Important to the company? A system which could automatically perform partial-stroke testing on pneumatic emergency-shutoff valve/actuator blocks. The end goal w

Important to the company? A system which could automatically perform partial-stroke testing on pneumatic emergency-shutoff valve/actuator blocks. The end goal was to allow big chemical plants to run for longer between maintenance cycles. The idea is you part-close the shutdown valve enough to prove it can move but not enough to interrupt process. We were one of the first to prototype, and the only one to do it without needing a bulky valve positioner. The prototype worked on nearly every setup we could build in the lab. Then we added an automatic setup mode which nobody else had. Alas, marketing got involved. "We want the manual setup removing, permanently. Not just disabled." And of course the first sale, the customer was doing something which screwed up automatic setup and couldn't be worked around. Manual setup would have worked, but both marketing and management fought engineering tooth and claw to prevent us re-adding it. The customer sent every single unit back. The stress burned me out (and more besides)... Not long after that, I was "managed out" of the business (read into that what you will). On a happier note, most important to me? I help out a small-medium size volunteer-run fandom convention (think Comic Con on a smaller scale). I rebuilt their radio communications infrastructure, added call recording (for training/liability reasons) and staff-call pagers. At the staff debrief, the chairman called it "a game changer" and asked if I'd come back as their Head of Operations. I said yes.