Leadership in Engineering

Leadership in Engineering

This is the 3rd annual Leadership event announcing the winners in the 2009 Leadership Awards Program. The Design World User Community have cast their votes and we are pleased to announce the winners.

ADVANCED MATERIALS

Da/Pro Rubber is a custom manufacturer of precision rubber, TPE, and plastic molding products. The proprietary Da/Pro process adjusts for rubber compound and rubber part configuration variables so that it can produce high tolerance parts of consistent quality. The company offers complete in-house capabilities from design for moldability, rubber compound development, lab testing, mold construction, subassembly, and quality assurance.

Digital Manufacturing

Proto Labs’ quick-turn Protomold® injection molding and First Cut® CNC machining services are the fastest in the world at providing design engineers with real parts based on their 3D CAD models. We achieved this unique ability by applying proprietary software and parallel processing technologies to the automation of standard manufacturing processes, so engineers can finally have it all : real parts in as little as one day.

Electrical & Electronic

Since 1976, Glenn Taylor’s vision of an enterprising engineer has been our guiding force. Our goal is to design and manufacture standard industrial control products that meet or exceed customer and industry specifications for quality and operation. We engineer more features, more functions and more flexibility into our products, and we are able to offer a lifetime warranty for them.

Fastening & Joining

Bal Seal Engineering, Inc.’s original product was a plastic ring with a groove to house a coiled spring. Today, the company’s patented canted coil spring energized PTFE is at the core of its product offerings. Bal Seal offers custom-engineered sealing, connecting, conducting, and shielding products for medical electronics, medical device aerospace/defense, energy management, automotive, and industrial applications.

Fluid Power

Norgren’s vision is to create competitive advantage for its customers. By exploiting the potential of motion and fluid control technologies. For Norgren customers this means better results, faster/more efficient machines, improved machine performance, increased reliability/uptime and lower cost of ownership. Application specific solutions frequently involve integrated or modular combinations of actuator, control valve and air preparation technologies. Within the field of motion control Norgren develops solutions for automation applications and within the field of fluid control Norgren combines proven brands to offer solutions for handling air, water, oil and other fluids.

Mechanical

Arrow Gear Company is among the most technologically advanced gear manufacturers in the world. With a facility of over 145,000 square feet, Arrow is equipped for a full range of precision gear machining, heat treating and inspection capabilities for spiral bevel gears, spur and helical gears, curvic couplings – as well as complete gearboxes.

Arrow has earned a reputation for providing high precision gears to the global market for a wide variety of aerospace and commercial applications.

Arrow’s advanced technologies reach beyond machine tools alone. Arrow is equipped with design and development capabilities that are on the leading edge of the industry. Utilizing Gleason CAGE, GAGE, MINIGAGE, Finite Element and Fully Loaded TCA software, Arrow engineers can create computer models which accurately predict gear design performance. This process for contact pattern development is dramatically more efficient than conventional methods.

Motion Control

PBC Linear is a leader in providing linear and rotary solutions, specializing in everything from out-of-the-box components, to mechanical sub-assemblies, to complete linear systems. PBC Linear’s team of expert engineers draws experience from years of mechanical and design engineering both in the classroom and in the field. Their skilled staff, sophisticated tools, and innovative products create long lasting solutions for the toughest motion control problems.

Software

COMSOL Group provides software solutions for multiphysics modeling. A fast growing engineering software company with a proven track recor, Comsol was founded in July 1986 in Stockholm, Sweden, and has offices in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, India, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and U.S.A.

Switches & Sensors

MTS Sensors, a division of MTS Systems Corp., is the global leader in the development and production of magnetostrictive, linear-position and liquid-level sensors. Using MTS’s patented Temposonics® technology, the Sensors Division is continually developing new ways to apply magnetostrictive sensing technology to solve critical applications in a variety of markets worldwide, including steel, wood, plastics, metalworking, automotive, and off-highway. It also applies megnetostrictive technology to the packaging, oil, gas, food and beverage, and medical industries. MTS Sensors Division has facilities in the U.S., Germany, and Japan, and is an ISO 9001 certified supplier committed to providing innovative sensing solutions that deliver customers with reliable, cost-effective position-feedback devices.

