Here is your monthly dose of my Canadian engineering news created for licensed and aspiring engineers, geoscientists and technicians in Canada.
Thanks for reading and have a great month!
Gavin Simone, P.Eng., PMP, LEED AP
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Thank you for reading. This month’s question is, what requires accurate measurements inĀ your engineering work?
I’m always designing parts that need to fit generally within existing structures, so having a roughed in design of the space helps in the design process.
This question begs the follow-up question: “define accurate”?
But for my water cooler answer I’m going with: acceleration. I am currently working on a project that determines rotational velocity of a motor using accelerometers. The accuracy of the acceleration measurement directly impacts the RPM measurement which is a critical parameter used for other system functionality.
I’m in the field of aluminum guard rails. We take field measurements of balconies, stairs, walkways, etc. Accurate measures are important for our fully welded railings to fit.
Hi Gavin
As a Civil Technologist, in the field I measure distances between manholes and catch basins on the road, swales and grading for new lot plans.
Hi Noor,
Great use of the technology. Thank you for the comment.
Iām a building code consultant and part time contractor, the measuring tape and measurements are my best friends. From staircase to door frames and window frames. With weather conditions that are cold there should not be any leakage through any place in the house.
Thank you for making the newsletters. It’s great.
My work typically involves measuring accurate distances between the floor and ceiling.
Hi Gavin,
Something that requires accurate measurements in my line of work is home renovations. Recently I completed a renovation on an existing building with drawings that were wildly incorrect and needed to red line the existing set to move load bearing columns, built up beams, interior walls and everything of the sort!
When completing these measurements, it’s critical to have a trustable level of accuracy such that when the new design goes to the guys on site we can trust that ordering new trusses and aligning new wall sections things fall where they should!
Cheers,
Colin
Hi Colin,
Thank you for the comment and your contribution.
Always inspiring me with your newsletters. Thanks
As an engineer doing field work, it’s critical to take very accurate measurements to take back to the office and integrate my designs
Thank you for this month’s newsletter.
We manufacture Cage and Rack washers, and we typically require accurate measurements of the pit of the washer on the install site. Thanks
Distance from transition cabinet to FPP bay, to have proper risers measurment.
In commissioning, measuring is used to determine distance of cables, lenght of pipe, etc.
As part of the forensic engineering aspect of my job, I complete detailed reviews of existing building structures that have undergone some form of damage (i.e fire damage, vehicle impact, etc). Recently I was involved with the review of a residential home that was partially damaged due to a fire.
I had to take accurate measurements of existing sound components of the house which include the dimensions/heights of the rooms, location (X & Y coordinates) of wood studs, knee walls heights & locations at the attic, the thickness of the wall assembly & foundation wall, and etc. With these measurements, I design new components to be connected to the existing building structure. It’s important the measurements are accurate such that I can design for practical solutions and to ensure that the new building components are in-line with the sound existing components of the home. The contractors use my drawings to construct the new portions of the residential home. Errors in measurements can possibly result in additional costs and/or construction schedule extensions imposed on by the contractor which is undesirable for the owner. Accurate measurements are vital to my engineering work.
Regards,
Milirsan
Hi Gavin,
Thanks for the newsletter. In my field of work, taking accurate measurements is important to ensure that contractors have installed equipment & piping per the site plan, and that manufacturers for fiberglass and precast have produced pieces that match shop drawings.
I verify and certify area measurements of built spaces. Accurate measurements are critical for this.
any parts we purchase from a vendor. We dont always get drawings or models and have to make them ourselves with good accuracy or it may not fit as intended. Also verifying vendor parts to make sure that any literature we have was accurate otherwise we either recieved the wrong parts or need to adjust the fit.
My latest field of work is food manufacturing. I participated in the design and operation of various processing systems such as blending systems where various parameters related to the raw materials and final product need to be measured accurately such as temperature and weight (which indicates quantity). Measuring distances accurately is also imperative in my work. For instance, measuring required clearance around control panels.
Best,
MZ
Hello,
My career is bringing interior plastic parts to production. The most complicated parts are usually the air registers. Bringing the effort values into spec involves a lot of precise measurements and mold tuning.
I reverse engineer a lot of vendor parts that we aren’t able to get CAD models for. Measurement mostly done by vernier caliper
Radio simulation results, the more accurate information we feed to the system the more accurate the prediction results we get and the closest approximation we get to how the radio signal would propagate on the terrain and clutter.
Hi Gavin,
We need an accurate measurement in our packaging system. our packaging machines (especially cappers) are using different cap sizes and we need to accurately measure the distance between cap gripper and our star wheel feeder to make sure the caps are taken and fasten on bottles with proper torque.
Regards,
Edwin
Accurate measurement is require for every part of my work as a project manager. It helps to have accurate budget for projects.
Thanks for another insightful newsletters. I do really to engineering work anymore but in the world of tech consulting, the # of billable hours do require some accurate measurements š
I create parts that usually fit into places that are fairly tight but don’t have models. I usually do quick measurements of the existing parts to make sure what I design will fit without interference
When designing HVAC systems for hydroponic facilities (ex. cannabis plants), accurate measurements of environmental conditions, specifically temperature and humidity, need to be taken in order to correctly size and design the most efficient systems for these facilities. Maintaining strict control of these measurements is also crucial to achieving optimal product growth and performance.
Hi Gavin,
Thank you for another newsletter!
I am using accurate measurements of various kinds: from machined parts with tight fit (caliper / micrometer / dial) to layout creation for final product installation (measurement tape).
The laser measuring tool might be very useful for the latest application š
Michael
Measure downs for manholes and utility chambers are a pain to take with measuring tape and a bob, laser would be great for this.
I am currently doing renovations of my home and require very accurate measurements.
I do a lot of design reviews of existing undocumented industrial structures. Accurate measurements are key for preparing accurate models and analysis.