New Sensor Gaining Interest on Industry Radar Screen

While radar is typically used to track large objects that are relatively far away, an Atlanta, Georgia-based start-up company is using the technology in a counter-intuitive way to track very small changes in displacement at close proximity. Radatec, Inc., a designer, manufacturer, and implementer of sensor systems for monitoring combustion-zone components in turbine engines, was formed in 2001 to commercialize the patented radio frequency vibrometer technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). In readying the technology for the commercial market, Radatec received assistance from NASA s Dryden Flight Research Center.