Blachford’s 1982 Academy Award

With The Academy Awards, more commonly referred to as “The Oscars”, coming up this Sunday, We would like to give insight to one of the more obscure pieces of Blachford’s history, our 1982 Academy Award.  At the 54th Academy Awards, hosted by Johnny Carson, H.L. Blachford was presented with the 1982 Technical Achievement Award by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the development of the Baryfol (now Barymat) sound barrier.

Our award would not have been possible without the works of John Wylder.  Who is John Wylder you ask?  John flew 17 combat missions with the “Jungle” Air Force during World War II.  On his 18th mission, his plane was shot down over the shark infested waters of the Western Pacific.  A few years after surviving this scary ordeal, John began working for California Sound Products.  It was at that time where he met Norman Blachford.  John and Norman would make sales calls together selling “Aquaplas,” which is still in the Blachford Acoustics Group product line, now called “Antivibe.”

At one point, John was able to sell Aquaplas to Panavision and it was applied to the camera that filmed the production Mutiny on the Bounty, starring Marlon Brando.  After the success of the film, Aquaplas was then used by all 20th Century Fox productions.  In the mid 1960’s, John paired the use of Aquaplas DL-10 with a new product, Baryfol M-1BT/ST, and the “Hollywood Special” BV-24C.  This combination was used to cover the floor of a diesel powered generator, reducing the noise to a level of 50 dB at 50ft away, something unheard of at the time, no pun intended.  A few short years later, John left California Sound and joined the team at H.L. Blachford in 1972.

It was after a couple years of success that John put up Baryfol for an Academy Award along with Dr. Gary Marlotte from Blachford.  This attempt was initially denied by the Academy but that did not falter John’s efforts.  A few years later, several of the top Sound Directors in Hollywood suggested that Baryfol deserved an Academy Award.  John reopened his pursuit of an Oscar, ultimately earning the 1982 Technical Achievement Award for the development of Baryfol sound barrier materials for H.L. Blachford and Dr. Louis Stankiewicz.  The award stands as one of the only acoustical award given out by the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences to date and is a great representation of our company’s persistence and commitment to excellence.

See Blachford’s Official Academy Award Certificate here!

To learn more about the history of Blachford, please visit https://blachford.com/about/history/

Customers Who Trust Blachford Acoustics Group

“Blachford eliminated SKUs. Across product families, the reduction of one SKU is a $10k savings. Blachford eliminated 14 SKUs.”

– Noise Control Research Engineer – Construction Equipment Manufacturer

“The first project with Blachford, it was a definite quality improvement, and it was over a million dollar yearly cost savings for just the purchase parts themselves. We went from 28 (SKU) parts to 14.”

– Design Engineer – Heavy Equipment Manufacturer

“Noise is important to brand image. It is one of the top factors along with driveability and reliability. Acoustics – it’s a 4 out of 5, it might even be a 5 in importance projecting the image, the brand, and the quality that we want projected to the market.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

“Our ten-fold growth prior to our acquisition was expedited by our working relationship with Blachford.”

– Design Engineer

“For our shareholders, we have to produce a product at the lowest cost, at the right level of quality and sell it at the highest price we can. We look for suppliers who can help us do that. Blachford helps us do that.”

– Global Procurement Manager – Construction Equipment Manufacturer

“When a company does a spec, boundary conditions like humidity that day, temperature, that all matters. ASPM national or international spec. We try to verify where we can, but we don’t even have the equipment they have. We trust their specifications. Blachford brings innovative ideas, processes, materials, and offerings we value.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

“Then, bringing them in at the beginning with our new product design, it probably saved 6-12 months of development. We didn’t just wa nt the spec sheet value. We wanted customers to get in the machine and experience the difference.”

– Design Engineer – Heavy Equipment Manufacturer

“If we have an acoustics issue, we will reach out to Blachford since they are the experts. It saves us money because we do not have to keep an acoustic expert on site with an annual salary, with benefits, of $125K.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

“As a mechanical engineer, we make stuff that is practical and affordable and Blachford’s materials routinely help me reach these goals.”

– Design Engineer

“We [purchasing department] reported savings of $100k annually from moving to the die-cut solution using Blachford.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

Customers Who Trust Blachford Acoustics Group

“Blachford eliminated SKUs. Across product families, the reduction of one SKU is a $10k savings. Blachford eliminated 14 SKUs.”

– Noise Control Research Engineer – Construction Equipment Manufacturer

“The first project with Blachford, it was a definite quality improvement, and it was over a million dollar yearly cost savings for just the purchase parts themselves. We went from 28 (SKU) parts to 14.”

– Design Engineer – Heavy Equipment Manufacturer

“Noise is important to brand image. It is one of the top factors along with driveability and reliability. Acoustics – it’s a 4 out of 5, it might even be a 5 in importance projecting the image, the brand, and the quality that we want projected to the market.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

“Our ten-fold growth prior to our acquisition was expedited by our working relationship with Blachford.”

– Design Engineer

“For our shareholders, we have to produce a product at the lowest cost, at the right level of quality and sell it at the highest price we can. We look for suppliers who can help us do that. Blachford helps us do that.”

– Global Procurement Manager – Construction Equipment Manufacturer

“When a company does a spec, boundary conditions like humidity that day, temperature, that all matters. ASPM national or international spec. We try to verify where we can, but we don’t even have the equipment they have. We trust their specifications. Blachford brings innovative ideas, processes, materials, and offerings we value.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

“Then, bringing them in at the beginning with our new product design, it probably saved 6-12 months of development. We didn’t just wa nt the spec sheet value. We wanted customers to get in the machine and experience the difference.”

– Design Engineer – Heavy Equipment Manufacturer

“If we have an acoustics issue, we will reach out to Blachford since they are the experts. It saves us money because we do not have to keep an acoustic expert on site with an annual salary, with benefits, of $125K.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

“As a mechanical engineer, we make stuff that is practical and affordable and Blachford’s materials routinely help me reach these goals.”

– Design Engineer

“We [purchasing department] reported savings of $100k annually from moving to the die-cut solution using Blachford.”

– Design Engineer – Truck Manufacturer

It’s Easy to Get Started

STEP 1:

COMPLETE OUR GET STARTED FORM

Give us some basic information about your sound, vibration or thermal reduction goals.

STEP 2:

COLLABORATE WITH OUR EXPERTS

Our team of engineers will work with you to uncover all issues and identify possible solutions.

STEP 3:

GET BEST-IN-CLASS, UNRIVALED SOLUTIONS

We will design, fabricate and lab test solutions to improve the performance of your products.