Rick, 33, tests and calibrates precision mechanical instruments for Pylon Atlantic in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. While some companies specialize in testing particular kinds of instruments, Rick and the other Pylon technicians are qualified to test a whole range of instruments - from pressure gauges to potentiometers, and micrometers to torque wrenches.

Without proper testing and calibration, there is no way to know if instruments are accurate, and users can't have any confidence in them. And that can cause big problems. Rick offers a striking example: "Say you have a helicopter with a rebuilt engine, and it was all torqued down with torque wrenches, and one of them wasn't calibrated properly. Suddenly you have an emergency landing happening because something is coming loose. All because of a $30 torque wrench that wasn't calibrated right."

What Rick likes best about his work is "trying to stay on top of the broad base of standards we maintain, and knowing the answers to questions when a customer calls. You read a lot to keep track of what manufacturers are producing." He says his goal is "to get it so we can measure everything. That's going to make Pylon a better company and make our customers stick around longer."

The toughest part of the job has nothing to do with the workplace, says Rick. It's "trying to explain to people what I do. They'll say, 'Instrumentation? Oh, do you fix guitars?'"