Specifications beyond Aerospace

Author:  Kumar Balan | Blast Cleaning and Shot Peening Specialist
Source:  The Shot Peener magazine, Vol 39, Issue 4, Fall 2025
Doc ID:  2025024
Year of Publication:  2025
Abstract:  
AS I START MY 36TH YEAR of gainful employment, 95% of which has been in this industry, like most of you, I too have accumulated many interesting stories. However, this one stands apart and worthy of repetition, with apologies, if you have already heard it from me. As an impressionable engineer in my 20s, I was tasked to sell air pollution control equipment for any dust emitting source from a blast machine to an electric arc furnace. During one such meeting in a part of the world where electricity was then scarce and moderated, I was pitching a fume extraction system that required a 75HP exhaust fan downstream to it all. When calculating the operating cost of this system with the end-user, I was informed that this fan would only be operated selectively, maybe a few hours every month. This left me baffled (pun intended) since as we all know, no ventilation system can function without its exhaust fan on, first. My technical knowledge was less than appeased with the end-user’s explanation that the purpose of this fume extraction system was not to control air pollution, rather to satisfy pollution control authorities! Therefore, the fan’s operation was timed to operate solely during inspection visits by said authorities! This experience helped me decide the type of industry I wanted to spend my career in. I wanted to work with end-users that would sometimes by choice but every time by requirement work in compliance with a specification. Aerospace was the perfect candidate for that and here I am!