A six-week exchange placed early-career scientists in established electrical laboratories, and two of them now lead the voltage and resistance services at home.
Electrical measurement underpins energy metering, electronics manufacturing and laboratory instrumentation, yet several institutes depend on one or two experienced staff for the whole area.
Through the AFRIMETS young metrologists network, four early-career scientists spent six weeks in established electrical laboratories. Each worked on a defined project, from setting up a resistance bridge to characterising a voltage reference, with a mentor at the host institute.
Six weeks beside experienced colleagues taught me more than a year of reading. Now I am the one teaching.
Back home, the participants documented procedures, trained colleagues and took on responsibility for services that had previously depended on a single person. Two now lead their institutes' voltage and resistance calibration services.
The exchange continues every year, and former participants have become mentors for the next group.