What Does an Instrumentation Engineer Do?

An instrumentation engineer will usually be responsible for the up keep, servicing, maintenance and possibly design and specification of a plant's instrumentation...

John

If you really work as an engineer on new plants as opposed to maintenance, you will be responsible for design of control and monitoring systems for process or energies plants, involving (pneumatically actuated) control valve sizing. orifice plate sizing for flow measurement, specification of thermocouples, pressure transmitters (insdustry parlance for transducers), and setup of control room graphic monitoring and control consoles. Take a look at equipment made by Foxboro, Rosemount, Fischer and Porter, Fisher Controls to name a few.

Most such jobs disappeared in the mid 1980's because OPEC first broke then and no energy companies upgraded refineries since oil became very cheap. I know because I was an instrumentation engineer with a process division of Combustion Engineering from 1965 through 1984. Then I got into electronic circuit design and development as a consultant full time, an after-hours endeavor for some years before.

Hope this helps.

Bernie Katz

... sequence control and programmable electronic systems, the selection and application of discrete timing and sequencing devices, PLCs, DCSs, SCADAs, in conjunction with process engineers the development of the functional design specifications, contribution to HazOp studies, contribution to the qualification of pharmaceutical plant...

In any process there will be some inputs to generate desired outputs with some byproducts. The outputs are tobe generated with desired parameters irrespective of any changes either in the inputs or in the enviorment (in which the process is operating) with optimum efficiency; at the same time without foregoing the safety of eqipments, personnel involved and also without affecting the surrodings.

To effectively achive the above many process parameters are to be measured, monitored, controlled, stopped/started etc by providing suitable equipments (which are mostly called as instruments) is suppose to be done by Insrtumentation Enginner in consultation with the related Process Engineer.

R.Thiyagarajan.

I&C, Instrumentation and Control - Job description may be by function or discipline, Disciplines in chemical, electrical, mechanical, combustion, aerospace, nuclear, civilian, military, or government may function as the I&C design engineer, process, project, project management, nuclear, fossil, hydro, biomass, plant engineer, performance, operations, maintenance, as a few examples.

In an electrical generating power plant the I&C engineer usually functions in many and varied capacities. Plant performance determines the need to improve a process with revised design. The design must be approved, funds allocated, parts fabricated & assembled, functional testing. The I&C engineer completes the cost evaluation and justification, arranges funding, submits schedules of completion, arranges fab, assy, instal, initial op, maint, trains operators and maintenance personnel.

Anticipate with pride and joy Many projects simultaneously assigned with various stages of completion plus ownership of projects previously completed.

All above answers, somehow describe functions / activity of "instrumentation engineer"

I would like just to mention that are so many disciplines and fields of production activities that requires different level of the knowledge. Of course, "academics" give qualifications and credentials with titles: Ph D (doctorate), MS (master in science), BS (bachelor degrees) and AS (associate degrees - technicians). In the demand of working force you may find people with certificates too, usually on the lowest level of the maintenance.

In the projects you will see following steps /stages:

• Concept of instrumentation of the process (production)
• Designing (diagrams, specifications, plans of installations etc.)
• Financing, finding contractors (biding, commissioning experts)
• Installations
• Startup procedures
• Commissioning
• Running production with monitoring vital parameters, adjusting setting, updating needs fulfillments, periodical calibrations and maintenance etc.
• Retrofitting
• Closing systems.

My list could be shorted or longer for specific applications or systems.

Historically: Petrochemistry (oil refinery) were the first complicated industries that creates needs for spec educated engineers with high and detailed knowledge in electromechanical (including pneumatics) and process control theory.

Introducing electronic devices (transistors) with their high reliability moved existing and new solution toward electronic small and middle size systems.

Computer technology and programming so popular today are necessary in applications in process control and of course must be a part of instrumentation engineer knowledge.

It is in both analog and digital theory applications. Here is proper to mention ISA as an organization that try keep normalization – standards – education updated to the today's needs.

Some mid-size plants hire so called E & I (Electrical and Instrumentation) Specialists who should have basic knowledge in the electrician's as well as instrument person field.

So 'Instrument Engineers" are still alive but must continuously upgrade their knowledge according to the progress in this discipline as well as in chemistry, mechanics, computer and electronics.

Joe ...., US and international E & I consultant and educator

P. S. Remember to have the hands-on experience!

I think the short answer is the instrumentation engineer does all of the above but only as described in his contract of employment with his employer.

But it does involve instruments, whether the environment is medical, aerospace, automotive, oil refining engineering, retailing, etc... etc...

He does the grunt work as all engineers do but considered as the most brightest and earns the most because virtually he has the whole plant's automation, monitoring & control under his finger tips and in every meeting he is called upon to give his views even if it is garbage removal.

I`m working in a Power Plant in Mexico and I´m an electrical engineer that works like an instrumentation engineer. The duties that I usually do is every day maintenance such calibrating instruments, managing of people like technicians when preventive maintenance come and creation of new control loops, programing and monitoring of the control system.