By Wyatt Crosher, Assistant Director of Communications for Student Affairs
Jorian Khan knew what he wanted to do when he was searching for graduate schools, but he didn’t know what to call his desired field of study.
He just knew he wanted to improve his coffee.
“I was building espresso machines in my garage with machine tools that I had bought off Craigslist,” Khan said. “I got really into machine tools and building those things, and into machine tool metrology. At the time, I didn't know what it was called.”
Khan began researching metrology and found UNC Charlotte’s Center for Precision Metrology (CPM) in the William States Lee College of Engineering, which focuses on the research, development and application of the science of measurement. For manufacturers in the western hemisphere, CPM stands alone as the premier academic research center dedicated to the study of high-precision measurements.
This inspired Khan to enroll at the University, and ultimately led him to Charlotte’s student chapter of the American Society for Precision Engineering (ASPE).
Meeting in Duke Centennial Hall, ASPE is interwoven within the CPM, and is a key component for many metrology-focused students when it comes to both building a community and working on their respective projects, whether they be for academic or non-academic, espresso-related reasons.
Khan was instantly hooked.
“I literally came here just so I can make better, more consistent coffee,” Khan said, reflecting on his academic journey and student organization involvement. “Then, I was giving a presentation at ASPE about coffee. Before I was even doing research, these guys convinced me that I should do a 20-minute talk on building precision espresso machines.”
Khan currently serves as the ASPE chapter president and is on track to complete his MSME with a concentration in metrology and manufacturing this December. Afterwards, he will continue at Charlotte in the doctoral program.
Only at Charlotte: The Oldest Student Chapter in the Country
Charlotte’s ASPE student chapter is one of four in the country, along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the University of Rochester and the University of Texas at Austin. It is also the oldest student chapter, chartered in 1997.
The University serves as the longest-running and most prominent space for the dimensional metrology focus thanks to its research facilities, which are widely recognized as the best of any academic institution in the nation.
All of that is enough to pique a student’s initial interest, but Khan said it was the students involved that really pushed him to apply.
“ASPE was the first group of students that got me interested in Charlotte,” Khan said.
The group meets weekly on Fridays to discuss all things precision engineering, help each other with coursework or to throw ideas back and forth to the various members working within the field that are likely to have helpful tips and information.
But ASPE is a student organization that does more than only machine-oriented work. Taylor Barrett, a Ph.D student involved in ceramics and surface metrology, is also an active ASPE member who runs their NinerEngage+ marketing. Barrett emphasized how much of a community aspect the organization holds.
“We eat lunch together, we work together, we help each other with our research,” Barrett said. “Anybody who shows up with any regularity to ASPE ends up doing things together.”
Along with the weekly meetings, the student organization also features speakers from prominent names in the industry, some of which are currently on-campus like professors Stuart T. Smith and Jimmie Miller (Smith is President and Miller is the Executive Director of the international society).
Charlotte’s ASPE student chapter has also had plenty of success in the society’s annual student challenge, which invites students to design and build a precision system to showcase their abilities and problem solving based on the yearly prompt.
This year’s challenge required “manufacturing a one-minute music record on acrylic using an air-bearing spindle and a diamond cutting tool,” according to the ASPE website. Charlotte sent two teams to the Nov. 3-7 conference. The teams were sponsored by ASML, a supplier to the semiconductor industry, as their first external sponsor for the competition.
‘It’s Everywhere’
Metrology may feel like a very specific interest, but it’s a field of study that involves a little bit of everything. Andrew Thompson is pursuing his master’s in mechanical engineering with a concentration in manufacturing and metrology and serves as ASPE’s secretary of Charlotte’s student chapter. He noted how wide-ranging the focuses are within the student organization, and how it all comes together for a group that has something for everyone.
“We get projects that have a wide range of applications,” Thompson said. “You could be in the medical field, the optics field, motorsports materials, space. Like, it's not just people in metrology. We have people working in batteries, people in ceramics, manufacturing and fluids. It's everywhere.”
Charlotte has developed into an epicenter of metrology, and ASPE has woven itself into both the work within the University, and beyond. ASPE has opened the door for many networking opportunities: The student organization often has working professionals speak at events, and various companies and alumni share relevant job openings and internships with the group’s members.
Recently, Khan said ASPE has also applied for funds to have an on-campus student employee over the summer to seek out and interview University-related alumni in the precision engineering and metrology field to help document the experience of transitioning into the engineering workforce.
But what makes the student organization thrive is that it is more than just getting involved within the study: ASPE works because of the camaraderie and connections it has been able to create.
“You Google metrology education, and what you find is UNC Charlotte. If anybody knows anything about metrology and they ask, ‘Where should you go to school?’ They're going to point here,” Khan said.
“I came here for metrology, but I fell in love with Charlotte because of the other people that were here. Charlotte is special not only because it lies right at the crossroads of precision engineering and metrology. What keeps people here is the people.”
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