Test & Measurement

Omega is a major US company that manufacturers more than 80% of its product offerings in house ─ and this percentage is continuously increasing. At a time when “outsourcing” seems to be the foundation of many US manufacturers, Omega Engineering, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, remains a notable exception. Omega enjoys this leadership position because it strongly advocates process automation to achieve high productivity and create quality products. When commercial equipment is used, in-house automation handles the input and output processes. Omega’s automation engineers are among the most talented, and it has invested substantially in the model shops and labs needed to support them. Working with an equally talented staff of software engineers, they produce a wide range of custom automation equipment.

New Line of Mechanical Testers for Medical Industry

PrecisionLine Vario offers maximum flexibility for medical technology

Rapid technical advance combined with the need to use raw materials carefully has led to miniaturization of mechanical, electromechanical and electronic components, causing a dramatic rise in demands placed on production accuracy as dimensional, form and positional tolerances become ever smallerThe requirements placed on testing technology are experiencing a similar increase; the smaller specimens become, the greater the demands on the mechanical accuracy of the entire test arrangement (dimensional stability/accuracy, form and positional errors, bearing play etc.). The resolution and accuracy of force and displacement measurement systems must keep pace with the increasingly fine tolerances of the characteristics being determined, with test equipment gage R&R certification representing an ever greater challenge.

Intensive development work byZwick has resulted in PrecisionLine – a testing system more than equal to these increased demands and featuring significant innovations. In order to minimize load frame compliance effects and Abbe displacement measurement errors, the load application axis and the travel measurement reference are aligned with the test axis, while an innovative and patented displacement compensates the error caused by deformation of the load-cell The displacement measurement system has a resolution of 0.12 µm, and force measurement accuracy lies well within the limits of Class ISO 7500-10.5

Three new machine types

PrecisionLine Manual is a manually operated instrument for testing compression springs and many other engineered components. This is followed by a motorized version – PrecisionLine Automatic. This machine has been developed specially for high-accuracy measurement and where maximum reproducibility is required. PrecisionLine Vario, the third variant features modular construction, making it a genuine universal testing machine for a wide range of applications.

Maximum flexibility for tests on medical technology

PrecisionLine Vario features modular construction and the PrecisionLine Automatic Measurement Head, whose position can be adjusted manually along a very stiff 4-column load frame. The machine can operate in a horizontal or vertical position and mechanical system compliance compensation is optionally available.

An interchangeable fixture platen enables many different devices and fixtures to be attached.

PrecisionLine Vario is ideally suited to use in medical technology, with an open design offering excellent accessibility and allowing even micro-components or very small implants to be inserted and gripped securely.

With the testControl measurement and control system plus testXpert II test software, PrecisionLine Vario is a high-precision all-round universal testing system offering a high degree of test scalability thanks to testXpert II’s full functional range.

Internet Meters Set to Release Aug. 2010

The integrated measurement of advertising across both TV and internet viewing might happen sooner than we thought. Nielsen now expects to have a portion of its people meter households covered with “Internet meters” prior to the 2010-2011 broadcast season.

Once that happens, count on internet viewing on Hulu.com and the network’s websites having the same national advertising load as the telecasts for at least 3 days after airtime, so it will count in the C+3 commercial ratings that the networks sell to advertisers.

Urged by clients to move faster, Nielsen responded Tuesday with a plan to accelerate the rollout of the Internet meter to its national people meter sample. The plans call for Nielsen to complete the roll out by Aug. 31, 2010, instead of some time in 2011.

