History

May 9, 2006

Dear Reader:

Several papers on the use of “Mathematical Methods in Radiation Processing” were presented during the International Meeting on Radiation Processing (IMRP) 2001, March 25-30th in Avignon, France. A core group of individuals decided it would be advantageous to work together to advance the know-how and use of this technology. We could share experiences, develop consistent approaches to modeling throughout the world, assist in problem solving and would secure international regulatory acceptance much faster than working on an individual basis.

Dedicated individuals volunteered forming a steering committee, developed bylaws, wrote a mission statement and created a formal management structure for this special interest group, called “RPSMUG”. NIST hosted the first “kick-off” Technical Meeting on November 1, 2001 and members of the steering committee formed the first Board of Directors.

Members undertook numerous initiatives. The RPSMUG website was created and launched. Confidential US Homeland Security related activities were undertaken and completed. Two educational models, PK-Trainer and EB-Trainer were tested, debugged and courses then delivered to Ethicon Endo-surgery and Steris Isomedix, among others. Several presentations were made at industry meetings in North America and Europe on the state-of the-art with respect to modeling and RPSMUG. Mediscan hosted the first European chapter of RPSMUG, known as RPSMUG-EC, on February 24, 2006.

RPSMUG organizational objectives continued to be refined and developed, in particular:

Identification of the drivers and challenges of implementation of modeling tools
Creation of educational courses that deal with a complex subject, and still foster the learning experience
Undertake benchmarking experiments in irradiation facilities where real dosimetry measurements are taken, against which computer codes could be tested and evaluated
Cultivate effective working relations with trade organizations, government laboratories and academia
Build an association that benefits individuals and their companies, while enabling competitors to develop a unified industry approach to modeling.

Under an elected Board, Members and Volunteers continue to make significant progress in the evolution of RPSMUG. Our membership is increasing with more participants from both companies that own irradiators or use radiation processing to treat products. Significant benefits are being realized as companies implement modeling to lower costs, accelerate the time to market for irradiated products, better manage process and product complexity and enhance quality systems.

We welcome practitioners and interested individuals to join RPSMUG and continue with our quest to advance the use of mathematical modeling for radiation processing.

Sincerely

Board of Directors