by Transcat. Prior to joining the company, Ingrid had a nine-year career as a Chartered Professional Accountant with the firm Richter where she worked as an audit manager and advisor to owner-manager companies.

Ingrid first joined NCSLI in 2004 as a member and participant in the Canadian Region activities. She was named Secretary in 2009 followed by Canadian Region Coordinator from 2010 to 2012. Ingrid then assumed Board of Director roles as NCSLI Canadian Division VP in 2013 as well as NCSLI Treasurer from 2013 to 2016. Since 2017, Ingrid maintains her commitment to NCSLI as the Canadian Division Vice-President.

Ingrid graduated from McGill University with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1987 as well as a Graduate Diploma in Public Accountancy in 1988. She was admitted to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants in 1988, and later received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Concordia University. Ingrid resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with her husband, three children and Wheaten Terrier named Riley. She enjoys travelling, alpine skiing and eating chocolate, and is an avid soccer mom.

Mr. Patrick Jester

Patrick Jester is the Director of Corporate Compliance at Michelli Weighing & Measurement, headquartered in Harahan, LA, and he is President/CEO at Blackthorn Consulting Group, Inc. in Baton Rouge, LA. He is an A2LA Assessor for ISO/IEC 17025 Calibration Laboratories and serves as a member of the A2LA Accreditation Council. Additionally, Patrick serves on many NCSLI Committees. He also serves as the ASQ Measurement Quality Division Representative to the Standards Committee. Patrick earned his Juris Doctor from Southern University Law Center in 2018 where he found his true calling and passion to equip leaders. Patrick considers himself a full-time student of leadership and enjoys speaking on leadership when and wherever given the opportunity. With 16 years of experience in Metrology coupled with strong legal and business acumen, Patrick brings a unique skill set and perspective to Measurement Science.