I worked during summer 2020 at Ocean Networks Canada, a company that streams real-time data collected from instrument arrays placed on the ocean floor. They have a backbone underwater cable that all the arrays connect to through a series of nodes. During recovery of one of the instrument arrays, staff noticed that the platform’s legs […]
At one of my workplaces, we used high DC voltages (375V) for our instruments. To create a more consistent setup than an assorted 10 mixed power supplies, someone in the past had set up the racks. Each rack contains voltage conversion circuitry to step down to the labeled voltage, and a TCP server that be […]
At one of my co-op work terms, the company had a 3D printer that was used for printing various fixtures as well as faster prototypes. The printer was stationed in a supply closet, so they asked me to use an old ethernet camera so the print’s progress could be monitored remotely. After looking into it, […]
At my third engineering co-op job, I was presented the opportunity to design a new lifting point for our autonomous underwater glider. The original lift point now had a scientific instrument strapped to the top of it, meaning a new lift point was required. The lift point would primarily be used during deployment and recovery […]
At Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) there is a relatively small saltwater cylinder tank that they use to test their scientific instruments. The main type of instrument tested in this tank is called a CTD, which measures conductivity, temperature, and pressure (depth). They sometimes also measure turbidity, oxygen content, or other data. These instruments are calibrated […]
At my first engineering co-op, we sometimes had unplanned outages. After an outage, there also was little communication on how long outages had lasted, what systems were affected, and what was being done to stop them from happening in the future. My manager felt that we could use some more transparency with these events, so […]
During my first engineering co-op I was tasked with the automation of various tasks, using the power of scripts. My first major project was for the training coordinator for the company, to try to take some of the tedious manual work off of her plate. The current method for on-boarding new hires was that a […]