The initiative, now called TVandPC will create the industry’s first single source measure of viewing to both TV and online. Once the rollout is complete, Nielsen will be able to report online video viewing from 7,500 national-people-meter homes, representing about 20,000 people and 12,000 computers.

Tektronix Buys Sypris Solutions Business Segment

Tektronix, Inc., a supplier of test, measurement, and monitoring products and solutions, completed the acquisition of the Test & Measurement business from Sypris Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq/NM: SYPR ) for $39.0 million.

Sypris Test & Measurement, Inc. is a provider of calibration services, testing and component sourcing services, and specialty products.  The company serves in a variety of markets, including military, aerospace, avionics, telecommunications, automotive, semiconductor, medical and more.

Expanding multiple vendor service offerings to support customers through the entire product life cycle is a strategic initiative for Tektronix.  Sypris Test & Measurement brings a strong U.S. footprint of locations to provide rapid turn-around to customers across a wide range of parameters through on-site, mobile, or service offerings to current and future Tektronix customers.

http://www.tek.com/

http://www.sypris.com/

High Resolution Digitizer for Defense Markets

Agilent Technologies introduces its Acqiris product line’s highest-resolution VME/VXS digitizer. The SVM4800 is an eight-channel 14-bit digitizer with more than 300 MHz input signal bandwidth, achieving sampling of up to 125 MS/s. This new digitizer is ideal for applications in radar, Electronic Warfare (EW) and Synthetic Instrumentation (SI).

The Agilent SVM4800 builds on the modular U1083A VME/VXS base card with an analog digitizer mezzanine that includes two DC-coupled 14-bit, 125 MS/s quad-ADCs. Agilent know-how in digitizer development combined with extensive use of state-of-the-art technology allow reaching outstanding analog performance, including spurious free dynamic range (SFDR) of up to 82 dBc, total harmonic distortion (THD) of 82 dBc, and signal to noise ratio (SNR) over 70 dBc, leading to an effective resolution of more than 11.2 bits (ENOB) at 125 MS/s. The mezzanine also includes a Xilinx Virtex-5 FPGA that provides data MUX function and static data gain and offset correction.

The base card provides high-performance, real-time data processing by means of two very large Xilinx Virtex- 4 FPGAs, one SX55 and one FX100. The board supports eight 3.125 Gbps serial links on the VXS backplane and two optical links on the front panel supporting up to 3.125 Gbps, providing a substantial aggregate data bandwidth of more than 3.5 GB/s. Its fully compliant VME64x interface supports the 2eSST protocol.

An optional firmware development kit (FDK) is available to help application firmware implementation on the SX55 and FX100 FPGAs. The FDK includes a set of cores to easily interface to the underlying hardware, a base design for each family member to provide very simple, ready-to-use designs, and a test-bench environment for design and simulation.

This product is intended benefit those charged with closing the gaps in emerging threats through new technology or by refreshment of fielded Electronic Support (ES), Electronic Attack (EA) and Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) systems, the majority of which are based on the ubiquitous VME architecture. Longer emitter identification standoff ranges, more precise direction finding in dense emitter environments, and shorter defensive engagement cycles are possible with relatively low incremental development cost. Wideband radar and intelligence-gathering systems are also expected to benefit, with better clutter rejection, range and target differentiation now attainable without massive reinvestment.

High current test on LV and HV cable accessories

Sefelec manufactures current injection sources in combination with hipot testers in order to answer to some international standard for the high current tests on cable accessories, underground connection accessories, low voltage underground network connection, high voltage cable accessories (outdoor terminations, switchgear terminations, transformer terminations,…)

The concerned accessories are for instance connected to the following standards: NF (C 33-002), NF (C 33-210), … The following European document of harmonization also gives details of the method to follow: CENELEC HD605S1.

Definition:
The long run tests (also called ageing test) are made during several hours, days or months.
The accessories under test are often put under ground, under water, or in the air for the test, and are submitted to thermic cycles by applying an AC current.
An AC voltage is also permanently applied at the same time between phase and ground ; this test is called the hipot test (also called hi-pot test, dielectric withstand test, dielectric strength test, breakdown test, or flash test).
No breakdown (also called flash, arc) should occure during this test.

