ABOUT CONTACT SUPPORT WAVES ONLINE LANGUAGE LOG IN TRANSDUCERS INSTRUMENTS SOFTWARE CALIBRATION SERVICES KNOWLEDGE HISTORY HISTORY OF BRÜEL & KJÆR Brüel & Kjær plays a leading leading role in the world of sound and vibration. From the world's first charge accelerometer in 1943, which most accelerometers today are still based on, to the first portable sound level meter, to the analyzer systems for 21st-century satellite systems, Brüel & Kjær has provided industry innnovation, from the very beginning. A humble start Long before the legendary “garage nerds” of Silicon Valley, Denmark had its own technological visionaries – Per V. Brüel and Viggo Kjær. Brüel was the salesman and Kjær was the scientist. In many ways, they were a perfect match – both were firmly dedicated to placing the common goals of technological progress, science, and solutions above financial prosperity. Both knew if their technology was superior, the financial rewards would soon come. In 1942, during one of the darkest times in Danish history, they founded a company based strictly on sound and vibration measurement. They were told by friends and mentors, “A company like that will never be able to support both of you.” Yet today, Brüel & Kjær has over 1000 employees globally. Green paint – from surplus to symbol Starting as they did during WWII, the pair of entrepreneurs needed to scrounge for every part and scrap of wire and to paint the instrument cases, they found some surplus army-green paint. Seven decades later, Brüel & Kjær instruments can still be recognized thanks to their distinctive green colour. The following list highlights some of the ‘green’ milestones along the way. Brüel & Kjær through the years 1942 Per V. Brüel and Viggo Kjær founded the company and received a license to trade 1943 Development of Type 4301, the world's first piezoelectric accelerometer 1948 The company moves to the site of its current headquarters in Nærum, Denmark 1949 The legendary Type 2301 level recorder is introduced and remains their best selling instrument for over 25 years 1958 The company starts its global expansion, establishing a sales office in the USA, soon followed by offices throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa over the next few decades 1958 The first condenser measurement microphones are produced, setting the standard for the entire industry 1960 Launch of Type 2203, the world’s first hand-held and transistorized sound level meter. Over the years, new features and functions were added, and in all, more than 32,000 units were sold worldwide 1962 Per V. Brüel, an accomplished pilot, founded Brüel & Kjær Airways. A small fleet of company-owned and operated planes were used to deliver goods and to visit customers throughout the world, and to distant destinations such as Thailand, USA and Egypt. Per Brüel was often the pilot on these flights 1966 Brüel & Kjær installs the world’s first airport-noise monitoring system in Toulouse, France 1977 Launch of the world’s first digital filter analyzer, Type 2131, designed to measure and display octave and 1/3-octave spectra in real-time 1980 Brüel & Kjær becomes the first western electronics firm to set up a service center in the People’s Republic of China. 1981 The company celebrates the production of its 1,000,000th instrument 1981 Debut of the world’s first commercial sound-intensity analyzing system, measuring the direction of sound energy flow as well as the magnitude 1983 Debut of sound level meter Type 2231, the world’s first modular sound level meter, with optimized applications that greatly increased its range of uses. 1986 Introduction of the world’s first commercial acoustical holography system (Spatial Transformation of Sound Fields, STSF) to enable a complete model of the sound field to be made 1991 The Danish government commissions Brüel & Kjær to operate the Danish Primary Laboratory of Acoustics (DPLA) in association with the Danish Technical University 1996 Brüel & Kjær introduces what has become the backbone of our analyzer solutions: the Windows®-based PULSETM system. It included the groundbreaking concept of multi-analysis so that engineers could perform all their analyses simultaneously while monitoring the results live on-screen. The PULSE platform has evolved ever since and is now a comprehensive, flexible suite of software and hardware (including LAN-XI modular data acquisition (2008) and BK Connect sound and vibration analysis software (2018)) 1994 Introduction of the world’s first hand-held sound intensity system, Type 2260-E, letting users identify the source of noise and determine its power 2004 Launch of the hand-held analyzer Type 2250 – the world’s first colour touch-screen sound level meter 2004 The world’s first flat surface microphone is developed with Airbus to measure sound pressure (noise) in limited spaces and where flush mounting of conventional microphone/preamplifier combinations would be impossible or cause undesired side effects 2008 Brüel & Kjær acquires LDS Test and Measurement, adding vibration test solutions to the portfolio of offerings 2008 LAN-XI, a revolution in modular data acquisition hardware and the fifth generation of PULSE hardware, is released 2009 Release of the world's first multi-field microphone Type 4961. Multi-field microphones ensure accurate measurements in free-, diffuse-, and multi-field conditions 2013 Launch of Sonoscout, the world’s first tablet-based application for in-vehicle noise and vibration data recording 2013 Introduction of the world’s first wideband holography: where one measurement and one calculation covers the full frequency range 2015 Brüel & Kjær acquires Sound Answers, greatly expanding our engineering services capabilities, particularly in the automotive industry 2018 Brüel & Kjær and HBM announce their plans to become HBK and integrate their expertise to provide an expanded measurement and testing portfolio that will offer more comprehensive solutions and cover a wider range of testing needs Language CONTACT P: +45 77 41 20 00 F: +45 45 80 14 05 Contact Us Support Center FOLLOW US LinkedIn Facebook YouTube Copyright © Brüel & Kjær. All Rights Reserved. Legal Notices Accept We use cookies to ensure our website works properly, to measure traffic, and to collect user statistics that will enable us to make our site more user-friendly. If you continue to browse the site, you will accept our use of cookies. Read more about cookies