On the Job with the Equipment Support Center

The Bulletin spoke with Mike Farnham, optical equipment technician III, of the Equipment Support Center.

What do people think you do?

“People don’t know we’re even down here (under Sequoia Hall).”

What do you really do?

“We’re a fabrication shop, so we make things using everything from computer-operated machines to hand saws. If we can’t buy it, we make it. We have professors that come down here with a drawing of a device on their napkins, or they point to it in a catalog, and we’ll draw it on a Computer-Assisted Design system, with dimensions. We make it, they’ll test it and bring it back to modify it. We teach physics, chemistry, biology and engineering students, some of whom have never worked with machinery before, and get them up to speed so they’re not afraid to build things on their own. In my special role, I do lots of microscope work. If I can’t find a replacement part, I’ll make it and reproduce it about seven or eight times, knowing there’ll be future repairs. I’ve probably done 1,000 scopes during my time here—and that isn’t all the scopes on campus.”

Describe your office.

“I have an array of small-instrument equipment for the scopes. We have a complete machine shop, paint booth and a welding area. Three people work in this office. All of us have a wealth of skills. What I lack, they have, and what they lack, I have. We all do carpentry work, welding and painting, and machining. It’s a great team.”

What surprises people?

“They see that I have so many scopes. In order to keep these scopes alive, I need to reuse the parts of other scopes, and I have to keep them all down here. They get fascinated when they see the machines working by themselves, and the things we create, from a cabinet for the geology department to kiosks for Material Safety Data Sheet computers.”

What is your biggest challenge?

“Well, it’s not running out of creative things to do. You don’t do the same thing over and over. A new challenge is around the corner. I’d say building a radio telescope is new to me.”

What do you get asked the most?

“‘You must have a lot of fun down here?’ And I say, ‘Yes, I do.’”