On November 1st, the 4th grade class of Mrs. Parker from Westridge Elementary visited Larson Davis in Provo Utah.  Larson Davis (LD) was founded in 1981, as a manufacturer of precision acoustic test and vibration measurement instrumentation.  After a brisk 1 mile walk  to Larson Davis, the students were trained on five manufacturing steps Larson Davis performs on a daily basis:

1 – Precision microphones – used to convert sound into an electrical signal.

2 –  Preamplifier assembly – connects to the microphone and helps convert the signal into a form a sound level meter can read.

3 – Computer aided testing – All steps in the assembly process uses computerized drawings and assembly instructions.  All items LD builds are tested with various computerized test set-ups.

4 – Attaching parts to printed circuit boards (PCB) requires soldering which uses an iron to heat the PCB and part then solder is added to bond the two together.  The students loaded a part on a PCB and soldered it in place.

5 – Saw how the Engineering department thinks trough the design process to create a new item – Computer Aided Design (CAD) system, proto-types, 3-D printing, injection molding.