Measurement Guru Waxes Philosophically Over Flow Meters

Well-known throughout the flow measurement industry, Jesse Yoder is founder and CEO of Flow Research, Wakefield, MA. Since 2000, he has focused principally on world markets for flow, pressure and temperature devices as they are employed in the energy business. He excels in his chosen pursuit by the force of his intelligence, his enthusiasm and his research and writing aptitude.

Obviously, there is more to the man when the market research is done for the day. What is the more rounded picture of Jesse Yoder? In a discussion with P&GJ he allowed a glimpse at other facets of his life.

P&GJ: Where did you grow up and what were your interests?

Yoder: I grew up in Harrisonburg, a small town in the western part of Virginia. I moved to Maryland just before I started college, and went to the University of Maryland in College Park, not too far from Washington, DC.

Growing up I was interested in politics, math and science. Early in college, my interests included history, drama and philosophy. However, deeper into my freshman year, I developed a strong interest in philosophy, and that pretty much took over for me as my main interest in college and graduate school.

P&GJ: What led to your career in energy measurement?

Yoder: I came at this career indirectly. I started doing technical writing in 1980 at Wang Labs. In 1987, I got a job writing technical and training manuals for Siemens in Peabody, MA. This was my first introduction to the world of process control. The job ended when the Peabody division of Siemens closed and was consolidated into the main headquarters in Alpharetta, GA in 1990. At that point I was bored with technical writing and switched to market research.

I began working for a California company named MIRC that was later absorbed by Frost & Sullivan. After writing reports on a variety of topics for several years, I came to appreciate the importance of having some in-depth knowledge of the subjects being reported on. At this point, I settled on instrumentation, and in 1993 I began researching the flow meter market. I have been mainly focused on flow meters since then, although I have also done work on the pressure and temperature markets.

My interest in sensors and flow meters was also influenced by my philosophical interests. I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation on the relationship between mind and body. I saw a relationship between electronic and mechanical sensors and the mind as a sensory system that perceives the world through the prism of the five senses. I thought that studying sensors might shed some light on the nature of the mind. I finally will get to explore this idea in a book I am writing with Dick Morley called The Tao of Measurement: A Philosophical View of Flow and Sensors (www.taoofflow.com). This book discusses a variety of sensors and measurement tools, and attempts to develop a general theory of sensors. It then applies this theory to artificial intelligence and the mind as a sensory system. The book will be published by ISA.

P&GJ: How did your career path lead to your present position? Tell us about Flow Research and how it was established?