Last week Max Tinsley and Amie Schellenberg traveled to Pignat’s manufacturing plant in Lyon, France to test and approve the first of 12 Process Control units being custom built for Thompson Rivers University’s (TRU) new Instrumentation program in Kamloops, BC.

Pictured above are Max Tinsley, Instrumentation Instructor with Régis Rodriguez, Pignat’s Product Specialist.

Régis has traveled extensively in Canada to install a broad range of Pignat equipment in colleges and universities, and to train the staff and faculty. But for large projects, we encourage customers to visit the factory to meet the design and engineering team prior to us shipping the equipment. Thank you to Amie for sharing this photo and for her kind words about the trip.

AYVA is pleased to partner with York University to provide state-of-the-art training systems from TecQuipment. Both York’s Mechanical and Civil Departments at the Lassonde School of Engineering have recently been outfitted with a broad range of teaching equipment from TQ including structures and material testing to fluids and aerodynamics.

There are no lecture halls in the new Bergeron Centre at York. All of the courses are being taught in the labs to better foster experiential learning.

The new Bergeron Centre in York’s Lassonde School of Engineering

We are thrilled to announce TQ’s new range of Vibrations products! These consist of a modular series for studying Free Vibration (TM160-TM167) as well as the stand-alone Free and Forced Vibrations (TM1016).

Free Vibrations Experiments (TM160-TM167)

This series is a modular system that is focused on free vibrations. There are seven products in the series, all of which fit onto the new Free Vibrations Test Frame (TM160). These products are a perfect introduction for the new Free and Forced Vibrations unit (TM1016).

 

Free and Forced Vibrations (TM1016)

This is a self-contained bench top unit which allows students to study the free and forced vibrations of a rigid beam with a spring and a simply supported beam. Forcing the vibration allows more advanced studies to be completed, such as using a vibration absorber and the dynamic effects of damping.

 

Pictured above: AYVA’s President Dianne Beveridge, KUKA Canada’s President Chris Claringbold and Ashley Fitzgerald, KUKA’s Education Specialist.

As a pioneer in automation technology, KUKA Robotics is one of the leading manufacturers of robotic systems worldwide – and Number 1 in Europe!

AYVA was pleased to attend the 3-day conference where KUKA formally launched their new KORE Curriculum Bundle, designed specifically for the education market.

KUKA Kore packages include training, curriculum, course labs, tests and student manuals. Learn more

KUKA also featured their new lightweight IIWA collaborative robot which allows humans and robots to work together on highly sensitive tasks.

 

 

The Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo continues to expand their training equipment in the undergraduate labs, providing students with real world hands-on experience.

The left picture is the TUV/3000 UV Disinfection and TOC Reduction Unit, the right picture is a custom designed OTP-ABS Controlled Absorption & Regeneration pilot plant.

As with all training systems manufactured by Pignat and supported by AYVA, a factory engineer installed and commissioned the equipment and provided staff and faculty with the necessary training.

AYVA’s Chief Technology Officer was also present to supervise the electrical inspection and assist with a maintenance plan.

Several members of the AYVA Team recently travelled to England for TecQuipment’s Global Selling Partners Conference. Representatives from more than 50 territories were in attendance and it was a great opportunity to network with other educational suppliers. This past year was TQ’s most successful year to date and we were excited and thankful to receive the Agent of the Year Award for 2015.

Over the course of 3 days the TecQuipment Team outdid themselves with in-depth product demonstrations combined with hands-on training for their full range of trainers. These product sessions ranged from fluid dynamics to thermodynamics to material testing and much more. They also introduced us to their new free and forced Vibration series before taking us on a very impressive tour of TecQuipment’s factory – where they manufacture all of their products in house with unparalleled attention to detail.

In keeping with TecQuipment’s work hard, play hard mentality; we also visited the Donington Grand Prix Collection which was filled with Formula 1 cars and World War II Vehicles. On our last night, we all attended the Medieval Sheriffs Banquet in Nottingham where we were entertained by jugglers and musicians while enjoying a great feast.

All and all, it was a wonderful trip and we can’t wait until the next one.

Our Trip to TecQuipment

Pictured above: an example of PASCO’s structure systems and PASCO’s materials testing system.
Right picture: Lance and Brett from PASCO, Quentin Dus from AYVA.
Bottom pictures: TecQuipment’s strain Gauge Trainer SM1009

 

On June 15 & 16, AYVA visited the ASEE (American Society for Engineering Education) conference held in Seattle this year. The conference spanned over 5 days and included lectures, workshops and an exhibitor hall.

Dianne Beveridge, President of AYVA, and Quentin Dus, sales representative, were able to meet with several of our product partners such as the British manufacturer TecQuipment, and the American brand PASCO Scientific.

The conference was well attended (with over 4000 participants) and our partners’ booths were visited by numerous engineering professors, interested in learning more about the lab equipment available for their teaching needs.

If you wish to know more about these brands as well as our other engineering product lines, please visit our partners page.

 

Nida Najfi, the newest addition to the AYVA Team visited the Materials Science Lab at the University of Waterloo.

She is pictured here with TecQuipment‘s Modular Structures and Materials Testing equipment which has been well received at universities across Canada. To read feedback from one of our professors who is a long-time user of this equipment, click here

Once again, KUKA played host to distributors from throughout North America and Dianne Beveridge represented AYVA at this year’s conference. Jeff Burnstein, the President of the Robotics Industry Association spoke to how the skills gap continues to widen with a growing shortage of qualified people to work in Automation.

Jeff Barrett from 3M was another guest speaker who noted that KUKA had been recognized as a preferred supplier and strategic partner for 3M after a six sigma evaluation of different robots.

Of particular interest to AYVA was the update on the success of KUKA’s KORE Cart designed specifically for the education market. It has been widely adopted by schools wanting to give students experience in handling, path tracing, opening and closing a gripper with a real industrial robot. Students who successfully complete the 40hr. curriculum receive a KUKA certificate that will certainly set them apart if they pursue a STEM career.

AYVA had the pleasure of joining PASCO to take part in their exhibit at BETT 2016. The trip to London England featured PASCO’s new Wireless Sensor line including Temperature, pH, Pressure, Force and Smart Cart Sensors.

Check them out in action: PASCO Wireless

The biggest hit was by far the Wireless Smart Cart. Chris Butlin from Physics Education wrote; “We liked your new range of wifi sensors, particularly the Smart Cart which we feel will be a best seller for you.”

Wireless Smart Cart Features BETT 2016

PIGNAT engineer Régis Rodriguez spent 2 days in Sheridan College last week to train the Chemical Engineering Technology department on their new equipment:

• a mixed adsorption unit EDM/2000 (picture on the left)
• a stirred liquid-liquid extraction unit ELA/2000 (picture on the right)

The AYVA team attended a 1-day training session at the KUKA facilities in Mississauga this summer.

The training focused on KUKA’s robot technologies and also featured an introduction to the use of the robotic controller. The team was able to practice with the KUKA smartPAD operator control unit on a KR6 robot, one of the newest, fastest and most reliable robots in its class.

The KR6 is featured in the KUKA Education Bundle.