Aerospace | Defense

The Aerospace | Defense category contains Case studies and blogs related to aerospace and defense services.

What’s a Co-op Experience at ITM Like? 

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University of Cincinnati Mechanical Engineering Co-op Student

University of Cincinnati Mechanical Engineering Co-op Student next to the Bearcat statue.

Check out the Q&A with a recent UC grad who gained real-world experience doing hands-on learning

Brandon Walsh’s career came into focus in a powerful way during one of his co-op experiences with ITM. The 23-year-old recent University of Cincinnati graduate remembers the moment. He was watching a rocket launch from a distance while on an assignment with an ITM crew in Florida. 

“Just watching it go up into the sky and disappear while watching a livestream and hearing updates on the rocket was pretty incredible,” he said. “It was very neat to see. It was a good five seconds after the launch that I heard and felt the blast.” 

Walsh, who grew up in Fort Thomas, Kentucky, knew then that he wanted to learn all he could about aerospace. The mechanical engineering graduate is now pursuing his master’s degree in aerospace in a joint degree program that has him splitting time between UC and the University of Bordeaux. 

He credits his ITM experiences for helping him lock onto his dream. Walsh co-opped with ITM in the summer of 2021 and again in the summer of 2022, so we caught up with him to learn more about his adventures.

Q:What was it like when you first started at ITM?

A:I enjoyed it from the start. During the interview, they talked about all the projects they do and all the traveling. That piqued my interest. Near the end of the interview they took me down to the lab and showed me some of the projects they were working on and all the tools that they had. Being able to go out to different parts of the country to work on various projects and having a lot of in-house projects to work on really interested me.

Q:You had co-ops at a couple of larger companies before coming to ITM. How would you compare the experiences?

A:I definitely got to do a larger variety of things at ITM. At the two previous companies, I was more set in a certain department and had a certain thing I’d do every day, every week. But at ITM I got to do a lot more hands-on stuff as well as the digital/computer side of things.

Q:What types of projects did you work on at ITM?

A: We did a lot of aerospace work, so trips to a space flight company. We worked on different rocket parts and got to see the process and talk to the engineering teams. We worked at an electric vehicle battery factory up in Michigan doing strain gauging. I got to go to West Texas to work in the oil fields on a project. It was just neat to see different parts of the country that I hadn’t really seen before, too.

Q:How was it getting such a wide exposure?

A: It helped further my education and understanding of the topics and things that I was working on.

Q:What stood out from your time in the lab at ITM?

A: Just seeing how this small company was making all these very precise and nice looking panels for (a world renowned equipment company) was really impressive. I got to practice and work on my skills soldering and using a drill press and taps and other tools. 

Q: So, a lot of helpful hands-on work?

A: Yes. I’m definitely better at soldering now than when I started.

Q:Talk to me about the culture at ITM.

A:I enjoyed working with all the different levels of people there. It was easy to talk to all of them, and they had different amounts of knowledge and ways to relate to me. They were able to provide different pieces of advice and things that helped me along the way.

Q:Did the experience at ITM help shape where you wanted to head with your career?

A:Yeah. Definitely. It really confirmed that I want to go into aerospace. I hope to work in the field of aircraft or spacecraft. 

Q:So seeing a rocket launch in person ignited something in you?

A: Yeah. That helped open my eyes.

For more information about employment or co-op opportunities contact Josh Fishback via phone: (844) 837-8797 or email: josh.fishback@itestsystem.com.

ITM Recruiting Full-Time Engineers at UC’s Fall Career Fair

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ITM Recruiting Full-Time Engineers at UC’s Fall Career Fair

University of Cincinnati students have an enormous opportunity to make a career-changing connection during the Professional and Technical Career Fair on Thursday, September 15.

Integrated Test & Measurement (ITM) will host a booth during Technical Day 2 of the event at UC’s Campus Recreation Center. Interested students can find ITM representatives from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Our firm is interested in filling full-time roles for students graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, mechanical engineering technology, electrical engineering, electrical engineering technology and aerospace engineering.

In addition to seeking full-time hires, we are searching for talented students who are interested in experiencing a dynamic and fulfilling co-op opportunity where you will have a chance to learn through exciting, hands-on engineering projects around the country.

ITM is a structural test & measurement engineering service and software company in Milford, Ohio,  that focuses on three vertical spaces: Industrial Monitoring, Testing Services, and our configuration based test software, iTestSystem.