Example of typical Test:
This ageing test (also called run test) made on the accessories combines a test in current (thanks to a window transformer, also called current injection transformer) at for instance the following AC voltage/current : 20/24/36 VAC, 3 x 700A or 10VAC, 1 x 1200A, …), and a test of hipot (at for instance 2kVAC, 50 mA, 60 kVAC, 200kVAC, …).
A loop is made with the cable.
This loop holds 2 or 4 accessories.

Test specifications:
An example of the duration of the ageing test could be the following one :
210 cycles of 24 hours (8 hours heat up / 16h cooling cooling down) at (100 ± 5) °C
= 5000 hours under voltage
= 7 months

Oscilloscope supports MIPI and SATA Standards

Agilent Technologies Inc. expands its mixed-signal and digital-storage oscilloscope portfolio with two lower-cost 600-MHz Infiniium 9000 Series models, three new application packages and GPIB compatibility. The 9000 Series is the industry’s first oscilloscope family to offer bandwidths from 600 MHz to 4 GHz, and it includes the industry’s first mixed signal oscilloscope to support MIPI and SATA industry standards.

Oscilloscopes are the primary tools engineers use to test and debug electronic designs, and engineers need increasingly broad measurement capability to deliver robust products in a timely manner. Agilent’s lower-cost Infiniium 9000 Series 600-MHz models incorporate advanced viewing and analysis for debugging and testing a wide variety of traditional signals and buses used in embedded designs. In addition, they offer optional logic and protocol analyzer capabilities.

In addition to extending its lineup with lower-cost models, Agilent has added new applications that capitalize on higher-bandwidth 9000 Series models. Emerging serial bus standards in the wireless mobile industry have created the need for teams to debug and test devices that meet MIPI-DPHY physical-layer standards. Agilent’s 9000 Series is the first mixed-signal oscilloscope to offer MIPI-DPHY compliance test and protocol analysis enabling faster development of wireless mobile products employing MIPI standards. Teams can quickly move from physical-layer to protocol-layer measurements and can use the compliance application to automate testing to ensure compliance with MIPI-DPHY standards.

Development teams working on electronic products that include storage may have cost constraints or legacy requirements that make SATA 1 a better choice than other interface technologies. Engineers using Agilent’s 9000 Series scopes can quickly see SATA 1 information at the physical and protocol layers. For development teams using the faster 3-Gbs SATA II standard, Agilent offers both compliance and protocol support with its Infiniium 90000 Series.

While LAN and USB IO have reduced the need for traditional programming over GPIB interfaces, many engineers continue to rely on programmatic interaction with oscilloscopes via GPIB. Agilent’s new GPIB-to-LAN adapter enables GPIB applications on a computer to interface transparently to an instrument with a LAN interface as if it were a GPIB instrument. This adapter broadens the number of test environments that are ideal for the Infiniium 9000 Series scopes.

“We’ve received great customer reviews on our Infiniium 9000 Series introduced earlier in the year,” said Scott Sampl, vice president and general manager of Agilent’s oscilloscopes business. “Now we’ve extended the family so more customers can use the scope with the industry’s broadest measurement capability.”

Multimeter Works Two Places at Once

For the first time, a multimeter will allow electricians and electronic technicians to work in two places at once, says Fluke Corp., provider of portable electronic test and measurement technology. Fluke introduced what it calls the industry’s first digital multimeter with a detachable wireless display.

Designed by Fluke engineers and manufactured at the Fluke Worldwide headquarters in Everett, WA, the Fluke 233 Digital Multimeter uses a 2.4 GHz ISM Band wireless transmitter to send measurements to the detached display, improving safety and increasing productivity for today’s busy industrial and commercial electricians and electronic technicians.

