The MSS facility is located in downtown New Kensington. It is a well-equipped electronics development and analysis lab with equipment covering measurement, calibration, development, and prototype fabrication from DC well into the microwave spectrum.
MSS' design expertise covers microcontrollers, data acquisition, measurement, sensor interfacing and calibration, and many forms of communications…wired and wireless, optical, etc. Lots of things are digital these days, but it's still an analog world out there. MSS has design experience in the measurement of light, heat, gas composition, air quality, energy consumption, biological materials, radioisotope decay products, and many other real-world phenomena.
Prototype Fabrication
MSS' expertise covers every phase of circuit design, from concept to prototypes in-hand. We build prototype circuit boards in-house, including fine-pitch surface-mount soldering, using proper equipment. No toaster ovens or Dad's old roll of plumbing solder here. From a schematic, to a printed circuit board layout, right to the prototyping bench, then to the analysis equipment…under one roof. The only part of the process that isn't handled in-house is actually cutting and etching the bare PCBs.
MSS maintains large in-house component stocks for prototyping. Hundreds of thousands of components, covering hundreds of common types facilitates rapid construction of prototypes. And for anything we don't have here, we have accounts with most major electronic component suppliers, so getting components quickly isn't a problem.
Some photos from our assembly and stock rooms:
Production
MSS performs small- to mid-volume production of specialized boards and assemblies. Modern robotic assembly systems improve accuracy and speed, and automated reflow soldering provides consistent results.
Performance Analysis, Calibration, and Verification
Calibration and performance verification of prototype and production assemblies using custom-built test fixtures and custom-written software is one of our core competencies. Automated individual testing and calibration of precision assemblies provides traceability.
General Measurement, Signal Analysis and Characterization
Measurements and instrumentation are among MSS engineers' deepest personal passions, and as such, they've become an MSS specialty. From precise analysis of voltage reference stability to characterizing high-speed pulse circuits, MSS is well-equipped in just about every area of electronic measurement. We all use circuit simulation. Unfortunately, while modern circuit simulation is pretty good, it's far from perfect, and too many product designs fail because they were only simulated rather than actually built and characterized.
Component Analysis and Verification
The whole can be greater than the sum of the parts, but the parts still matter. MSS can accurately measure just about anything in the lab, including parameters of individual electronic components. In today's world of unverified supply chains and counterfeit components, the ability to determine what a particular component actually does can make or break a project. Did your production house in China really buy the parts you told them to buy? The MSS lab is equipped to analyze a great many parameters of basic components like resistors, capacitors, and inductors.
