Twitter is one of the most popular social networking tools around today. But of the 50 million+ “Tweets”  broadcast daily (according to Twitter), not all that many are being sent or received by engineers, many of whom say they just aren’t buying into the micro-blogging service based on “140-characters or less” text messages.

In a recent EE Times survey of 285 engineers, 85% reported that they don’t use Twitter. More than half indicated that the statement “I don’t really care what you had for breakfast,” best sums up their feelings about it; others characterized it as “a ridiculous waste of time and electrons” or expressed the strong desire for it to simply “go away.”

In the same survey, the frequency distribution of responses was heavily skewed toward “not-at-all-loving-it,” with 20% firmly in the “hate it” camp.

“The amount of information in a tweet is not worth the time spent looking at it,” asserts Jeffrey Tuttle, a hardware design engineer with 20 years of experience. “To be productive when doing design you need long periods of uninterrupted thought. Twitter by its nature is intrusive and interruptive. Consequently it seems to be for those people who don’t have enough to do.”

When the topic of Twitter came up at a recent EE Times-sponsored focus group, Tuttle feigned horror, forming a cross with his index fingers and holding them up as if attempting to ward off an evil vampire. Which, come to think of it, isn’t such a bad analogy given how often engineers describe Twitter as a time suck.

Tuttle was more forgiving about Facebook, noting, “It’s fun to occasionally see how people spent their day.” Although he was quick to point out that the idea of camping out on it seemed insane.

“It’s a time issue,” agrees BSEE Tim Schneider, a senior staff applications engineer. “Engineers generally don’t have a lot of it. Our work is very focused and requires a lot of brainpower to get the job done.”

Nonetheless, he does tweet (@T_Schneider), seriously now for two years. Admitting that it can be a distraction (he’ll stop following people who tweet too much), he says that he started to spend more time on it when he realized how useful it could be. “There are a few of us in EDA and in my area of expertise [hardware verification] who follow each other. I also use it to keep up with technical trends and product announcements.”

A former participant of Usenet, a precursor to modern-day Internet forums, and RSS feeds, a killer app for Schneider is the ability to stream all his feeds to a separate Twitter account, thereby allowing him to more effectively manage and filter the information that he wants to keep up with. For example, as an avid cyclist he follows Lance Armstrong’s coach (the cyclist’s tweets were deemed excessive) and other local Arizona riders and adds many of the pro cyclists to his feed around Tour de France time.

Schneider’s biggest Twitter coup? After he entered a remix contest on a music collaboration site and posted his entry, the rap star Snoop Dog starting following him.

Another Annoying Digital Distraction

On the other hand, Electronics Engineer Gary Kuntz tried Twitter and views it as just another “annoying digital distraction.” He thinks many of his peers feel the same way about it because they share the common experience of being bombarded from all directions with a constant stream of useless information, interruptions, and marketing hype.

“I’ve dabbled some with social networking tools,” he says. “But they were interfering with my personal productivity and leisure time. I don’t need tweets popping up with trivial interruptions like ‘Walking the dog’ or ‘Baking cookies, and I’m out of vanilla extract!’ I have actual, real work to do.”

 “I think what turns engineers off is how pretentious Twitter seems,” says Todd Sierer, LabVIEW Product Manager at National Instruments. “Engineers don’t like buzz unless it has something do with high tech and so there’s this initial turnoff like, ‘I’m not buying it.’”

Sierer doesn’t know why engineers wouldn’t like a communication tool that limits conversation. “Frankly, my life would be a whole lot better if my manager only talked to me in 140-character sound bites.”

More than 1,000 people follow Sierer on Twitter @engineeringmind. He also uses Twitter for customer support, noting that it’s important to listen and respond to customers, wherever they are. “I probably answer five to ten LabVIEW support questions via Twitter every day,” he says. Since Tweets are limited to a scant 140 characters, he says that it’s an effective tool for initially connecting with people and directing them into the company’s discussion forums, where deeper interactions can take place.

