From Navy Diver to Master Inspector

This retired Navy Submariner, Sonar Technician First Class Petty Officer / Navy Diver Qualified (10 years active and 14 years in the Reserves) enjoys all of the diverse work and inspection projects he gets to dive into each day in his role as Master Inspector and Account Manager. After 21 years with IIA, Tracy knows all the ins and outs of IIA Lab Services. He thrives on providing support and inspection services to a wide range of industries including medical, automotive, and injection mold for products ranging from medical devices to heavy equipment.

Tracy truly enjoys his role as Account Manager, as well as serving as a Master Inspector. He spends about 35% of his time serving key accounts and ensuring his customers have everything they need and that they receive accurate inspections, timely information, and friendly professional service from IIA. The other portion of his time is spent collaborating with the close-knit team, which includes working on administrative projects when needed and, of course assisting the other inspectors.

Tracy's position "offers many opportunities for interesting and diverse work," and he loves meeting these challenges. He explains how the most difficult projects are sometimes the most exciting and rewarding. He says, "In this field, especially in medical, there can be very small parts, which are the most complex and interesting." One example of a project Tracy worked on was 2 separate parts of one assembly. The parts were about .100 inches long and .040 inches wide. They were a half-cylinder shape with offset teeth on both pieces, so that they could mate without interference. Tracy says, "These two particular parts are not the smallest we've seen, but they did have over 100 reported measurements for each and needed to be fixtured in 4 different positions so we could capture each of the reported measurements."

This is just one example of an extremely challenging project Tracy has worked on. These parts were not only small, but they had to be handled on 4 separate occasions (once for each set-up) and of course without losing any of the pieces!

Tracy explains that "These pieces were all part of a Biopsy tool, and as challenging as these were to inspect, I can only imagine how difficult they were to manufacture."

For parts like these, with the help of an Optical Gaging Product (OGP) Flash 500 Vision System (a multi-sensor, non-contact dimensional measurement system) Tracy and the team can ensure accuracy and precision for all his customers.

The OGP Flash 500 system, even though it’s not new, may seem futuristic and reminiscent of Tracy’s submarine days during the time he spent on active duty in the Navy. Tracy explains the Flash 500, 2-D vision (camera) system to us. It’s a Vision Coordinated Measuring Machine (VCMM) that uses a camera system in combination with a joystick for controlling the X, Y and Z movement and offers magnification from 30 to 500. The parts are placed on the glass stage, below the camera, and the Flash 500 can be programmed for automatic or manual feature detection. Tracy says, "From the created features, we are able to construct the needed dimensions from customers' blueprint."

Tracy really loves the variety of his job and the opportunity it offers to speak with, meet, and help an array of people across industries. When the opportunity arises, he also loves to travel and enjoys working at trade shows. Tracy says these shows "are an excellent way to connect with and meet other folks in the industry." He also really likes providing services at his customers' locations such as on-site laser scanning.

"Make it a great day" is Tracy's motto. He has such a positive attitude and seems to live by this motto; it is seen by anyone who exchanges an email with him! He loves coming to work every day. The industry is part of who he is now, and he couldn’t see himself anywhere else.