Over the course of 25 years at Metrosert, Lauri Lillepea, the head of the metrology division, has held various positions. He talks about metrology as it was in the early days, his personal development within the company, and the uniqueness and characteristics of metrology as a science. This year, the world is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Metre Convention, and we also discuss that in the interview.

How did you end up working at Metrosert?

I came directly from Tallinn University of Technology, it was my first proper job, it was probably 1999. I had already had some work experience – I studied apparatus engineering and product development at university. Then, during a metrology lecture, which was one of those average, somewhat boring lectures, the professor Rein Laaneots, an undisputed guru of metrology in Estonia, mentioned that there was a place called Metrosert and they were looking for people to work there. I came, and they hired me as a measurement technician – not sure if anyone else applied or didn’t.

I started alongside my studies and ended up staying in the company. The beginning was on Aru Street in the length measurement field, where today there are five people. Back then, there was one person who had been sick for two months and no one knew when they would come back. There was a pile of work in the corner, and no one could say exactly what needed to be done. The guidelines were Russian GOST standards for measurement methods, and I was told to read and do it myself. I got a bit of help with documentation. One person did these things, and the field had about 100 calibrations per year, while today, there are over 4,000 jobs annually.

Then I became a metrologist, a technical field specialist, head of the Tallinn laboratory, division head, and here I am today. Currently, we have 46 people in the Metrology Division (MTD).

What inspires you in this work?

At Metrosert, it’s probably my own personality traits that want stability. Every day is interesting, especially because we do such different things within such a narrow field. In the past couple of years, the level of interest and, at times, chaos has only increased. Every day there’s a new problem or challenge that keeps me alert. On the other hand, our field is so specific that in Estonia, there’s really nowhere else to go with this knowledge base.

I also assess other laboratories for the Accreditation Centre, like some of the ones we work with. I’ve translated standards and done translation expertise, and all of this is very exciting.

Outside of work, I help my wife in her dental clinic – sometimes as a management consultant, sometimes as a technician or web administrator. All of this together makes my life interesting. In my free time, I tinker with old machines, walk my dog, play tennis, read, or do absolutely nothing useful.

What has been the biggest recent challenge?

The challenge for MTD is to evolve in this changing world. Our direction and expectations haven’t changed, but as the world changes, we need to keep up with everything that didn’t exist yesterday but is here today.

Of course, one important aspect is our greatest asset – our team, which is getting better and better in terms of cooperation. When I first came here, people were at least 20 years older than me, and we didn’t have the kind of relaxed communication like “what did you do last night.” Today, we also have work-related events that sometimes pop up quite unexpectedly and across different groups, and it’s so nice to see. It’s also nice to know that former colleagues still meet up – metrology connects us! Many of our former colleagues are now assessors for laboratories at the Accreditation Centre. We’ve even thought about asking for some educational support for training quality people for the industry!

“Of course, one important aspect is our greatest asset – our team, which is getting better and better in terms of cooperation.”

What kind of education is expected for working at Metrosert?

We have people ranging from chemists and biotechnologists to aircraft mechanics – all technical fields. A technical higher education or vocational education is mostly a prerequisite for employment. A technical foundation and aptitude are important, from there, everything else can be learned.

How long does it take to learn metrology?

You can’t really ever get it completely clear. Even I haven’t fully mastered it yet, and that’s part of what keeps it interesting! Generally, it’s such that by the end of the probation period and a couple of months, you can already be trusted with completely independent work on the simpler tasks. You start doing things earlier, but under someone else’s responsibility. This has also changed over time because, 20 years ago, there was still the belief that it takes 2-3 years to learn before you’re considered a beginner metrologist.

In May 2025, the world will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Metrology System. How long has metrology existed in Estonia?

150 years ago, the world agreed that measurement units would be standardized everywhere, although it took a long time for the implementation of new units.

Metrology has a history as long as humanity itself (for example, the history of the meter is discussed on the metrology blog), and there are examples in Estonia where measurements were rigorously regulated as early as the Middle Ages (for instance, the Tallinn Weighing Regulation from the early 16th century required weights to be checked daily and scales four times a year). In independent Estonia, the requirement to use the metric system was implemented in 1929, although the Weights and Measures Chamber had already begun this process 10 years earlier. However, even during this time, Russian Empire measurement units were still in use.

Is metrology as a science evolving over time, and where is it heading?

On one hand, it’s a very conservative field, and the principles are quite similar compared to 70 or 100 years ago – maybe the machines are prettier, but on the other hand, digitalization and new technologies are gaining ground.

Currently, Estonia is not yet the most high-tech country. We desperately want to get there, and now, little by little, people are starting to foresee what might come in five or ten years. The changes that are coming – big data, the ability to create many sensors cheaply and at the same time, and to place them everywhere to measure. Today, even your phone can read hundreds of data points, and the question is what to do with all these measurement results and how to verify them in critical areas.

In the past, a scale was a scale. Today, when you go to a store checkout, how do you know where the scale is? You see there’s a platform where the product is placed, but where does the reading come from? It comes from a computer system that is connected to who knows what and is part of a larger system. It’s completely different from how you check a specific device on a table that only shows the weight reading.

Where do you see yourself in the company 10 years from now?

I can’t say at this moment. There have been many structural and managerial changes in the past couple of years. The Metrology Division definitely won’t be the same in 10 years – it might be twice as big, or it could be merged with another unit, or there could be new directions. It will likely require a different structure and management.

Will metrology remain as important for the Estonian state in 10 years, and will the science continue to exist?

Definitely. How the science and services are organized compared to ten years ago is difficult to predict right now.

Do metrology and meteorology have anything in common?

The similarity of the words is probably coincidental, and here, the Greek language is exploited. It’s quite annoying for us when fields are confused. The similarity is that meteorology consists of measurements, observation of the environment, and forecasting events based on that data. We also measure and observe, but much more broadly – like the temperature, humidity, and wind speed. Meteorologists additionally predict the weather based on the information, which we do not do.

In the near future, we might also need to start predicting certain values and use computational and reasoning capabilities and AI for that, because the volume of measurements is growing so much that it can’t all be checked as we do today. So, while we don’t deal with predictions right now, this is changing. In other words, metrology is the science of all measurements, and meteorology definitely contains elements of metrology.