It is my privilege to recognize all the thousands of experienced people who, during the past 60 years, developed the technical documents, trained new generations of specialists, and provided the best solutions for environmentally-controlled facilities and processes. Future generations, worldwide, will benefit as the requirements for revised standards are defined to meet the challenges. In my long career in the fields of ultra-clean spaces, ultra-pure water, chemicals and gasses required in laboratory and process applications, I can appreciate the partnerships that have been successful for their missions. The Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST) will continue to be the leader. Thank you IEST and all those that volunteered to keep the clean room standards updated with technology.
About the Author
Clifford “Bud” Frith has enjoyed a challenging career focused on contamination control, environmental sciences, and standards for ultrapure processes and analytical applications. A 1960 graduate of the Virginia Military Institute and commissioned in the USAF, he was a pioneer in the space program as a Chemical Engineering Officer. Leading programs to develop new methods and standards for ultra-purity, he is an author and international lecturer. Bud is an IEST Fellow and a Technical Editor for the Journal of the IEST. Lt Frith was on the original team to develop major revisions for USAF TO 00-25-203, Standards and Guidelines for Design and Operation of Clean Rooms and Clean Work Stations. His focus and experiences were “how clean is clean.” In the early 1980s, Bud was CEO and founder of two technology-based instrument companies for quality measurement and control of ultrapure water and environments. These companies focused on special facilities, processes, and analysis. ANATEL® Corp developed the first online, real-time instrument to measure total organic carbon (that is, TOC) in ultrapure water at the parts per billion level. The second company developed an industrial PC-based data acquisition system for monitoring critical fluids and controlled environments. He is a specialist in alternate methods for improving distilled water for the laboratory and critical process water. Bud has chaired ASTM and NCCLS [currently named Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI)] subcommittees for laboratories developing standards. He has served on boards of private and nonprofit corporations and held senior executive positions in public corporations. He is currently involved in projects for nanotechnology applications and was a pioneer before this term was commonly used. He states “nanotechnology is becoming the next big advancement for our technologies and commercial economies.”