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H. V. BECK  M.A., B.Sc., A.M.I.E.E. Research Manager, Marconi Instruments Ltd; Chairman, I.E.E. Professional Group on Electronic Measuring Instruments and Techniques

'The "black box" approach which is so prevalent today should be replaced by one of greater understanding ...'

 maintain quality. 'How, then, can we improve the supply of technologists either to specialize in measurement or to derive maximum advantage from this particular field?'

An important point to be considered was that the number of electronic measurement techniques were so vast that a student could only be taught a very limited number of them. 'Instruction, I feel, should be concentrated on principles of measurement and, as a pre-requisite of this, a good deal of examination of the techniques, that have grown up should be carried out by the teaching profession. Feedback from university research and from industry and government establishments would be most valuable here.' Beck added that a few modern and rather sophisticated techniques should also be chosen to illustrate basic principles and indicate the very wide range of measurement that could be made.

Another important aspect of teaching, he stressed, was the inculcating of the right approach. For example, the choice of a measurement method must be justified; this could be shown to the student by discussing or demonstrating the limits to which a particular technique might be used, i.e. where it begins to become difficult to measure with that technique and must be replaced by another. The student should also have emerged with something of the perseverance of a bygone age coupled with a certain readiness to take risks in the interest of speed and economy. 'Clearly, a measurement course must also include a great deal on the assessment of errors.'

Comparison of the accuracy and precision of the electrical products of one company and another or of one country and another could only be made by reference to a standard. Work done by the National Physical Laboratory and the Electrical Inspectorate Division of the Ministry of Aviation, Beck pointed out, had given us standards and precision measurement techniques of great value. 'Much more needs to be done, however, particularly for the development of the more advanced product fields, if we are to retain a leading position in this highly competitive world.'

At the turn of the century, electrical measurements was a fashionable subject. The great names of physics were linked with it and the subject was considered very appro­priate to the spirit of the age. Kelvin, speaking about laboratory investigations, said : "It is a kind of work in which patience and perseverance are promoted to a most marked degree. No labour must be shrunk from; everything must be carefully done." Reaction to this out­look and the increased tempo of scientific and engineer­ing activity produced an environment quite unsuitable for coping systematically with the large number of new measurement techniques based on electronic devices.'

Measurements, although associated with most technical activities at one time or another, had tended to take a subsidiary role and critical appraisal of the more recent techniques was generally absent. This factor, Beck said, together with the tendency of measurement techniques to become limited to a particular field, had cut off the supply of information on the principles of new measurement techniques and their limits of performance to the teaching side of educational establishments, even when a measurement technique had been devised in such an establishment. 'I am consequently of the opinion that the measurement element in undergraduate teaching is very limited in outlook, out of date, and does not give the right approach.'

It was most important that the teaching of electronic measurement techniques should be improved. 'The "black box" approach which is so prevalent today should be replaced by one of greater understanding of the issues involved.' He emphasized that electronic measuring instruments were already playing a very significant part in research activities directed towards the birth of new products, and that they were clearly  destined to play an important part in the automation of manufacturing processes to