Franklin Eventoff began developing a series of musical instrument controllers in 1972. Five years later, with the goal of making electronic musical instruments more expressive he invented the force-sensing resistor (FSR; trademark of Interlink). By 1978 his musical product, The Magical Musical Thing, was licensed to Mattel Toys and sold three million units. The following year the XYZ digitizer pad was invented and other force-sensing patents followed.
In 1985 Mr. Eventoff founded Interlink Electronics, a company based on his patented invention, the force- sensing-resistor (FSR). While President and CEO of Interlink, he initiated the use of FSRs in Roland keyboards, Akai drum machines, KAT and Simons drums, Oberheim keyboards, and many other products for multiple industries. Interlink amassed a broad customer base ranging from the music and automotive industries to Fortune 500 aerospace corporations. Interlink received the 1986 California Governor's Award for a small company with the most innovative product. In 1987, Eventoff was the recipient of the prestigious international IR 100 award for the development of the FSR. Within three years, Interlink established an extensive patent base with over 20 international and domestic patents.
For nearly four decades, Eventoff has continued to improve and develop both force-sensors and new forms of electronic musical instruments.
Veronica Merryfield,
Electronics and Software Engineer
Veronica Merryfield taught herself electronics in her early teens driven by a lack of money and a quest for an analog synthesizer. After her electronic engineering degree at Portsmouth, England she moved into embedded system software, again self taught, although staying very much involved in electronics. Working for a number of years in and around Cambridge she gained a broad experience engaging in projects such as embedded BIOSes, chemical plant weigh scales, smoke stack analysis, industrial inkjet printing, active race car control with multiprocessor OS, diesel engine simulation to test engine controllers, water treatment plant control, infrared monitoring for scientific and industrial (cement, steel) applications, cell phones, flash memory, cell phone consulting and super computing systems. While most of these projects have used assembler, C and C++. she has dipped into many languages, used many CASE methodologies, CAD+CAM, managed teams, projects and programs and spent some time in business development, playing a pivotal role in quality systems and attaining ISO accreditations.
Lee Rawls
,
Mechanical Engineer
Lee Rawls has served as an independent engineering contractor/inventor for over a decade, designing and refining products for clients on a range of products including exercise equipment, smoke detectors, bicycle components, marine engine propulsion systems, and underground drill head tracking systems.
Mr. Rawls holds a Master's degree in biomechanics from University of California at Davis, and over a dozen patents on his inventions.
