Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology and PPC Corp. have developed the Smart Connector, a sensor able to provide information about equipment damage in cellular telecommunications cables.
Once the sensor is installed in the connecting units of coaxial cables, it can provide information about equipment damage and pinpoint the exact location of damage through self-diagnosing technology.
The sensor is one outcome of corporate research and development initiatives established at RIT over the past several years. The university and PPC Corp. signed a licensing agreement in June.
Both parties are in the process of final testing and technology transfer, according to Robert Bowman, professor of electrical and microelectronic engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
“The university demonstrated the feasibility of the technology and is working with PPC to further test the manufactured product,” said Bowman. “It’s one thing to conduct laboratory testing and demonstrate viability; it’s another thing to get it into a product. PPC worked very closely with us during this research effort, and well work with them as they try to integrate this technology into their product line.”
Bowman and his research group worked with Noah Montena, principal engineer at PPC, a Syracuse-based telecommunications radio-frequency (RF) connector equipment company, to design the sensor-disc system. “The sensors have been designed from the beginning with simplicity, robustness and cost-effectiveness in mind, and one of the advantages of collaborating on the research has been the communication of manufacturing considerations as design decisions get made,” said Montena. “Beyond cellular connectors, it is easy to imagine this technology finding a place in other high value, or ‘can’t-fail’ applications such as communications or internal networks in spacecraft or aircraft. I look forward to uncovering all the possibilities.”
Once the sensor is installed in the connecting units of coaxial cables, it can provide information about equipment damage and pinpoint the exact location of damage through self-diagnosing technology.
The sensor is one outcome of corporate research and development initiatives established at RIT over the past several years. The university and PPC Corp. signed a licensing agreement in June.
Both parties are in the process of final testing and technology transfer, according to Robert Bowman, professor of electrical and microelectronic engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
“The university demonstrated the feasibility of the technology and is working with PPC to further test the manufactured product,” said Bowman. “It’s one thing to conduct laboratory testing and demonstrate viability; it’s another thing to get it into a product. PPC worked very closely with us during this research effort, and well work with them as they try to integrate this technology into their product line.”
Bowman and his research group worked with Noah Montena, principal engineer at PPC, a Syracuse-based telecommunications radio-frequency (RF) connector equipment company, to design the sensor-disc system. “The sensors have been designed from the beginning with simplicity, robustness and cost-effectiveness in mind, and one of the advantages of collaborating on the research has been the communication of manufacturing considerations as design decisions get made,” said Montena. “Beyond cellular connectors, it is easy to imagine this technology finding a place in other high value, or ‘can’t-fail’ applications such as communications or internal networks in spacecraft or aircraft. I look forward to uncovering all the possibilities.”
Researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology and PPC Corp. have developed the Smart Connector, a sensor able to provide information about equipment damage in cellular telecommunications cables.
Once the sensor is installed in the connecting units of coaxial cables, it can provide information about equipment damage and pinpoint the exact location of damage through self-diagnosing technology.
The sensor is one outcome of corporate research and development initiatives established at RIT over the past several years. The university and PPC Corp. signed a licensing agreement in June.
Both parties are in the process of final testing and technology transfer, according to Robert Bowman, professor of electrical and microelectronic engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
“The university demonstrated the feasibility of the technology and is working with PPC to further test the manufactured product,” said Bowman. “It’s one thing to conduct laboratory testing and demonstrate viability; it’s another thing to get it into a product. PPC worked very closely with us during this research effort, and well work with them as they try to integrate this technology into their product line.”
Bowman and his research group worked with Noah Montena, principal engineer at PPC, a Syracuse-based telecommunications radio-frequency (RF) connector equipment company, to design the sensor-disc system. “The sensors have been designed from the beginning with simplicity, robustness and cost-effectiveness in mind, and one of the advantages of collaborating on the research has been the communication of manufacturing considerations as design decisions get made,” said Montena. “Beyond cellular connectors, it is easy to imagine this technology finding a place in other high value, or ‘can’t-fail’ applications such as communications or internal networks in spacecraft or aircraft. I look forward to uncovering all the possibilities.”
Once the sensor is installed in the connecting units of coaxial cables, it can provide information about equipment damage and pinpoint the exact location of damage through self-diagnosing technology.
The sensor is one outcome of corporate research and development initiatives established at RIT over the past several years. The university and PPC Corp. signed a licensing agreement in June.
Both parties are in the process of final testing and technology transfer, according to Robert Bowman, professor of electrical and microelectronic engineering in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering.
“The university demonstrated the feasibility of the technology and is working with PPC to further test the manufactured product,” said Bowman. “It’s one thing to conduct laboratory testing and demonstrate viability; it’s another thing to get it into a product. PPC worked very closely with us during this research effort, and well work with them as they try to integrate this technology into their product line.”
Bowman and his research group worked with Noah Montena, principal engineer at PPC, a Syracuse-based telecommunications radio-frequency (RF) connector equipment company, to design the sensor-disc system. “The sensors have been designed from the beginning with simplicity, robustness and cost-effectiveness in mind, and one of the advantages of collaborating on the research has been the communication of manufacturing considerations as design decisions get made,” said Montena. “Beyond cellular connectors, it is easy to imagine this technology finding a place in other high value, or ‘can’t-fail’ applications such as communications or internal networks in spacecraft or aircraft. I look forward to uncovering all the possibilities.”
