Navy Metrology Engineering education outreach: Inspiring and educating students about careers in metrology

Abstract

The Navy's Metrology and Calibration (METCAL) Program is essential to effective operations, important to the Navy's acquisition processes, and critical for proper and effective equipment maintenance and repair. The Navy could not operate effectively without a sound METCAL system in place. The Navy's Metrology Engineering Center (MEC) and associated laboratory has a continuing need to hire engineers and scientists to engage in executing and maintaining the Navy's METCAL system that supports the Navy worldwide. Unfortunately, it is extremely rare to find a graduating engineer or scientist that is aware of metrology. Typically, the only exceptions are graduates who have served in the military or worked as technicians before attending college. Metrology, or the Science of Measurement, is not a commonly known career field. In fact, metrology is seldom studied or discussed at any level of public or private education from grade school through college. The Navy's Metrology Engineering Center and Measurement Science and Technology Laboratory has been involved in numerous partnerships and activities in an effort to educate students, teachers, professors, and counselors at all levels in the educational system about metrology as a career field. MEC's STEM Outreach activities have been used to spread the metrology message along with partnering with colleges and universities. This paper will discuss many of the efforts that MEC has used to educate people about the field of metrology. The essence of the Navy Metrology and Calibration Program including its vast laboratory structure are provided as a foundation to illustrate skill sets and disciplines involved generally with metrology. Then, MEC's partnerships and other activities to educate people about metrology and to inspire students to consider metrology as a career field are presented. Also, specific examples of projects with professional societies and other organizations involved with metrology are highlighted and discussed. Included are MEC's various STEM outreach efforts highlighting metrology that align with DoD's STEM Outreach Strategic Plan as well as partnerships developed with local colleges and universities. The intent of the paper will be to provide a basic understanding of metrology as an important career field, show ongoing efforts to educate students about metrology, provide some examples of existing basic metrology resource material, and inspire discussion about including metrology in early engineering and science classes as well as an available career field. © 2012 American Society for Engineering Education.