Every scientist probably believes that their branch of science is the most important, from astronomy to zoology. Ask a metrologist, and they probably will say that without metrology and metrology tools, the world would simply fall apart. As the science of measurement, metrology is crucial to keep people safe and keep economies going.
What Is Metrology & How Does It Support Society?
Without proper measurement standards, our lives would be vastly different. Imagine if a liter of gasoline meant something different in Tanzania than it did in France or if an ounce of medicine in Luxembourg was a different amount than an ounce of the same medicine in Guatemala.
Metrologists are the scientists tasked with creating standards for measurement so that a pound in Madagascar is the same weight as a pound in the United States. If measurements varied from place to place, this would cause economic issues as well as creating unsafe conditions in factories, in construction and many other endeavors.
For instance, in 1999, a NASA Mars orbiter was destroyed because the engineers used English measurements rather than metric. Mistakes in measurement can be catastrophic, which is why it’s essential that people not only use the correct measurement units (metric vs English) but also that all measurement units be standardized.
What Do Metrologists Do?
There are three different types of metrology. Scientific metrology refers to the metrologists that work to establish measurement standards, which surprisingly do change from time to time. A scientific metrologist might work for the International Bureau of Weights and Measures or perhaps the National Institute of Standards and Technology.
An industrial metrologist would be a person that works with various instruments to ensure that these instruments are calibrated and working properly. This might be a person that works in an industrial setting for the creation of new products, such as a new car. They might also be called in to test machinery and equipment to everything is calibrated perfectly. In some cases, equipment needs to be calibrated daily, while other pieces of equipment might only need monthly or even just yearly calibration.
A legal metrologist is a person concerned with metrology as it relates to commerce and trade. Basically, the create regulations and enforce regulations regarding metrology. For instance, as a very simple example, let’s say a company is selling fabric by the yard but the yardstick they use is actually several inches shorter than a true yardstick.
This would mean that the customer was being charged for fabric that they did not receive. This practice would be illegal. Obviously, legal metrologists aren’t running into fabric stores studying yardsticks, but this illustrates the point that standards in measurement are crucial in order to protect consumers and trade in general.
Metrology Tools & Warren Knight
As for our own part of the metrology world, at Warren Knight, we produce a variety of metrology tools to aid in calibration. We also provide NIST-traceable calibration services for our clients, as well as providing repairs for metrology tools and calibration equipment.
When it comes to the repair of metrology tools or optical tools, we have a huge advantage over other repair services. If you need a new part or component for your equipment, we don’t have to wait for parts to arrive from another company. If you need a part, we can just make it for you, saving you time. All of our repairs include the complete disassembly of the instrument, complete lubrication of each part and a thorough cleaning of all the parts.
If you need metrology tools or optical instruments such as alignment telescopes, alignment collimators, wye telescopes, dioptometers or perhaps a jig transit, we can provide you with just about anything you might need, and we offer custom design, so if you don’t find quite what you need on our website, we probably can design it for you and we have more than 100 years of experience on our side.
In addition to metrology tools, we can provide you with surveying equipment, such as theodolites and surveyor’s compasses, navigation equipment, leveling equipment, boresights and many types of clinometers, including pendulum clinometers, drum clinometers and scale ball inclinometers.