Though at 39.1 the average age of a Twitter user is among the highest of all social networking sites, some engineers speculate that Twitter is a tool only for their younger colleagues. “I’m an old guy working with a few young engineers,” commented one engineer with 41 years of experience. “Old guys, in general, don’t understand Twitter’s social power.”

The generational theory seemed to be supported by two recent Twitter Scavenger Hunts sponsored by EE Times at the Embedded Systems Conference. Participation was heavily skewed toward students and younger engineers. However, the case might also be made that younger people like to win free prizes. To wit, several student participants required assistance in setting up their phones. They received help from a veteran Twitter user who confessed to being “A wee bit over 40 or so. Maybe more so.”

Anecdotally at least, younger engineers don’t appear to be flocking to Twitter any more furiously than their older counterparts. Matt Zeglen, a hardware engineer just three years out of school, says that he had a hard time fathoming why anyone would want a limited message that was only available online. “I stubbornly refused to sign up for an account. Out of my engineering classmates at the time, not one of them mentioned using Twitter. A good portion of them probably didn’t even know what it is.”

A Light Bulb Goes Off

After years of saying no to Twitter, Zeglen finally said yes. He and seven co-workers signed up for the service in order to stay in contact during the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) in April. “Instead of calling each other and distracting people during class or having to text seven different people, my co-worker proposed staying in contact over Twitter. It was at that point the light bulb went off for me!”

He says the concept started off great, but wore off quickly. People didn’t check for messages regularly, he says, and he quickly fell back to texting or calling people. Since then, he hasn’t really used it. “Perhaps I am just reluctant to be caught up in the overwhelming swarm of messages. Then again, I might not fully understand the potential of what it has to offer.”

Peter Joseph, a graduate student at San Jose State University studying digital VLSI design, participated in the EE Times Twitter Scavenger Hunt. A veteran of social networking sites like Facebook, it was his first experience with Twitter, and he says he now views it as the next step in the evolution of social networking.

“We’re getting bored with social networking tools through the website. Most of us now prefer using mobile phones for alerts from the university, banking, and so on,” he says. “So although few friends of mine are on Twitter, I hope we can begin using it as we have difficulty finding the time to catch up on the website.”

But he hastened to say, “I can’t think of following tweets during the week as I am very busy working in the lab and attending classes.”

Spoken just like, well, a true engineer. Do you use Twitter? Let us know in the comments section, and if so, follow us!

by Karen Field from EE Times - Read the Original Article

Petroplus, the Swiss refiner filing for bankruptcy, is only the tip of a continuing issue for refiners in Europe. Across the 104 EU27 refineries, roughly 40% require refurbishment in order to continue refining profitably. Demand for crude oil products is increasingly volatile, and many refineries do not have the flexibility to accommodate this more rapidly changing demand. Beyond the structural issues, many owners need access to credit lines, which in the case of Petroplus amounted to €2.4 billion, to carry on doing business in the short term.

According to Frost & Sullivan, since the midpoint of the last decade, European refineries’ capacity utilisation consistently decreased from an average of 90% in 2005 to less than 75% in January 2012, reflecting the much tougher competitive environment, but also a trend toward flexible demand/supply of crude oil products. Road transport fuel, and in particular gasoline which Europe has a lot of capacity for, is being replaced by diesel and kerosene. Heavy oils, bitumen, waxes and petroleum coke are no longer in such high demand, making way for liquefied petroleum gas, naphtha and other smaller chains alkanes. The misalignment between demand and supply capabilities leads Europe to be a net exporter of gasoline to the US, and a net importer of diesel from Russia.

Although this movement of refined goods is not an issue in itself, it does reflect the inability of refineries to adapt to local demand quickly and profitably in their current state. This growing requirement for diesel and kerosene despite the latest economic turmoil cannot be met profitably due to cost and capacity reasons intrinsic to the current fleet of refineries. Since any investments (in hydro cracking units to increase diesel production for example) need bank funding due to the high cost, the ability to make these investments lies with the banks which hold much of the debt. But with higher capital ratios imposed on banks, and attractive spreads between ECB lending rates and local government bonds, banks prefer to avoid lending to the refining sector, or any other relatively high risk sector. Because of these factors combined with the increasing probability of another European recession, the uncertainty around ETS and carbon taxes, the rigid and costly labour laws, an d tightening regulation on sulphur content, refineries will have tougher times ahead of them still.

