Don’t Run Your Calibration Lab Like Blockbuster
One of the quotes I love is by Henry Ford: “If I asked my customers what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Another quote is from Neil deGrasse Tyson: “In the 1900s, horses […]
Automation Corner
Metrology Digitalization Workshop
Last week, I had the privilege of presenting at NCSLI’s first annual “Metrology Digitalization Workshop,” a significant milestone in our field. I couldn’t help but reflect on the journey we’ve taken since 2002, when my […]
Remote Debugging in the 21st Century
Now that more jobs have a “work from home” aspect, I thought I would focus this Automation Corner on how debugging has changed over the years. Back in the late 1990s, I first started working […]
Moving Away from Waterfall Metrology
Over the years, I have had one foot in the metrology/test and measurement world and the other foot in software and software architecture. With two different perspectives, I tend to look at things from multiple […]
Thinking Outside the Box with Modular Design
We have all heard this before: Think outside the box! But this is easier said than done. It is especially difficult to notice your own blinders because we all see things from our own point […]
Diff Tools & Revision Control
Most revision control tools come with a diff tool of some kind. And if you develop software and don’t use revision control or a diff tool of some kind, I have to say, “WTF?” A […]
Will ChatGPT Replace Me?
For those of you who have heard about ChatGPT or even played with it, this question of whether it will replace me doesn’t seem to be a question of “If” but more of a question […]
The Hidden Cost of Hardware Upgrades
For years, I have been advocating and teaching the advantages of Object Oriented Programming (OOP) and why we, in the metrology industry, need to move away from script-based programming for automation. This often involves explaining […]