laboratory

The School of Engineering at Vanderbilt University recently had a grand opening for their new Laboratory for Systems Integrity and Reliability (LASIR). The 20,000 square foot facility will allow researchers to validate theories and models for security, energy, and manufacturing projects.  

Designers and manufacturers of electronic products are frequently faced with the question: “How do I find a high-quality EMC testing laboratory where I can confidently test my products?” The emphasis of the great majority of design and/or manufacturing entities is on obtaining (1) quality preliminary testing of EMC characteristics to refine the design of their products and (2) quality final design testing of their product for regulatory approvals. The final design, of course, is what gets manufactured and released to the general population for their use in daily life. This article is intended to aid designers and manufacturers in finding and utilizing high-quality EMC testing laboratories.

Since 1990, the accreditation of EMC laboratories has become increasingly important in many parts of the world. This development has been mainly driven by the sharp increase in the number of electric and electronic products that have been introduced to the global marketplace.

Testing and certification organization MET Laboratories has received recognition from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Certification Body (CB) for Luminaires (including sub-components), Integral LED Lamps, & Set-Top and Cable Boxes under the ENERGY STAR® program.

On December 6, 2011, MET Labs will launch the Program for Testing Medical Devices for Susceptibility to RFID, to determine potential adverse events of radio frequency identification (RFID) emissions on electronic medical devices.

There are numerous reasons for the use of an external test laboratory by organizations developing, manufacturing or marketing electric or electronic products. These reasons may include lack of or limited testing capability, scheduling conflicts within the organization, etc. Whatever the case may be, the proper selection of an external third party test laboratory is critical since the test results may be used to demonstrate product compliance or to verify changes to a product design.