Hello all!

Today started off similar to how yesterday ended, as we redid five tests on the ECMs for accuracy.  I just realized I never actually figured out what “ECM” means, but here’s a picture of what I’m talking about:

Without filter

Filter pieces

With filter

After finishing, we went to a biometrics presentation, where they gave us free food (boo-yah) for lunch. The presentation was pretty interesting, especially when he started discussing physiology. I also happened to see my peer, Emily Lane, there as well.

After the presentation, we headed back to start working on placing various filters in plastic containers so they could equilibrate. After blowing them with nitrogen gas, we placed labels and filters in them. However, a 125 take a long time… Almost 3 hours, in fact. Guess what took up the rest of my afternoon?

Here are some pictures of the process:

The filters

Checking for dirt

Placing in container

Sealing container

Hope you enjoyed this post,

Cameron L.

Hey all!

Cameron here (of course?). So here’s how my first day has gone. I met Mrs. Michelle, as shown in my earlier post, before I had an intro session about the program. After the session, we went on a tour of the building, meeting several of her coworkers along the way and we were also promised a demonstration of one of their experiments, where they test the effectiveness of firefighter gear. Sounds cool, right? Well, the guy actually has to stand, in the gear, and exercize in various positions for 30 minutes, all the while being in a wind tunnel with Fluorescent aerosol flown around. Afterwards, they sit in a uv light area while the scientists determine where they need to reinforce the gear. I think it’s awesome they just sit there and glow…

Anyways, after the tour we tested several ECMs by lighting a kerosene lamp and placing them in this thing:

The kerosene lamp is in the right compartment, while the ECMs are in the glass door. They use pumps to take in the smoke, and then we evaluate their efficiency by checking for white lines, which indicate blockages (these are bad, if you don’t realize…). A picture of the graph is below!

After a couple of tests, we left and went to a safety meeting (concerning the department, not me :P), where we met this guy:

This is Mr. Stan Parker, head of security at RTI, and I gotta say… Doesn’t his moustache look awesome?! Literally, I want that moustache when I grow up. Now I only need to grow facial hair…

Other than his awesome moustache, Stan Parker is also pretty nice, and has some very interesting, if not fun, stories.

After meeting Mr. Parker, we went to lunch, had a delicious cheeseburger and fries (I know what I’m eating for my two weeks!) and then headed back to the office to continue working with the ECMs. After a ton more tests (all of which were perfect, if I do say so myself), I was offered the chance to try it by myself. Mine vs. the master’s is below.

The Master (above)

Mine (above)

They’re pretty close, right? The control (left) has a palm tree-like blockage, and the test (right) is ideal (as in, no blockage) for both. A job well done, if I do say so myself.

After receiving a delivery containing more ECMs, the day ended. Tomorrow, we go back to testing them. I hope you enjoyed my post!

Thanks,

Cameron L.

First meeting with Mrs. Michelle McCombs.