The average size of refineries in Europe is less than 140,000 barrels per day, with slightly over 50% of them dealing with less than 100,000 barrels per day. The majority of these refineries were built more than 20 years ago when the demand dynamic was more stable and crude oil prices were less than half their 2012 levels. In a context where demand patterns change more rapidly, a lower number of much larger refineries is needed to offer both flexibility in product output, and lower costs. In the real world, where labour flexibility is limited, and the relocation of physical assets is extremely difficult, many more refiners will be sure to sell assets at highly discounted prices in the coming years or slowly erode their assets. Building a new facility will have a shorter payback period than the purchase of a cheap old one.

Debt stricken economies of Italy, Greece and Spain also represent a disproportionately high amount of refining capacity. With 16 refineries, Italy has more refining capacity than either the UK, France or Germany, and previously planned to upgrade Sannazzaro, Sarroch, Venice and Priolo. However, with the current economic outlook, the recently imposed sanctions on Iranian oil imports, and the carbon taxes, these planned upgrades, along with those of Spain and Greece, may not go ahead so rapidly.

In all, despite the need for an increase in crude oil processing capacity in Europe, a large portion of the existing capacity needs to be replaced, and this readjustment comes at a time when the banking support structure is not ready to support it fully. The larger groups with a high involvement in exploration will be the ones able to weather the continuing losses, but many will either decide to sell downstream assets, otherwise they will continue to make losses, weighing down further on future P&Ls if they don’t breach banking covenants first.

Petro-Industry News - Read the Original Article

CorDEX Instruments is celebrating after winning an award for its innovative explosion proof camera which is being used in the field by Weatherford.

The technology manufacturer scooped first prize in the ‘Best User Application’ category at this year’s HazardEx Awards for its ToughPIX 2303XP camera and came second in the ‘Contribution Towards Safety’ category.

More than 100 people attended the event at The Majestic Hotel in Harrogate, North Yorkshire on Wednesday, February 29, which recognised the success of a number of businesses in the safety and hazardous area industry.

CorDEX was shortlisted in the ‘Best User Application’ category for its ToughPIX 2303XP camera which is being used by Weatherford and also in the ‘Contribution Towards Safety’ category for its UT5000 Intrinsically Safe Thickness Gauge.

The Teeside-headquartered company develops hand-held technologies ideally suited to the hazardous environments of the oil and gas sector. Its intrinsically safe equipment eliminates the need for shutdown or ‘hot work’ permits during Non Destructive Testing (NDT) and inspection programmes.

CorDEX Instruments Chief Executive, Tony Holliday, said: “It is a great achievement to be recognised for our ToughPIX 2303XP camera and UT5000 intrinsically safe ultrasonic thickness gauge at the HazardEx awards.

“All of our products are developed in direct response to requests from the oil and gas industry which help increase safety, enhance monitoring accuracy and reduce costly downtime for operators. We’ve enjoyed significant success over the last year and have a number of technology launches lined up for 2012 as we continue to deliver new intrinsically safe equipment to market.”

The latest version of the ToughPIX 2303XP camera is more streamlined than its predecessor and includes still and moving images in AVI format of up to 10 mega pixels. Encased in aluminium with an ultra-bright display protected by armoured glass, the revolutionary camera is custom designed for the harshest environments and can be used offshore without the need for a ‘hot permit’.

CorDEX has also developed CONNECT™ – a desktop package that boosts the capabilities of ToughPIX 2300XP Series cameras and is included as a complimentary ‘add-on’ package for customers.

CONNECT™ allows users to exclusively organise and manage information and images taken in the field with the ToughPIX 2300XP Series. It can generate reports and quickly manipulate images downloaded onto the system. Users can simply download images, edit then instantly annotate to produce reports.

