• Question: What new engineering specialty skills have you developed during the past year?

    Asked by 584fuee25 to Chris, Paul, Priyanka, Ryan, Sarah on 14 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Christine Coonick

      Christine Coonick answered on 14 Mar 2016:

      Another great question. The new skill I have gained this year is being able to complete thermographic surveys.

      Sometimes it is possible to spot early signs of stress and material breakdown in solar panels by using an infrared (IR) camera. Basically electrical resistance shows up as a hot spot on the panel. However as with most electrical items heat is generated as part of the operational process so it is a real skill being able to spot what is potential degradation and what is just normal operation.

    • Photo: Priyanka Dhopade

      Priyanka Dhopade answered on 14 Mar 2016:

      During the past year, I’ve actually learned a lot. I normally tended to work on computer models but recently, I’ve learned how to work with my hands and actually build things!
      I built a real version of my computer model and got to experiment with it and confirm some of my computer predictions. This was pretty exciting.
      I learned how to:
      – design things out of Perspex (a type of plastic)
      – how thermochromic liquid crystals work (they’re also inside those “mood rings” you can wear on your finger that change colour with your body temperature)
      – how to make heat transfer measurements using these liquid crystals

      A lot of fun!!

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