AEDC's mission-critical Precision Equipment Measurement Laboratory undergoes upgrade

  • Published
  • By Philip Lorenz III
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. --  AEDC's Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory (PMEL), the facility's workforce and an outside contractor are in the midst of a balancing act, conducting a necessary upgrade while ensuring PMEL keeps pace with its mission critical function providing calibration services for test customers.

The upgrade to AEDC's Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory (PMEL) kicked off late last year. The Air Force hired Alvarez Construction Co., to conduct and oversee the project utilizing multiple subcontractors.

David Claudio, the ATA PMEL facility manager, said a long-standing need to replace the aging heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system for the lab has been long overdue. This is despite an aggressive and successful effort to keep the facility's work areas within strict environmental standards to keep up with customer test-related demands.

"The renovation project was driven because for years the HVAC systems [had been] degrading," he said. "They were degrading to the point where we were afraid that they were going to cause some damage to our working standards, to our equipment we use to calibrate the customer's equipment.

Tony Pennington, AEDC Civil Engineer branch project manager over the PMEL renovation, said even though an HVAC renovation project is a fairly routine process, this one is different.

"Usually HVAC projects are fairly straight forward," he said. "They're not all that easy, but this is probably the most complex one because of the fact that you've got to move people around within the building, you've got to keep operations going and you've got to keep the conditions in the laboratory [at a high level of] quality due to the kind of work that's being done there."

Vince Chapman, the back shop lead in AEDC's Integration and Support Branch, emphasized the importance of PMEL to the complex's mission.

"The PMEL plays a pivotal role at AEDC, ensuring the quality of the measurement data we provide our customer is accurate and reliable," he said. "The PMEL provides a measurement link [traceable back] to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Chapman acknowledged that the ongoing renovation has presented a challenge for the personnel at the PMEL.

"They must continue certifying test, measurement and diagnostic equipment while having to work around the renovation as it progresses through various stages," he said. "There's no getting around the fact a renovation of this magnitude is intrusive to the operation. However, the PMEL has continued providing excellent support through it all.

"Tony Pennington has been critical to the success with the ongoing renovation project, while at the same time, ensuring we can continue to keep up the customer's metrology requirements."

Chapman continued, "His [Pennington's] proactive approach and willingness to make necessary adjustments along the way has minimized the impact at PMEL. As a result, the PMEL's support to AEDC's mission has gone uninterrupted.

"The PMEL has very stringent metrology requirements. They are necessary to ensure the calibrations are traceable through an unbroken chain of measurements through the Air Force Primary Laboratory to NIST. This traceability ensures national, and in many cases international, uniformity of measurements. At AEDC, the end result is assuring the quality of the test data we provide to the customer remains beyond reproach."