Researchers at the University of Aberdeen are using the UT5000 to provide a new model for corrosion assessment to enhance global oil and gas safety.

The aim of the ground-breaking research is to shed light on how corrosion develops spatially on steel pipelines and vessels to improve replacement decisions and integrity management and the UT5000 will give companies the ability to establish a predictive maintenance program to further improve safety.

CorDEX has a network of technology distributers across the United States of America, South America, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.cordexinstruments.com

Advantages of the PIECAL 334 over the Altek* 334A

• Backlit display with larger digits
• More resistant to accidental damage.  our products are protected by a rubber boot and have much stronger switches.
• No more removing housing with screwdriver to replace three expensive 9V batteries. Calibration seals remain intact.  Our products have a separate battery compartment with 4 “AA” batteries.
• Drives more loop instruments (up to 1200 Ohms) for entire battery life, which means you can calibrate more devices between battery changes.
* PIECAL Calibrators are not manufactured or distributed by Fluke Corp. or Altek Industries Inc, manufacturers of Altek Calibrators.

Advantages of the PIECAL 334plus over the Altek* 334

• Higher Resolution display with backlight – full five digit display easily viewed in dark locations.
• 250 Hart compatible resistor – No disassembly to move internal jumper.
• Detects loop current leakages – Measure ground current leakage from faulty wiring, flooded conduit and corrosion bridges.  Leakage apears as a zero shift and helps you decide if the transmitter needs calibration or if there is some problem in the loop wiring.
• Automatic Stepping.
• More resistant to accidental damage. our products are protected by a rubber boot and have much stronger switches.
• Drives more loop instruments (up to 1200 Ohms) for entire battery life, which means you can calibrate more devices between battery changes.

…MORE TO FOLLOW…

* PIECAL Calibrators are not manufactured or distributed by Fluke Corp. or Altek Industries Inc, manufacturers of Altek Calibrators.

EVERETT, WA–(Marketwire -01/03/12)- Fluke Corporation, the global leader in portable electronic test and measurement technology, announces its acquisition of Martel Electronics Corporation, a Derry, N.H.-based manufacturer of electronic test tools and OEM products. In addition to producing its own Martel and Beta branded products, Martel has worked closely with Fluke since 1996, helping with the development and manufacture of Fluke process tools and calibration instruments.

“Martel has been a great historical partner with Fluke and we wanted to tighten and align that relationship even further,” said Fluke Corporation President Barbara Hulit. “We look forward to closer cooperation between the companies and the realization of benefits from Martel’s further implementation of the Danaher Business System.”

Martel will continue to operate from its Derry, NH location and be managed by current president Tom Fatur, reporting through the Fluke Calibration division of Fluke. “Martel has had a long relationship with Fluke which has been very beneficial for both companies,” said Tom Fatur, Martel Electronics Corporation President. “The acquisition of Martel by Fluke will take this relationship, and the benefits for our respective customers, to a new level. I know I speak for all Martel employees when I say we couldn’t be more proud to become part of what is undoubtedly the best, and most recognized, name in the test instrumentation industry.”

About Martel Electronics Corporation
Martel Electronics, and its Beta Calibrator Division, offers a diversified line of handheld and bench calibrators, process instruments, process indicators, and power supplies manufactured to the highest quality standards for the process industry and OEM applications. For more information on Martel please visit us on the web at: www.martelcorp.com or call us at 1-603-434-1433.

About Fluke Corporation
Founded in 1948, Fluke Corporation is the world leader in compact, professional electronic test tools. Fluke tools deliver the testing and troubleshooting capabilities that are critical to keep commerce and industry running smoothly. Fluke customers are technicians, engineers, electricians, metrologists and building diagnostic professionals who install, troubleshoot and manage industrial, electrical and electronic equipment and calibration processes for quality control and building restoration. In the past five years, Fluke tools won more than 50 industry awards, including Test and Measurement World Best in Test, Control Engineering Engineer’s Choice and Plant Engineering Product of the Year. Fluke is a registered trademark of Fluke Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

The original article can be found Here