About
My Infrared experience started in 1980 at college. Remote sensing and satellite imagery courses led to my attending the first offered training seminar on Infrared theory and cameras at Inframetrics in Bedford Massachusetts. Staying active with IR technology applications through the years and attending every IR Training Course known to man (over 34 total) led to my first IR camera purchase, a FLIR® E-4 model, I now use the FLIR T-660. It has 640x480 image resolution and the image quality is 'the best in the industry' with added UltraMax imagery for 4x better image quality and finer detail, it also has an MSX imagery feature that etches key visible details onto the IR image, and also a thermal picture in a picture feature which overlaps the IR image with the digital picture. These are powerful features not found in typical infrared cameras.
In 2010 I added Optical Gas Imaging Services and purchased a FLIR® HSX IR camera which visually locates gas leak vapors called VOC gases (volatile organic compounds). Companies contracting this work were ExxonMobil, Gulf Oil, Buckeye Corp, Irving, CITGO, Global Petroleum, National Grid, Bradford Industries, with environmental companies like ENTEC and Roux Associates using us for vapor leak survey work. I upgraded the OGI Camera to the GF320 and provide a video report with each survey. Also, being TWIC Compliant allows for Port, Ship and Terminal access.
Over the years I have attended the InfraMation Conference sponsored by the Infrared Training Center (ITC) and FLIR Systems® and that was an annual event for me since 2002. I have written four papers for the Conference's Proceedings and I have presented two of them to Conference Audiences, "Cold Air in Boston" and "Loading Rack Emissions Surveys". I also attended a United Infrared Thermal Infrared Conference (TIC) which was also a blast! An hour long video webinar sponsored by the Infrared Training Center relative to performing IR Surveys was presented to an ITC based web audience from the ITC production studio, then in Nashua NH. Thanks, Matt S, for having me there. I became an expert witness testifying on Thermal Imaging in a Boston Superior Court, and that was an interesting experience. Ten years ago, I became a drone hobbyist and I am adding video and thermal services for that as a service application. Recent consulting work for a London company relative to thermal interpretation using their drone modeling has also become a very rewarding educational experience for me.
I will continue to keep improving and evolving within the Infrared Technology environment that introduces better quality equipment, improved reporting capabilities and changing market applications. Thanks for reading!
Dave Sawyer
ITC Level III CIT, CBST, OGI, Acoustic Imaging - TWIC Compliant, FAA Authorized
“See what you can't see – in Infrared!”