CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF BOB LALLY, FOUNDER, PCB PIEZOTRONICS (1924-2018)
Bob Lally, founder of PCB Piezotronics, passed away recently at the age of 93. In addition to Bob’s legendary technical contributions, he will be remembered for his brave military service during World War II and post- retirement work in STEM.
Upon returning home from the War a decorated
military hero, Bob earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Bob then moved to Buffalo, New York to serve as a guidance and control engineer at Bell Aircraft Corp. In 1955, Bob and some of his Bell colleagues decided to form what was then the original Kistler Instrument Company, commercialising piezoelectric sensors for an expanded array of applications. Bob remained at the original Kistler for 11 years, serving as VP of Marketing, alongside his roles in engineering, production, testing, and sales. In 1967, Bob decided to start PCB Piezotronics, focusing on design and
manufacture of piezoelectric sensors with integrated electronics for dynamic measurements of vibration, pressure, force and acceleration. Bob’s R&D work was awarded multiple U.S.
patents, including the modally-tuned piezoelectric impact hammer, pendulum hammer calibrator, and gravimetric calibrator. He was most renowned for his successful commercialisation of a two-wire accelerometer with built-in electronics, known as integrated circuit piezoelectric, or ICP, which made the sensors lower cost, easier to use and more compatible with industrial environments. In 2016, PCB was acquired by MTS Systems Corporation. Upon retirement, Bob’s work centred around development of sensors-related STEM educational models. In addition to co-founding two of the most successful sensor manufacturers in history and his many R&D accomplishments, Bob’s generosity of spirit shall remain an important part of his legacy. He is survived by his son, Patrick (Kathi) Lally; grandson, Joshua Lally; surviving siblings Jim, MaryAnn (Wilson), and Patricia; and many nieces, nephews, friends and colleagues.
GLOBAL MARKET LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR FLOWMETERS
Frost & Sullivan has honoured Endress+Hauser with the Global Market Leadership Award for electromagnetic flowmeters. The company was recognised during
Frost & Sullivan’s awards gala in California. “Endress+Hauser’s success is tied to a strong customer focus and a high level of innovation,” said Dr. Rajender Thusu, Frost & Sullivan industry analyst. The company invests heavily in research and product development in order to meet its customers’ requirements in the area of liquid flow measurements. Frost & Sullivan highlighted the company’s close collaboration with customers.
“Our aim is to help our customers run their processes in a reliable, safe, sustainable and economic manner. To do that, we work closely together with the customers from the very early stages of product design, to the operations phase and beyond,” said Dr. Bernd-Josef Schäfer, managing director of Endress+Hauser Flowtec, the Group’s competence centre for flow measurement technology headquartered in Reinach, Switzerland. The electromagnetic flowmeters from Endress+Hauser, which feature advanced
engineering such as Heartbeat Technology, support various communications protocols, including EtherNet/IP and PROFINET, that make the information easily accessible. Thanks to Heartbeat Technology, instruments such as the Proline flowmeter line have self- monitoring capabilities. By supplying process and instrument diagnostic notifications in line with NE 107, influences and changes can be detected and rectified before impacting the process – all while the process is running.
www.endress.com/en
www.rheintacho.com
SIGNIFICANT TURNOVER GROWTH FOR SENSORS
The AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement (AMA) polled its members in January on the economic development in 2017. The responses of the AMA members show a significant positive overall development. For the current year, the sensor industry projects a further growth in turnover of eight per cent. The AMA members are planning to increase their investments by 13 per cent. Thanks to the positive outlook, 80 per cent of the enterprises state that they want to hire more engineers. The prevailing mood is based on a very positive
development in revenue during the previous year, in which the sensor industry generated a cumulative rise in turnover of nine per cent compared to the previous year. Thus, the AMA members significantly exceeded the previous average of six per cent growth in turnover. The overall economic development reflects the
high investment readiness in the sensor industry. Last year, AMA members invested 18 per cent more than in the previous year. For the current fiscal year, the sector counts on a further increase in investments of 13 per cent.
www.ama-sensorik.de
INSTRUMENTATION | MARCH 2018
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