| ACX is a manufacturer and distributor of solid-state actuators based upon piezoelectric technology. ACX actuators have no moving parts so that they require no maintenance and are much more robust than a traditional mechanical actuator. Because of their insignificant inertial effects, their response times are orders of magnitude faster than what is possible with a traditional electro-mechanical or hydraulic system.
The ACX story began in the early 1990's when ACX's president, Kenneth B. Lazarus, was at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology working toward his Ph.D. Lazarus studied in the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department under Professor Edward Crawley, who headed MIT's renowned Space Engineering Research Center (SERC).
SERC was a leading research center in the new field of smart materials and their application to aerospace structures, including satellites and aircraft wings. Lazarus and Crawley conducted some of the ground-breaking research in the use of smart materials to control the dynamics of structures-research that is an important technical reference in academic circles even today. | 
