CONSULTANT'S CORNER

Sound and Vibration, Sep 2004

National Technical Systems, Inc. has announced the expansion of its automotive testing services at its Detroit facility. According to NTS Chairman and CEO Jack Lin, Ph.D., the expansion was made in the airbag testing area to include rollover airbags. Recognized by every major auto manufacturer, the Detroit facility offers a complete range of automotive testing services including acoustic, vibration, power train and environmental conditioning.

NTS conducts tests to domestic automobile manufacturers specifications, providing a wide range of programs that require special fixtures and oversized chambers. As a key safety device for the new rollover airbags, each manufacturer has developed a tight set of performance requirements. Testing consists of a combination of environmental tests, including vibration, thermal cycling, mechanical shock, and thermal shock to simulate the vehicle transitioning, for instance, from a warm garage to an icy winter environment.

The new rollover airbags, some of which are 8 ft in length, are designed for multi-passenger vehicles and are factory installed within the interior lining of the vehicle roof. They inflate when the builtin sensor mechanism determines that the vehicle is becoming inverted. Unlike traditional airbags that instantly inflate and then immediately deflate, these air bags are slower to inflate and remain inflated while the vehicle is inverting in an effort to prevent injury to the occupant's head. In most cases, after the airbags are tested at NTS, the manufacturer installs them in a vehicle and deployment tests are performed. Testing, data acquisition and analysis are performed to industry or SAE standards.

To learn more about NTS' automotive test capabilities and related services, call 800.946.2687, or visit www.ntscorp.com.

Entela, Inc. has changed its name to Intertek ETL Entela, due to the acquisition of the company by Intertek Group pic, a global testing, inspection and certification company. Intertek ETL Entela will continue to service its customers at five branch locations: Grand Rapids, Detroit, Boston, Toronto and Taipei. Address, phone and contact information will be the same. Customers will benefit from the resources and support provided to by the company by Intertek, which operates in four global divisions: Caleb Brett in the oil & chemical industries, Labtest in consumer products including textiles, toys and hard goods, FTS in foreign trade standards and ETL SEMKO in electrical products.

Intertek ETL Entela provides full product systems and material component testing and failure analysis, global conformity assessment to International, North American and European standards, management system registration (ISO 9000, QS-9000, TE Supplement, ISO/TS 16949, ISO 14000), engineering services and accelerated stress testing. Visit www.inter tek-etlsemko. com for more information.

Marshall Long Acoustics, Inc. has completed over thirty years in business. MLA is a firm of acoustical engineers specializing in architectural acoustics, sound system design, noise and vibration control, audio visual design, and other technical areas related to acoustics.

The Sherman Oaks based company is currently working on projects in California including the Bel Air Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Douglas Building loft project in Los Angeles, and Eastside High School in Lancaster. Some recently completed projects include the Laser Interferometry Gravitational Observatory (LIGO) for MIT and Cal Tech, the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, Orange County Museum of in Newport Beach, Pomona College in Pomona, South Central High School in Los Angeles, and the Brandeis-Bardin Institute. Recently completed religious facilities include St. Mark's Catholic Church in Boise, ID, and St. Rose of Lima and the Sparks Christian Fellowship churches in Reno, NV. For more information on Marshall Long Acoustic Services, visit MLAcoustics.com.