KerMetric time is a concept that divides the day into 100 equal parts called kermits. Each kermit is equivalent to 14.4 minutes. More precise time can be counted by dividing by 1000 or even 10000. The name kermit came from a combination of the surname of Dr. Larkin Kerwin, president of the National Research Council in 1983, with the word "metric". The original working model of KerMetric time as conceived by W. Thayer of NRC was assembled by the designated Clock Construction Team of John Phillips, Ron Hawkins, Les Moore, and Willie Thayer in 1983.