Written by: Jake Albers, Manager, SPARK East Incubator, and David Palmer, Business Manager, LaVision
LaVision, Inc. hosted its annual Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) Short Course at the SPARK East Incubator in Ypsilanti, October 23-25, 2012. This year marked the third annual installment of the event. Since 2010, researchers from educational, private and public sector institutions in North America and Europe have traveled to SPARK East. This year, 20 researchers from around the US and Canada participated in the course. Participants visited Ypsilanti from places like Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, MIT and NASA.
The course was designed to equip researchers with the knowledge and skills to better utilize PIV in their own experiments. LaVision staff introduced theory, equipment set-up and data processing involved in conducting PIV measurements through a series of morning lectures. Afternoon sessions included hands-on lab sessions where participants were given the opportunity to work with real-time experiments.
PIV analyzes instantaneous velocity measurements and related properties in flow fields. PIV measures whole velocity fields by taking two images shortly after each other and calculating the distance individual particles traveled within this time. Velocity is calculated from the known time difference and the measured displacement of the observed particles.
LaVision, Inc. is a tenant of the SPARK East Incubator. They service clients in 43 states, 6 Canadian provinces, and several countries in Central and South America. LaVision is a systems integrator and targets clients doing work in fluid mechanics, combustion, and material testing. They are one of the many companies within SPARK East that are driving innovation and attracting talent to Washtenaw County.
For more information on LaVision Inc. visit: www.lavision.com
