Under the microscope: Weighing in on women in engineering

An #INWED22 blog post by Georgette Macdonald, Director General, NRC Metrology Research Centre

No, as a kid I didn’t dream of growing up to be the Director General of the NRC’s Metrology Research Centre…. But I’m so glad to have found my path here.?

Metrology is not in most people’s vocabulary, but measurements, and the science of measurement, underpin much of what we take for granted in our daily lives: Are we growing at a reasonable rate for our age? I was so happy when I hit 151 cm, sadly I topped out at 158, not that you’d know it when I wear my favorite shoes.

Are we getting what we pay for at the gas pump and the grocery store? Will the dose of radiation therapy be strong enough to kill the cancer and targeted enough not to kill the healthy cells around them? Will we be on time for that flight? How much pollutant is the plane actually emitting into our environment?

Our global measurement system is based on an international treaty that was first signed in 1875, when some of the brightest scientists of the time came together to agree on a common set of measurement standards and definitions and their governments decided that uniform measurement was worth political support. The Metre Convention, one of the oldest international scientific treaties, continues to provide a framework for the world’s metrologists to push the boundaries of how we understand the world around us. We use trusted measurements to enable commerce and trade. We need comparable measurements to advance scientific knowledge, to innovate and to implement new technologies. And in turn, metrologists benefit from these innovations and advancements, as new tools and techniques allow us to evolve, to expand and to improve the International System of Units (SI) also known as the metric system. The SI is a coherent system of units, some familiar to most people: metre, kilogram, second, ampere and some less well known: kelvin, candela, mole, whose definitions all rely on?fundamental physical constants.?

I became a metrologist by chance, stumbling across a summer job poster for a technician in a mass calibration laboratory while completing my B. App. Sci. in civil engineering at the University of Ottawa. Building trust and confidence is an important facet of my self-identity, so I found distinct pride in assuring that the mass standards sent to us from pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, environmental labs, manufacturers and regulators, to name a few, were accurate within a specified tolerance. Every time I give blood, I still think about the many shaker weights that I calibrated for the Canadian Blood Services, those weights were used in the system to tell when the right volume of blood was collected. I also took an interest in the normative standards that guided our work and the quality management system that allowed us to demonstrate not only our consistency but also our technical competence. This is how I found my way to the NRC. I joined the NRC-CLAS, a service that assesses laboratories for accreditation to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard, as a technical assessor. This jump broadened my exposure to new measurement disciplines, as well as introduced me to a global network of colleagues.

Although globe-trotting can take a toll, nothing is better to gain confidence and to ensure uniformity as meeting our counterparts and visiting labs in other parts of the world, in person. Leading the NRC’s Scientific Support for the National Measurement System afforded me the opportunity to visit other National Metrology Institutes from around the world and to participate in high-level discussions about the future direction of global metrology as well as the other pillars of Quality Infrastructure: Conformity Assessment and Standardization. A highlight of my career came in November 2018, when I attended the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) as part of the Canadian delegation. This CGPM took a historic decision to redefine the base units, a decision that was enabled in large part due to the experimental work done at the NRC to accurately determine the Planck constant.?

Investigating and determining measurement standards and measurement methods, along with researching physical constants and the fundamental properties of matter, keeps us busy at the NRC’s Metrology Research Centre. Our teams span measurement disciplines from photometry, radiometry, thermometry, electricity, and time to radiation physics and chemical measurements. Our researchers are working on exciting projects that will enable quantum technologies, improve precision timing, characterize micro- and nano-plastics in the ocean, modernize power grids, and support regulations. These measurement needs and challenges evolve with time and cut across all facets of society.

Our number one job is to provide Canadians with reliable, accurate and trust-worthy measurements, often without them even knowing we exist.

What would I say to a woman thinking of pursuing a career in engineering??

“Engineering opens the door to so many exciting possibilities and when it doesn’t open the right door for you, it still gives you the skills you need to create your own adventure…Follow your passions and your aptitudes.”

Georgette Macdonald, Director General, NRC Metrology Research Centre

In my experience, it’s not the destination or even the journey, it’s the people you share the experience with that count the most.

To learn more about the contributions the many talented people that make up the NRC, visit our stories webpage:?