QVI donates equipment to establish metrology lab

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Leslie Gregg

QVI trainer Thomas Loewenguth trained undergraduates Jorge Mendoza, Connor Reiss and Jasmine Phan on new equipment donated by the company to establish a Metrology Lab in CAST’s Department of Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology.

Quality Vision International recently donated three optical contact and laser measuring systems to Rochester Institute of Technology to establish a new Metrology Laboratory at the university.

The donation brings together QVI, a Rochester-based leader in automated measurement systems used extensively in manufacturing quality control, with RIT and its mechanical, manufacturing and electrical/mechanical engineering technology program to help prepare students for careers in advanced manufacturing.

A dedication and demonstration of the new equipment takes place at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 2 in the new Metrology Lab located in RIT’s Golisano Hall, room 1160. Representatives of QVI and RIT will be participating in the dedication, and several students in the mechanical/manufacturing engineering technology program will work with QVI staff to demonstrate how the new equipment would be used.

Each of the system components in the new lab, valued at more than $175,000, has the ability to verify the quality of designed parts to the level of microns. This type of measurement equipment is essential across industries to assess the quality of precision parts used to build automobiles, airplanes, defense department systems and electronic devices, for example.

“We’re proud to support RIT’s expanding programs in design and advanced manufacturing,” said Keith Polidor, QVI vice president. “To be competitive in today’s manufacturing environment, businesses must continuously improve their product design and production processes. Metrology is the essential process control feedback that enables manufacturers to improve quality and costs. We hope our equipment can help students to understand the impact of their design and manufacturing decisions.”

Three high performance measuring systems have been installed in the Metrology Lab, located in RIT’s College of Applied Science and Technology. The systems include an OGP SmartScope Flash 302, high performance multi-sensor measuring system with optical, laser scanning and touch probe sensors and Zone3 CAD-based metrology software; a CC-14 bench top optical comparator with integrated video measurement capabilities; and a QVI SNAP large-field-of-view digital measuring machine with intelligent metrology software for automatic measurement of manufactured parts.

Metrology is the science of measurement, and it is used to verify that parts manufactured in industries such as aerospace, automotive, defense and health care meet the original design intent. QVI invented and patented many of the optical and multi-sensor measurement technologies that are used today in these industries. Founded in 1945, its headquarters and manufacturing operations are located in Rochester, N.Y. with regional facilities in Ohio, Arizona, Germany, Hungary Singapore, India and China. The suite of equipment installed in the new lab is the same found today in U.S. and global companies.

“We are honored to partner with QVI, a global leader in measurement technology that is headquartered here in Rochester,” said H. Fred Walker, dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology. “The new metrology lab will add another dimension in experiential learning for our students enhancing the quality of their education, training and workforce preparation that will help set them apart from their peers in a competitive global marketplace.”

Experiential learning in the lab prepares current students for co-op experiences and eventual engineering jobs in a wide variety of industries, said Robert Garrick, professor, and associate department chair in RIT’s mechanical/manufacturing engineering technology department.

“Our students will be able to experience the full product development process, from computer-aided design of a product to the computer-aided manufacture of that product. Now they will be able to also understand the measurement and quality assurance aspect of the process,” said Garrick, adding that the ongoing relationship with QVI could include staff training, research opportunities and the company’s experienced staff included as subject matter experts in advanced courses. “Our students will be able to hit the ground running in engineering positions with this experience and training.”

S. Manian Ramkumar, MMET department head agreed. “The MMET department is grateful to RIT for its initial investment, and to QVI for its sizeable donation, enabling this partnership and establishing the Metrology Lab.”