ITM offers competitive compensation and benefits and a career filled with travel and new learning opportunities. ITM was founded by Tim Carlier in 2001 to help companies around the world reduce costs and improve efficiencies in their product development, manufacturing and production activities.

Interested candidates should stop by our booth inside UC’s Campus Recreation Center from10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 15 and/or email a resume and cover letter to: josh.fishback@itestsystem.com.

Our team will also be drawing for free hats and T-shirts, so be sure to find us during the event to learn more about ITM.

Rockets, road trips and paper mills 

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Why an ITM team trekked across Alabama several times in the same week 

Our team should be intimately familiar with the three-hour stretch of I-65 between Prattville and Decatur, Alabama. They drove it four times in about as many days during a recent work trip.  

The team had been on a troubleshooting assignment to a rocket-building NASA partner that needed help with what appeared to be failing sensors. They had no idea that what seemed like a fairly straightforward trip would soon become far more interesting and logistically challenging. One phone call later though, and they were dispatched 166 miles south to a paper mill client. 

Upon arrival, they began commissioning new Acosense technology on the plant’s process lines. Integrated Test & Measurement is an exclusive U.S. installer of the Swedish technology that can constantly monitor and analyze liquids inside a pipe with non-invasive clamp-on sensors. 

The small crew proved themselves both flexible and adaptable by pulling double duty as they served both clients for the better part of a week. Rocket work one day. Back in the car. Paper mill the next. Back in the car. And so on until both jobs were complete. The week could serve as a microcosm of the variety of work ITM engineers balance regularly. 

“That was a challenging week for this crew for sure,” said ITM President Tim Carlier. “But it was all interesting technology and gave the team a chance to troubleshoot newer equipment. So it was a good learning challenge for us and an example of our dedication to meet the needs of our clients.” 

ITM engineers and technicians experience a wide variety of projects and travel opportunities. For some, the real joy is working with their hands on site, while others prefer the more technical activities such as computer assisted design or relying on their social skills during customer interactions. 

Ultimately, we do what it takes to deliver — even when that means burning up the roads in Alabama to get the job done.

For more information about our strain gauging and testing services contact Ryan Welker @ (844) 837-8797.

ITM Co-op Helps Engineering Student Set Sights Even Higher 

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ITM Co-op Helps Engineering Student Set Sights Even Higher 

Tyler House’s dream career began to come into sharper focus during his spring co-op at Integrated Test & Measurement.

After four months at the Milford, Ohio, firm the University of Cincinnati electrical engineering student headed into his summer feeling both excited by his work experience and inspired to emulate ITM CEO Tim Carlier one day by starting his own company.

“I know I want to do something I love,” said Tyler, who had just returned from a trip to Disney with his girlfriend to celebrate the end of the semester. “I’d like to start my own company someday. I’ve been poking at that idea. Definitely a big dream of mine is having that freedom and doing something that means a lot to me.”

Perhaps the only thing that equals Tyler’s love of engineering is his love of music. He and a few fellow graduates from Clermont Northeastern (CNE) high school started a band called Wishbone, which has started lining up local gigs to cover rock and blues tunes stretching back a half century.

Tyler’s two worlds collided on the last day of his co-op when a couple of engineers from ITM dropped into his band’s “first bonafide show.”

“It was so much fun watching their reaction,” said Tyler, who employs his electrical engineering skills to repair the band’s gear when things inevitably break. “I love that they came.”

Coincidentally, like Wishbone, ITM’s entire leadership team — the CEO, VP of Operations, Lead Programmer and Administrative Director — are all CNE graduates. For Tyler, seeing that level of success from the same small high school as him was only more of a confidence lift.

He loves the entrepreneurial and inventive culture at ITM, where staff members are constantly tackling new challenges. “It’s really just a great place to figure out what you are into,” he said.

Tyler found himself learning a ton about Fusion 360, a cloud-based 3D modeling program, while researching mechanical properties and simulating failure modes on a bolted joint. He said he spent about half his co-op in the office doing things like assembling Data Acquisition (DAQ) boxes and the other half on the road working on-site. Experiences included everything from climbing inside massive paper mills to helping gather data on equipment operating in remote locations all over the country.

“In talking with my friends who have had co-ops, it’s hard to get to work in a place where you feel like you can make a difference and actually help fix problems,” said Tyler. “I definitely felt that. I learned really fast about how to deal with mistakes and just general problem solving.”