In addition to functioning as a highly capable multimeter, the new Fluke 233 Remote Display Multimeter gives users flexibility in unusual test situations. By sliding the wireless display out of the meter body, the user can place the display where it is most easily seen-up to 10 meters (33 feet) from the point of measurement- while putting the meter in the best position to take measurements. There’s no more juggling of leads and the meter while stretching into tight spots. Fluke provides a video demonstration.

Designed for both convenience and safety, the Fluke 233 makes it easier to take measurements in hard-to-reach places, or make measurements in machines or panels that are physically separated from a limit or isolator switch. It is ideal in areas where the operator can’t be close to the active measurement point, Fluke says, like clean rooms or hazardous areas. Making measurements without holding the meter can help users improve their visual focus on their test probes and work more safely.

Fluke says the detachable wireless display lets the user:

- Find a comfortable position to view and record test data, even when the test location is hard to reach or in a dirty or noisy environment.

- View readings when the test point is across the room-or in the next room.

- See test results even when the meter is hidden behind an equipment enclosure.

- Run tests and read results at a safe distance from shock and arc flash hazards, moving machinery and other dangers.

- Separate the tasks of positioning the meter and reading test results, allowing full attention on each job for increased safety.

The low-power, 2.4 GHz-ISM Band wireless signal that transmits measurement data is resistant to electromagnetic interference. The radio transmitter automatically turns on when the display is removed from the meter and off when the display is reattached. The removable display is magnetic and has a flat bottom, so it can be conveniently mounted or placed on a flat surface where it can easily be seen. When the display is attached, the Fluke 233 operates as a conventional multimeter.

The Fluke 233 will measure up to 1000 V ac and dc and up to 10 A. It features a 10,000 μF capacitance range, measures frequencies to 50 kHz and captures min/max and average readings automatically. It features a 6,000-count display and includes a built-in thermometer that enables users to take temperature readings easily without carrying a separate instrument. The meter body is powered by three AA batteries; the display has two AA batteries. Average battery life is 400 hours. An auto-off feature maximizes battery life.

The Fluke 233 is safety rated for use in CAT IV 600V/CAT III 1000 V working environments.

Handheld Laser Light Source

Toronto, Canada – GAO Instruments has launched its durable, compact fiber optic laser light source for use in the field or lab applications. It performs fast and accurate measurement on long-distance and local optical networks.

This portable laser light source, model A0630010, offers high stability for accurate fiber optic testing. It provides stable power output at a wavelength of 1310nm or 1550nm through a single output connector. The light source can operate in either continuous wave mode or 2kHz modulated mode for up to twelve hours without any service interruption. It can measure the loss in an optical fiber up to 200km in length with high accuracy. The device also gives a low battery indication when requiring battery replacement.

Danaher Test and Measurement Supplier of the Year

Multek, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Flextronics announced that it has been recognized by Danaher Test and Measurement as its 2009 outstanding supplier of the year. Multek was chosen based on criteria including quality, delivery performance, engineering support and cost for its work with two of Danaher Test and Measurement’s business units, Tektronix and Fluke. Multek supplies printed circuit boards for Tektronix and Fluke products as well as LCD displays for Fluke products.

“Multek has consistently provided superior value and technical support for the Test and Measurement business,” said Jeff Jones, director of Tektronix commodity management. “Their technical innovation, quality culture and flexible business solutions are a role model of supplier excellence.”

“We are very pleased with this recognition and would like to thank the team at Danaher for honoring us with this award,” said Werner Widmann, chief executive officer and president of Multek. “The team at Multek is completely committed to providing the highest quality, most reliable PCB manufacturing solutions to customers worldwide. This recognition underscores our dedication to serving Danaher, as well as our other customers, and to providing leading edge products that improve the competitiveness of our customers.”

Multek was honored with the award at Danaher’s 2009 annual supplier symposium, which took place in Everett, Washington last month.

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