Experiencing Metrology in Germany

Exploring the field of metrology from a German perspective, a group of Lee College of Engineering students visited a number of German industrial and metrology sites on nine-day trip this summer, and also learned about the culture of the country and earned three hours of course credit.

The group was made up of eight undergraduate and seven graduate students, 10 of them male and five female. The trip was organized through the UNC Charlotte Office of Education Abroad. Mechanical Engineering Professor Ed Morse led the trip.

“The purpose of the tip was for undergrads to be exposed to metrology and see how industry and research are involved in the discipline,” Dr. Morse said. “For graduate students the purpose was to exposed to them to the highest levels of metrology. And for everyone there was a cultural component of what it’s like to work with people in another country.”

As a three-credit-hour special topics course, the students did preparation work before leaving, were graded on their participation during the trip, wrote daily reflection on what they had seen, and then wrote a final report when they returned about the technical and cultural aspects of German metrology.

The trip included visits to PTB (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt), the National Metrology Institute of Germany