The Marcus Wallenberg Laboratory for Sound and Vibration Research (MWL)
Scope of activities
When in 1974 the industrialist Marcus Wallenberg retired as chairman for Atlas-Copco the board of directors decided to honour him by a donation to KTH in the name of Marcus Wallenberg. The donation would constitute the economic foundation for a new department, the first of its kind in Sweden, in the field of sound and vibration and machinery acoustics.
The first holder of the chair was Göran Gadefelt and in the early 80's the department had a staff of 5 people. In 1989 the professor chair was taken over by Anders Nilsson and at this time the department had grown to around 10 people. In 1993 the Technical Acoustics department was merged with the divisions of Naval Architecture, Railway Technology and Vehicle Engineering to form the Department of Vehicle Engineering. At the same time Technical Acoustics received a donation from The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation for the building of new laboratory facilities, establishing The Marcus Wallenberg Laboratory for Sound and Vibration Research (MWL). The new laboratory offering unique experimental facilities was inaugurated in March 1997.
Today MWL is part of the Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering and has grown to become the largest centre for sound and vibration research in Scandinavia, with three full time professors and a total staff at around 30.
