Friends of PCDworks,
Innovation is part of this country's
DNA. This month, Mike shares
his thoughts on the role
innovation can and should play in
our economic recovery.
You'll also get a glimpse into what
goes on in the PCDworks
testing labs, and see how our
laboratory is uniquely equipped to
help test a prototype's capabilities
and performance. One such prototype
was a unique
flow sensor that PCDworks was
asked to test for accuracy, range
and response time across a wide
range of applications.
As always, we welcome your feedback
and suggestions. If you would like
to see anything in particular in our
next newsletter, please drop us a
line!
Donna Rainone |
 DNA
To Invent
Leaders in innovation must go beyond
popular green, granola projects
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 This
recession has everyone looking for
answers. I have been harping,
as have an increasing number of real
pundits, about the role of
innovation in facilitating recovery.
The president has been pushing a
sustainable, innovative and green
technology culture to help fuel the
future and beat back the recession,
and I applaud these important
efforts, but I will once again stand
on
my soapbox to say that our future as
leaders in innovation technology
must go beyond the ever popular
"green" and "granola" projects.
Technological innovation has fueled
this country for over a hundred
years, and it distinguishes this
society from the rest of the
developed world. It's the very
substance of our unique culture, our
mixing pot gene pool, and it's the
only thing that can save us from the
inexorable homogenization of
globalization. As globalization
neutralizes one country's
population, natural resource or
location advantages, it is the
"cultural" make up of that society
that will allow it to thrive in the
long term.
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Putting
Products to the Test: Performance
Metrics for that Wacky Widget
|
 It
works, but how well? Does your new
prototype need to be tested and
characterized?
A big (and nerve-racking) part of
the product development process is
the empirical testing of ideas and
concepts. To facilitate this step
in-house, we have a dedicated
testing laboratory full of
instrumentation to quantify a
products' performance across a wide
range of metrics, including flow
rates (liquid and gas), temperature,
pressure, mass, size, velocity,
force, and displacement. The tools
in this lab range from a fully
instrumented environmental chamber
to LabVIEW data acquisition stations
to calibrated strain gauges and
calipers.
Frequently, however, the unique
nature of our projects do not lend
themselves well to off-the-shelf
instrumentation, and custom fixtures
and test apparati are required to
accurately measure a prototype's
performance. Luckily, we are able
to quickly build these fixtures in
our electronics and prototype labs,
and instrument them using the
LabVIEW development environment and
custom sensors.
Next time you've got a part that is
tricky to test, give us a call.
We've learned quite a few lessons
from the aches and pains of unusual
instrumentation exercises.
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Case
Study: How Low Can You Flow?
Unique Flow Sensor Put to the Test
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How do you test a sensor the width
of a strand of hair?
In 2007, PCDwo rks
worked to commercialize a new MEMS-based
flow sensor whose small size and
high accuracy held the potential to
revolutionize flow sensing
applications. Once in possession of
a batch of prototype sensor chips,
PCDworks was tasked with
characterizing the accuracy, range,
and response time of the prototype
chips in both liquid and gaseous
fluid flows.
To characterize the chips' flow
sensing capabilities in air,
PCDworks built a custom blower
capable of providing a controlled
velocity air stream, and used this
to calibrate the proprietary flow
sensor (while comparing results to
standardized flow sensors). To
characterize the flow sensing
abilities in a liquid, PCDworks
acquired and instrumented a medical
pump which also could deliver high
accuracy flow velocities, and used
this system to characterize and
calibrate the flow sensor.
By using in-house instrumentation
and constructing custom test
fixtures, PCDworks was able to
quickly and economically
characterize and test a custom
device's performance across a wide
range of applications.
Do you have a product you want put
to the test?
Contact us for ideas,
information or testing services.
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About PCDworks |
Founded by Mike and Donna Rainone in
1997, PCDworks is a full-service
technology development company
specializing in breakthrough product
innovation for a broad range of
consumer, medical and military
clients. Located on a 25-acre wooded
campus outside Tyler, Texas,
PCDworks houses testing labs,
engineering shops, sleeping
accommodations and meeting
facilities. Client services include
technology problem solving, product
ideation, research, engineering,
prototype manufacturing and product
testing. The company is closely
networked with research and
production facilities in the region,
including UT Tyler and East Texas
Medical Center.
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Want
a Lively and Thought-Provoking
Speaker?
Book a lively and
thought-provoking speaker
who can challenge, motivate and
inspire your management or
engineering team.
Mike Rainone is a highly
regarded expert on emerging
technologies and breakthrough
product creation, and a sought
after speaker for companies
looking to light a fire under
their research and development
efforts.
Whether it's a hands-on look at
emerging technologies and their
applications, or a lesson in
rapid and effective product
development, Mike offers a
unique perspective designed to
both inform and challenge his
audience.
Choose from a
list of topics, or
contact Mike to create your
own agenda for a session that is
guaranteed to be inspirational
and though provoking. |
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Be a Guest Contributor
Do you have some interesting
technology news to share? We welcome
guest contributions to our
newsletter, so if you come across
breakthrough technology or weird
science, send an email to
Mike Rainone. We'll make sure to
attribute it to you. |
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