January 25, 2013 - January 31, 2013

January 30, 2013

After a few frustrating weeks trying to figure out how to make the thermocouple, op amp, DAQ, and LabView program to work together I have admitted defeat (at least temporarily). I have made two thermitsors and have housed them in professional looking metal shells (with the help of Brendan). They have been tested, and work relatively well. I may need to calibrate them once the epoxy on them has dried. I still plan to work on getting the thermocouples up and running but for the time being at least we have a reliable way to read temperature and report that temperature to the program in LabView. I think that is the most important thing right now, especially since we have a readiness review from J-Lab on the 7th of February.

For the rest of the day today I plan to go over the LabView program again and make it as efficient as possible.

I would also like to remind Jim that we need to have a schedule for both Jon and Leanna.

Also, I should remind Dr. Jones and Jim that items need to be ordered (ventilation items, light covers, and 22 awg solid red and black wire).

To-Do List for the Next Week

Personnel Training
 * Clean and keep clean room 405
 * Test the thermistors; Make a spreadsheet with recorded values and known temperature to compare. Maybe use the tank in real time to test everything...
 * Work on fusing fibers as soon as Jim has put the splicing unit together.
 * Iron out the LabView program
 * Work on the thermocouple and op-amp when I have time (Unless Dr. Jones would like me to finish it ASAP).
 * Come up with a plan for student workers as soon as the opportunity presents itself.
 * clean
 * Take pictures for presentation on Monday
 * Switch with someone for next Thursday if at all possible
 * Hyperlink to work progress
 * responsible conduct
 * chemical health and safety
 * msds sheets
 * Standard operating procedure
 * supervision of at least one shift
 * Jim doing spot checks
 * students never unsupervised
 * I report to Jim
 * Have a training checklist so that we can look and see, at a glance, who has taken what training courses and who has been trained on what equipment in the lab.