chronicle
THE CRYSTAL SOUND
At a press conference in mid-
November, Helmut List, CEO of
AVL, and Kathryn List, CEO of the
AVL Cultural Foundation, introduced
the Irvine 7, a musical instrument
created in collaboration with
New York artist Andy Cavatorta.
At the heart of the instrument are
six gallium phosphate crystals – the
high temperature-resistant piezoelectric
material developed at Piezocryst
(an AVL subsidiary) over the last 30
years by P.W. Krempl, an AVL physicist
at the time, and his team. They
are used for manufacturing precision
pressure-testing devices. The synthetic
crystals oscillate in pairs in the instrument
3 4 F O C U S
creating a futuristic sound
that symbolizes AVL’s progressive
technology; with the Irvine 7 itself
representing the company’s dedication
to fusing art and science to help
its customers meet their technological
goals. CEO Helmut List said of
the Irvine 7: “We feel that technology
can open up new doors. New technologies,
in many areas, open up new
methods to do things, in a way that was
not possible so far. But we can only
provide technologies – it’s up to the
‘artist’ to create the ‘instrument’.” <
>
Kathryn List (AVL CF),
Helmut List (AVL),
Michael Ksela (AVL CF)
and artist Andy Cavatorta.
>
The Irvine 7 and a
close-up of the six
gallium phosphate
crystals that give
the instrument its
unique sound.
OF AVL