Besides the on-the-job learning, he loved exploring new places, national parks and more with the ITM crew after hours. He’s hoping to pick up some work helping ITM with any projects through the summer, and he’s interested in returning during his next co-op rotation in Spring of 2023.

Meanwhile, he’ll keep poking at his dream of someday owning his own company.

“You just have to go out there and get it,” Tyler said. “If you are aggressive about it, you will fail a bunch. But you’ve got to be able to get up off the ground and just keep rolling with it.”

For more information about Co-op or employment opportunities at ITM, contact Josh Fishback via email at josh.fishback@itestsystem.com or phone at (844) 837-8797 x705.

Modern Tools Series: What’s In The Box?

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Modern Tools Series: What’s In The Box? 

This box reveal may not be quite as dramatic as the ending of “Seven,” the ’95 serial killer thriller that blew moviegoers’ minds, but the ITM team is throwing open the latches nonetheless. 

In this case, our team is taking you on a quick tour of a recently deployed Rugged Data Acquisition System. These particular black boxes of tech are riding around on high-dollar fracking equipment to remotely monitor all sorts of triggering events. Our crew builds them on the regular, and the end result is that our clients can better understand what sorts of stress, strain and vibration is taking place both en-route to their site and once operations begin.  

ITM is known for building rugged measurement systems and data logging solutions that are deployed on everything from Class A trucks, to well frac trailers, to dam and bridge structures, oil pipelines, gensets, boilers and more.

So, without further ado, what’s in the box?  

We recommend a handful of essential components and elements if you are looking to build your own rugged measurement system:

  • An Industrial Embedded PC. We love the Nuvo-7000LP. Another favorite is the Advantech UNO-2484G-9S55. 
  • You’ll need industrial grade connectivity, and you can’t beat Peplink’s cellular router options. And remember to outfit that unit with an AT&T or Verizon plan and get that activated card installed. 
  • A remote desktop application is a must, and we usually turn to LogMeIn for our remote access and file management. This allows us to pull up any of our units no matter where they are in the world to check in on status or grab some data for our clients. 
  • Speaking of data, depending on your job, you’ll likely need lots of data storage capability. Our preference is a 2 terabyte USB drive, which gives us an almost unlimited amount of space. If needed, we can store about six months worth of data before hitting capacity.
  • Since our industrial PC is running Windows, we use iTestSystem, our proprietary engineering measurement software platform that enables test engineers to organize, acquire, view, and analyze data from machinery, processes, vehicles and other complex systems.
  • To complete the box, our industrial PC is connected to an NI c-DAQ outfitted with strain, vibration and voltage modules.
  • What about power you ask? In our fracking instance, we connected to an alternator which charges a bank of batteries in the RAC. 

So there you have it. That’s what’s in the box. Build your own, or get in touch with our team, and we’ll customize a system for your specific needs.  

We also install and service all of our equipment. So if something breaks in the field, we can get you back up and collecting data or even assist with data analysis.

For more information about our rugged data acquisition systems, on-site system deployment or data analysis services, contact Josh Fishback via email at josh.fishback@itestsystem.com or phone at (844) 837-8797 x705.

 

ITM gives back to UC’s future engineers

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ITM gives back to UC’s future engineers

The team at ITM spent half a day at the University of Cincinnati recently in an effort to invest in the next generation of engineers.

Integrated Test and Measurement President and Founder Tim Carlier volunteered to judge senior capstone projects developed by students in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. Joining Carlier inside Great Hall of UC’s Tangeman University Center were Josh Fishback, ITM’s administrative director, and Chase Petzinger, a computer engineer with the Milford, Ohio, engineering firm. 

A few of the projects they judged included a Mars Rover prototype, a homemade emergency rescue drone and an autonomous object avoidance system that uses lidar technology to prevent crashes. 

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Josh Fishback of ITM Judging UC Senior Capstone Project
Tim Carlier of ITM Judging UC Senior Capstone Project

As a whole, ITM’s crew left campus feeling encouraged by the impressive engineering skills, presentation styles and ingenuity of UC’s students. For Carlier, a day like this is an opportunity to connect with young people entering the industry. While he is always on the lookout for potential co-op connections or to recruit talented employees, building relationships and supporting young engineers is the main objective. 

