A Brief Introduction

What comes to mind when you hear someone say they are going to school for instrumentation? If you're like the 90 percent of people I encounter, your mind immediately pictures guitars, pianos, drums, clarinets, or a combination of musical devices. Now how about the term instrumentation technology? This is where most of those individuals are lost.

Wikipedia defines instrumentation as "a collective term for measuring instruments used for indicating, measuring and recording physical quantities." This is basically the gist of it. Obviously one can go much more into depth with this, but for the sake of simplicity, I'll cover some of the basics.

If you're like me, you were/are probably under the assumption that instrumentation technology is exclusive to areas such as mine sites, power plants, or factories. While much more elaborate and complicated instrumentation systems are used in these settings, simple instrumentation is found in your home. Take a look at your thermostat; this is a great example of a temperature controlling instrument. The unit senses the temperature inside your home using a bi-metallic strip. A needle on one end of this strip rotates with a change in temperature, thus creating a shift in the mercury switch. The mercury creates contact between two electrodes and this activates the furnace. Now think of your vehicle; this has numerous examples. Whether it is the temperature of the engine, the level of antifreeze, or the pressure in your tires, all modern vehicles use the interaction of a sensing element and the transmission of a signal to give you feedback on your vehicle's condition and needs. So instrumentation, at its most basic, is simply a collection of devices that measure, record, and control temperature, pressure, flow, level, weight, and several other physical quantities. It's a lot more prevalent than what most people think.

So what does this mean for the average person? To you, it may mean simple convenience. To me, it means a career and an opportunity to challenge myself on a daily basis. Technology is continually advancing, so the demand for individuals who are willing to study and prepare for the duties in the field of instrumentation increases with it. Today's society is incredibly fast paced and the need for vehicles, medical equipment, food, entertainment, and many other necessities has only increased as well. This higher demand requires a faster and safer approach to production. Integrating instrumentation into a process to make it automatic is that approach. There is certainly no doubt in anyone's mind that this type of advancement is not going away, but rather, will only expand. Instrumentation technology has benefitted so many directly or indirectly, and it will continue to do so in the near future.