Why does everyone think the calibration techs are EE's??

Started by USMCPMEL, 03-03-2011 -- 12:44:51

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griff61

#15
10-16-2013 -- 14:24:16
Quote from: spanishfly25 on 10-16-2013 -- 12:58:23
In a way we are Engineers.   Calibration engineers and we have to learn as much as an engineer. the only think we are lacking is the diploma
And the paycheck...
Sarcasm - Just one more service I offer

CalibratorJ

#16
10-17-2013 -- 05:28:31 Last Edit: 10-17-2013 -- 06:46:49 by CalibratorJ
Quote from: griff61 on 10-16-2013 -- 14:24:16
Quote from: spanishfly25 on 10-16-2013 -- 12:58:23
In a way we are Engineers.   Calibration engineers and we have to learn as much as an engineer. the only think we are lacking is the diploma
And the paycheck...
Ditto.
I have seen techs get completely ignored in a meeting with mostly engineers (that the techs were asked to attend since they are the SMEs) when the tech offered a way to fix something or improve a process. Yet, that same tech can tell an engineer sitting right next to them, he/she pitches the idea, and all of the other EEs and MEs in the room suddenly jump on board, since it came 'from one of their own'.

Disgusting.

Hawaii596

#17
10-17-2013 -- 15:45:08
I have an assessment I give to applicants for PMEL positions.  It isn't a lot of high level theory.  It is a set of questions about a lot of different calibration disciplines that for a PMEL person experienced in that discipline it should be pretty easy.  Butif you haven't worked in that discipline, you won't know the answer.  Here is one of the questions.
Q.  "Thermocouple Type" is best described as:

a. A letter designator (J, K, T, E, etc.) for two dissimilar metals of a thermocouple.
b. The method used to fabricate the thermocouple.
c. Wire gauge of the thermocouple.
d. The maximum usable temperature of the thermocouple.

To someone who has worked with thermocouples, it is a really simple question (some other questions are more difficult).

I asked at what temperature the triple point of water occurs.  I asked a multiple choice about what the amplitude of 0 dBm is into 50 ohms, a cable loss question.  I asked if a simple 0-100 Volt DC analogue meter has a spec of +/-1% F.S., at 50 Volts DC what would be the upper and lower tolerance limit; what is NIST traceability, current and voltage drops in simple DC circuits, calculating temperature coefficient of a gage block (simple question); a question about verifying harmonic distortion on a spectrum analyzer; what does a megger measure; order the following DMM's from least accurate to most accurate...

Very simple questions to someone with experience.  I have given this to quite a few techs.  It has pretty universally told me their experience level.  Having a BSEE degree provides very little advantage in how well someone scores on this assessment. 
"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
from lecture to the Institute of Civil Engineers, 3 May 1883

USMC kalibrater

#18
10-18-2013 -- 08:40:35
How about:
What is torque?
What is pressure?
What is the unit of mass in Imperial SI units?
What is the difference between mass and weight?
What is a mole? (besides an animal)
Jason
"Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet." -General James Mattis

spanishfly25

#19
10-18-2013 -- 09:36:16
I like the one,  what is hotter,  -40 degrees F or -40 degrees C   also what is heavier a pound of gold or a pound or cotton (everyone gets this one wrong)

Hawaii596

#20
10-18-2013 -- 13:35:12
I actually use the -40C versus -40F trivia question as a gotcha with people.
"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
from lecture to the Institute of Civil Engineers, 3 May 1883

measure

#21
11-07-2013 -- 08:30:48
Quote from: spanishfly25 on 10-18-2013 -- 09:36:16
I like the one,  what is hotter,  -40 degrees F or -40 degrees C   also what is heavier a pound of gold or a pound or cotton (everyone gets this one wrong)

A pound of cotton, because gold is measured in troy ounces, cotton in avoirdupois.

Hawaii596

#22
11-07-2013 -- 10:19:47
If you drop a feather and a 1 inch diameter steel from a height of 10 feet - in an absolute vacuum, which one will hit the ground first?
"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
from lecture to the Institute of Civil Engineers, 3 May 1883

Squidley

#23
11-07-2013 -- 10:43:36
Here is a video of that experiment...  :evil:  :-o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XJcZ-KoL9o
Douglas J. Baird, USN(ret),

Hawaii596

#24
11-07-2013 -- 12:51:47
Just to stir the pot a little.... I work with so called "High Vac" calibrations.  My vacuum chamber pumps down to somewhere around 3 x 10-7 Torr (mmHg).  A vacuum chamber made of borosilicate glass is likely only to support absolute pressures of in the range of 200 mTorr (2 x 10-1 Torr) or so.  I did some reading and found that more sophisticated testing with High Vac values requires a better chamber - such as the metal chamber on my MKS vacuum system (an absolute vacuum is unattainable in theory).

However, after re-watching the video a couple of times, it is pretty plain that even when pumped down to maybee 200 milli-Torr or so, the descent rate of the feather already sped up quite a bit - approaching that of the heavy weight.  I'd never actually seen a video of that, so it was cool to watch.
"I often say that when you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)
from lecture to the Institute of Civil Engineers, 3 May 1883

spanishfly25

#25
11-08-2013 -- 11:58:38
they have a few videos in youtube,  search for hammer and feather.

Mr.Steve

#26
09-15-2015 -- 00:52:30
Has anyone heard of the term "Specialized Experience"?  I'll hire someone with Specialized TMDE/PMEL Experience over a person with an EE degree any and everyday of the week. 
Be Kewl!!!!

winstongood1

#27
09-16-2015 -- 14:22:19
I would like to thank Spanishfly25 and Hawaii596.  I spoke to some fellow techs here in our lab and they failed on the -40°F and -40°C, and the feather/hammer in vacuum.  They did the temp conversion and watched the video of vacuum and now they are believers.  :-P
"A measurement is not an absolute thing, but only relates one entity to another."
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