Next week, February 16-23 2003 is National Engineers week (in the US).
Read more on the National Engineers week web site.
New surface mount microphone uses MEMS technology
Emkay Innovative Products, a manufacturer of microphones, has released a microphone that can be mounted to the surfaced of printed circuit boards. The microphones are based on MEMS technology, so that they are compact and cheap.
Read the press release on the Emkay web site.
Thermoacoustics book from LANL
Greg Swift, of Los Alamos National Laboratories has released a book on thermoacoustics. The book is available to ASA members for $US50 and $US70 for non-members.
Read more on the ASA web site. Read the description on the Los Alamos National Laboratory web site.
Quiet
You may have noticed the lack of news articles for the past couple of weeks. I have moved half way around the planet, and hence have not been available. All should be back to normal in the next couple of days.
Data Physics new Mobilyzer analyzer
Data Physics have released the SignalCalc Mobilyzer analyzer that connects to a laptop computer. The system is portable and is expandable from 4 to 16 channels.
Read more on the Data Physics web site.
LDS’s new high force shaker
Ling Dynamic Systems has released a new shaker, model V9 for use in automotive and aerospace testing. It has a maximum force output of 105kN, and dispalcement of 75mm. It is water cooled and hence is quiet, making suitable for squeak and rattle testing.
Dolby releases surround sound headphones
At the International Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week, Dolby displayed their new headphones for use with their 5.1 surround sound technology. The headphones almost eliminate the “listener-fatigue” problem, where the listener perceives sound coming from inside their head.
Read the press release on the Dolby web site.
Endevco’s new accelerometers
Endevco have released 2 new accelerometers for vibration measurements. The 2222D is a lightweight accelerometer (1 gm), the 7268C a tri-axial piezoresistive accelerometer that can be used for automotive crash testing.
They have also release a new signal conditioner 482B which is an 8 channel rack mounted board that is compatible with the TEDS (plug-and-play) type sensors.
Quiet fuel cell cars
General Motors’ vice-chairman of product development, Bob Lutz, was interviewed at the Detroit Motor show this week (January 2003) and said that fuel cell cars are so quiet that they are considering making artificial engine noise sounds and playing them through the car’s audio system.
Austin Acoustics bought for $4m
ESCO Technologies has bought Austin Acoustics Systems for $4 million. Austin Acoustics make acoustic enclosures for audiometric testing and the recording industry.