“These guys and gals are going to be out in the workforce, and they will have jobs that could use our services someday,” said Carlier. “It is exciting to see how well they are doing.” 

 For Fishback and Petzinger, both UC alumni and former track and field athletes, it was a chance to return to their alma mater.  

 “It is always good to come back and see how UC has progressed,” said Fishback, an accountant who graduated from UC’s Lindner College of Business. “I like seeing how the students carry themselves and how they present their senior design projects. I was pretty impressed.” 

Petzinger was excited to see his favorite professor’s name — Thomas Mantei — had been added to UC’s Engineering Research Center. He also found it helpful to learn what types of programming languages today’s students are favoring.  

“They are doing a lot more web-based machine learning now than when I was on campus,” said Petzinger. “It is pretty interesting to see the direction things are going. They knew their stuff. I didn’t have a single student stumble over a technical question that I gave them.” 

Carlier handed out business cards to those he engaged with and invited them to connect on LinkedIn so he could follow their career achievements.

For more information about Engineering or CO-OP positions at ITM contact Josh Fishback via email at josh.fishback@itestsystem.com or phone at (844) 837-8797 x705.

Endless Testing Options Through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) 

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Design Validation Finite Element Analysis

Design Validation Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using strain gauge measurements.

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Endless Testing Options Through Finite Element Analysis (FEA) 

Whether our customers need us to validate their Finite Element Analysis (FEA) models or perform both the physical testing and the FEA, our engineers are used to helping customers with complex testing and analysis of high-value equipment. 

As a recent example, our team is involved in a large-scale project to do engine testing for a client that requires ITM to do both the physical testing as well as the FEA simulations. This requires using a custom high-channel count telemetry system to transmit engine data to a receiver that is sampling at an extremely high rate. 

“Once you are able to bring in the test data and compare it to the simulated data, you are able to fine tune your FEA simulation to better reflect the real-world application,” said ITM engineer Ryan Matthews. “We can also simulate the test in software and predict how it is going to react to the test when we can actually measure such things as strain, stress and vibration.” 

Matthews points out that FEA technology also helps the team determine the precise best placement of strain gauge during physical testing. And depending on complexity, a single simulation can take a few seconds or months to run. 

For obvious reasons — mainly the cost of bringing high-value assets to failure — running repeated strain gauge tests on components simply isn’t feasible, but ITM’s in-house capabilities and close partnership with sister firm SixDOF opens up endless FEA simulation options to clients. 

“Sometimes you are only going to be able to test a structure or a part once before it fails,” says Matthews. “So it becomes crucial to do a limited number of physical tests then correlate that to your FEA. Then you can pretty much run unlimited simulations.” 

For more information about our testing, strain gauging, and FEA modeling services contact Ryan Welker via email at ryan.welker@itestsystem.com of phone @ (844) 837-8797.

Going Old School to Deliver New Solutions

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High-tech measurement systems? Not a problem.

Complex data acquisition or custom software solutions? Right in our wheelhouse.

At ITM, these kinds of challenges have become commonplace in our lab, but one recent project that hit our doorstep stretched our engineers, and not for the reasons you may be thinking.

Our customer wanted an old-school manual operator control station. Think classic-style red and green, push-button start and stop controls, which they wanted to energize various parts of a large test cell for a military marine application.

The ask was a bit out of ITM’s typical range of services simply because most systems they develop don’t require manual control stations to run their equipment. Instead, their customers usually opt for computer-controlled testing, which ITM crafts regularly. Still, the job required a complete CAD design, a custom cabinet enclosure and hundreds of electrical components to be designed and assembled, which our team successfully delivered to the satisfaction of the client.

Modern Integration

The same customer also wanted to be able to collect complex data from the tests, and ITM, of course, delivered on this challenge as well thanks to its proprietary iTestSystem software, which computer engineer Chase Petzinger deployed to build a custom DAQ. 

iTestSystem is an engineering measurement software platform that enables test engineers to organize, acquire, view and analyze data from machinery, processes, vehicles and other complex rugged measurement systems. iTestSystem was specifically designed for use with NI cDAQ or FieldDAQ hardware for data collection and data logging, so it was no stretch to equip it to pull down data from the military equipment test. 

In the end, the job required running new-school modern technology to handle the data collection and reporting simultaneously alongside the old-school analog operator control panel. From successfully assembling hundreds of electrical components to deploying custom software that can handle hundreds of channels of data from a wide variety of sensors at once, ITM truly showed its range on this project.

