ITM Blog Posts

The Blog Post category contains blog posts associated with ITM’s testing services, LabVIEW programming, Test & Measurement Hardware, Boiler Monitoring Systems, and iTestSystem applications.

ITM connects with future engineers at UC Career Fair

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UC Career Fair from Above

ITM connects with future engineers at UC Career Fair 

Mixed among the buzz of voices inside the massive six-court gymnasium at the University of Cincinnati Technical Career Fair this week, ITM connected with a ton of impressive engineering students. 

Potential full-time employees and co-op students heard for the first time about our engineering firm in Milford, Ohio. It is always a joy to watch their eyes light up as we share the projects our team has the opportunity to deploy across the country and around the world. 

The aerospace students hear that we work on rockets. The mechanical engineering students learn of the rugged measurements we collect on massive machinery. And the computer programmers discover that we’ve spun up our own software products. 

The reaction is almost always the same: “Wow! I had no idea.”  

For our team, the day is equally as fulfilling as we connect with the next generation of engineers eager to get to work and apply their knowledge. 

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. 

Are you a current student or recent graduate who loves adventure, travel and has an entrepreneurial spirit? Discover a culture driven by innovation at ITM. Check out our job postings or fill out our co-op questionnaire (/jobs/). 

Come Visit our Booth at the UC Career Fair

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Looking for a new career?  Come visit us at the University of Cincinnati Career Fair!

Where: UC Rec Center, Booth G18
When: Sept. 15th, 2022  –  10AM – 2 PM

For more information about available jobs, contact Josh Fishback via email: josh.fishback@itestsystem.com or phone: (844) 837-8797.

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.

Printed Circuit Board Strain Testing – JEDEC-9704A

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ITM Employs JEDEC-9704A to Test Strain on Printed Circuit Boards 

ITM Employs JEDEC-9704A to Test Strain on Printed Circuit Boards

ITM Employs JEDEC-9704A to Test Strain on Printed Circuit Boards 

Every modern electronic device includes at least one printed circuit board, so it stands to reason that these intricate parts fail at times due to stress and strain. 

When that happens, manufacturers know they can turn to ITM’s test engineers who can develop tests to help get to the bottom of their circuit board problems. For some, the failures are happening in the field, and for others, it’s the manufacturing process that’s overstressing the parts that make all our gadgets go. 

Engineer Ryan “RJ” Matthews said ITM has decades of experience with printed circuit boards (PCBs), including circuit board design and development. So, strain gauge testing on PCBs using JEDEC-9704A, the global standard for microelectronics, is a natural progression for the team. 

Matthews has led recent projects in which ITM helped companies determine how much strain and stress their PCB is experiencing both in the field and during the assembly process. Simulating the assembly process can be a daunting challenge, particularly if that process includes variables such as high heat, as it did in a recent example. 

Still, the team was able to instrument the circuit board effectively and replicate every assembly step while also gathering crucial strain data, which they reported back to the client. The challenging test environment isn’t unlike ITM’s typical rugged data acquisition projects, just on a much smaller scale. The firm specializes in strain gauge data collection on everything from behemoth off-road machinery to miniscule gadgetry. 

Matthews said the team often employs NI c-DAQ hardware combined with ITM’s proprietary iTestSystem software, which allows them to easily configure PCB tests to collect and analyze the data. iTestSystem’s Rosette Analysis tool is used to calculate the principal strain, principal strain angle, shear strain, principal stress, and other values from strain gauge rosette data. 

For more information on this work, our strain gauge testing services or iTestSystem, contact: Ryan Welker – Integrated Test & Measurement (ITM), LLC – ryan.welker@itestsystem.com 

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.



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.