Gerald J. Posakony’s contributions to ultrasonics enabled the
technology to move from curiosity to an important tool for
medical diagnosis and nondestructive evaluation. In the early
1950s he was the lead engineer on an ultrasonic diagnostic
imaging system for investigating disease processes in the human
body. The device was considered experimental at the time, but
the technology served as the basis for most of the ultrasonic
devices in use today. Mr. Posakony’s expertise in transducer
design, the “critical component” of an ultrasound system, is
highly sought after, as he understands the materials, their
limitations and capabilities and the circuits and systems needed
to excite the transducers and measure and display the data. For
nondestructive evaluation, he has found solutions to problems
where there was no standard test method available and developed
the needed ultrasonic technology. He created a program for the
Electric Power Research Institute to conduct inspections of
nuclear power plant components usi