Tell us how your software was used

My career was mostly the control of blowing bubbles in sewage. Our systems would save about 10% to 20% of the energy used in treating wastewater, which in turn uses about 2% of the total energy in the US.

A dirty job, but somebody ......

If you have an ATT cell phone, T-Mobile device or Tivo equipment in the US, it came to you courtesy of conveyor systems and packaging equipment running on my programs.

If you drive a Ford, BMW,or any multitude of car engine or drink cans of coke and even if you eat yogurt (Europe), chances are my software has had a hand in production.

Steve

All the PLC/SCADA software I did between 1989 and 2008 helped to make organic pigment which went into printing inks for glossy magazines and newspapers in the UK and post-1997 in China too....

#sigh#............

Both factories taken over by BASF and eventually closed and flattened....

#sigh#....


Now using my experience and expertise to produce high-quality MDF and Chipboard for a Canadian company based in Central Scotland though....!

If you drive a BMW, you can thank me that your car doesn't fall apart. Or that the paint job is as nice as it is.

If you've ever squirted a hypertonic saline solution into a nebulizer, my code helped make sure the ampoule was filled with the correct volume. My code also helped ensure the purified water the solution was made from was free from contaminants.

TL140 said:

If you drive a BMW, you can thank me that your car doesn't fall apart. Or that the paint job is as nice as it is.

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I did work in your plant as a contractor back in 99...they do take their paint jobs serious...any defects and they told us they crushed the bodies.

deanfran said:

If you've ever squirted a hypertonic saline solution into a nebulizer,...

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I always wondered who did that...

I've done work in various industries over the years, but I got my start in the mining industry, because there is so much mining right here in my own backyard. My first big PLC project was a blending system for producing spec grade aggregate for manufacturing cultured marble countertops. I've also done numerous lime and cement kilning projects over the years.

Other industries that I've worked in include sawmills, paper mills, pigment plants, waste water treatment facilities, coal fired power generation plants and foundries. In the food industry, I've done software for ice cream and bread production. I've also made various program changes for existing control systems at Honda and Chrysler/Fiat automotive production facilities, although I've never been responsible for creating a new application in the automotive industry.

Back in the 80s, many industries routinely turned to outside contractors to handle their automation projects, but nowadays, it is far more common for manufacturers to have extensive in-house expertise. I doubt that I'd encounter opportunities in such a wide variety of industries had I started my career in automation today.

These days, I work with a relatively small company and the bulk of our work is in support of local lime kilning operations. I always enjoyed my work back during my heyday, but I don't miss all of the travel, now that I'm a grandfather nearing retirement.

If you work at GM in Indiana and wonder where your plants biogas comes from- Yeah, I did that compression and dehydration system.

If you use electricity down in Argentina near the new 580MW Siemens powerplant, I did the fuel loading/unloading system for the facility.

Now, if you have locking lugnuts on your car, I probably yelled at the machines that made them... lol

I do a lot of water/wastewater, so if you've ever taken a dump in AZ, you might have my software to thank

Also, if you've eaten eggs or drank a glass of milk in the southwest US or if you feed your dog Purina...

Well, how should I put it? If you use Internet, most likely the network packets in the form of electric pulses went through parts that were built on an assembly line I have written programs for.

LadderLogic said:

Well, how should I put it? If you use Internet, most likely the network packets in the form of electric pulses went through parts that were built on an assembly line I have written programs for.

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Al Gore?

Boeing down here in Melbourne actually make a lot of parts for the 787 Dreamliner. I programmed the machine that picks up the assorted carbon fibre wing skin pieces to place them on a jig for machining.

Pretty basic vacuum lifter with adjustable spring loaded vacuum cups and custom recipe profiles for different parts, but still pretty cool knowing what it was used for.

My work was used to automate "stuff". The automation contributed to less skilled position being eliminated, thus contribute to higher unemployment which created a lot of angry people that helped to put in power demagogue that leads to global war which will result in the end of human civilization as we know it.