Control System Video

For more information about our iTestSystem or ITM’s testing services, contact Ryan Welker @ (844) 837-8797 x702.

Strain Gauge Installation – M-Bond AE-10 Epoxy

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This video shows how to install a strain gauge on a curved surface using M-Bond AE-10 two part epoxy. Watch an ITM test technician walk through each step of the M-Bond AE-10 strain gauge installation procedure.

ITM Going to New Heights with Aerospace Clients

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Rocket on Launch Pad

A commercial airliner touches down and brakes safely so hundreds of passengers can exit at their destination. A solid rocket booster separates from a space flight as the main payload overcomes gravity to head into orbit. A military drone completes its mission over enemy territory. 

In a very real way, the team of engineers at Integrated Test and Measurement (ITM) goes along for the ride during plenty of crucial moments in the aerospace realm. From doing data collection to measure the stress load of an airplane’s landing gear to installing strain gauges on rocket components to gather more than a thousand channels of data, ITM’s testing and measurement services are going to incredible heights.  

Ryan Welker, ITM vice president of operations, says their aerospace partners most often turn to the Milford, Ohio, engineering service and software company for their expertise in testing and design validation, particularly if the project involves complex strain gauge work. 

“A lot of times when you are dealing with aerospace requirements, it involves challenging materials. You aren’t just working with steel, and it’s quite a bit different installing strain gauges on titanium or carbon fiber. It makes the installation process a little more challenging, but we’ve been taking tough measurements in extreme environments around the globe for 20-plus years. Our experience in strain gauging is more of an art than a science.” 

Welker points out that ITM won’t hesitate to put boots on the ground for their aerospace partners who have complex challenges. That was the case when a high-end aerospace company rang him up in desperate need of structural testing on a crucial component ahead of a launch. Though the job would require several people on-site for multiple months, Welker and team made it work. They installed strain gauges around the clock for three months so their client could complete crucial validation testing on a design. ITM delivered, and the client made their deadline. 

Often during these intricate instrumentation processes, the ITM team employs the capabilities of their custom iTestSystem software to monitor stresses during complex assemblies. Aerospace companies may also rent ITM’s custom-built acquisition hardware to record data, even if it means that ITM needs to conduct onsite demonstration, support or help with analysis. 

“We don’t just offer the ability to run a test,” says Welker. “We train your folks to use it.” 

In the end, ITM offers innovative test solutions and a range of aerospace testing services designed to help the industry develop superior products and processes.  

Key Services for Aerospace Clients 

Strain Gauge Installation 

Installing strain gauges in the field for structural and fatigue measurements requires expertise and experience. Our field service technicians and engineers have installed strain gauges on structures and machinery around the globe for decades. Whether you use our iTestSystem software to stream and analyze strain signals for static measurements and real-world fatigue data acquisition, or contract our software engineers to build a real-time strain monitoring system, we will make sure you acquire quality strain data for your aerospace project. 

Structural and Mechanical Testing 

Our team of engineers have decades of experience in performing structural testing in  aerospace and many other markets. Testing services include Impact Testing and Modal Analysis, Structural Dynamics Operating Tests, Data Logging and Unattended Data Acquisition. 

Our engineers can assist you with any part of the testing process. This includes test planning, onsite sensor installation and data acquisition and remote test monitoring. 

High Channel Count Structural DAQ Systems 

In our work, we often collect strain, vibration, voltage, and other signals simultaneously that require well over a thousand total sensor channels. Network synchronization technology embedded within the NI cDAQ chassis allows users to account for the sheer number of channels during these structural tests. The true secret to our success in these high-channel jobs has been our iTestSystem software which leverages the cDAQ’s synchronization technology while providing an intuitive data acquisition and sensor configuration and setup. 

Rugged Data Acquisition Systems for Rent 

If the right tool doesn’t exist, build it. For years that has been the approach ITM engineers have taken when it comes to gathering data and building tests for clients. And after decades of performing structural testing in aerospace, off-highway, automotive, industrial and many other environments, we’ve built up an impressive line of custom Rugged Data Acquisition (RAC) Systems which will perform under harsh testing conditions.

For more information about our DAQ Rental Hardware, data collection or Testing Services, contact Ryan Welker via email at ryan.welker@itestsystem.com.