The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) continues its support and coverage of advancements in the precision dimensional metrology industry, as it has done for more than three decades. One of our key strengths has been the professional women in our membership ranks. They have been and continue to be key CMS leaders. Acknowledging their roles is long over due. It is important not only to recognize those women who have crashed the glass ceiling in our industry, but to inform others that a career in metrology can be incredibly rewarding.
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It is no secret to our members that a career in metrology is genuinely gratifying. Most of us are working with high-end precise equipment and software to ensure complex systems get built quickly and precisely. Dimensional metrology is involved in almost every new large-scale system including airplanes and aircraft carriers, cars and their production assembly lines, power generation systems, new telescopes and satellites to name a few.
Moving forward, we will shine a spotlight on women metrologists and their contributions and successes. In the process, this will help us all gain a better appreciation of the value metrologists bring to industry. That said and to be fair, I will only share a brief story about one of our brilliant professionals, and the different stages of her career that deserve recognition. We will follow this article up with additional articles, CMS Corner interviews, and a presentation of Women in Metrology at the 2019 CMSC conference.
I would like to start with a woman that has played a long-term leadership role for our society. Rina Molari is a metrology expert and mentor to every new metrology system user, engineer, and developer. Like most of us, Rina got her start in metrology on a chance opportunity. She took the challenge and turned her passion, knowledge, and hard work into a successful and proud career.
Rina got her first taste of how metrology systems where going to shape new technology developments while employed by General Dynamics in 1983. She worked to develop one of the first digital photogrammetry systems. She had started at General Dynamics as a land surveyor, but when asked if she knew how photogrammetry worked, she made that classic Rina response, “Yeah… we can do that!” Her work was focused at how they could use a digital camera to quickly and accurately measure new systems while they were being built on the shop floor and then after they were in use. Her instincts were spot on, as that is one of the first and most valuable applications for our large-scale metrology systems today. She also helped introduce multiple computer-aided theodolites to accurately build and inspect aerospace tooling. Once she found the Coordinate Metrology Society, she became the chairman multiple times and now continues to contribute leadership as our treasurer.
Our spotlight on the Women in Metrology will continue at the Coordinate Metrology Society Conference, July 22–26, 2019, in Orlando, Florida. Please mark your calendar for the conference next year.
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