Message from Paul Dumas, QED Applications Engineering Manager

Message from Paul Dumas, QED Applications Engineering Manager

2011 is now upon us, and this January marks the 14 year anniversary of QED.   While it’s always important to be focused on the future, it can be inspiring to look back and reflect on the path that brought us to where we are today.   The continuous development of innovative finishing and metrology solutions has clearly been the most exciting part of working at QED.  And working side-by-side with such an impressive group of people has clearly been the most enjoyable part.  But when I think of the most rewarding part, I think of our customers, and how they have leveraged our technology to complement their own individual core competencies and value propositions to solve tough problems, grow into new markets, and do things we never would have dreamed of (and we can dream up quite a lot!)

Over the years, and especially as being part of Applications, I’ve been able to see a myriad of uses of our products.  From the transmitted wavefront correction of a 5 mm dia. Nd:YAG laser rod, to the figure correction of a meter-sized primary mirror, our Magnetorheological Finishing (MRF®) machines are helping customers work faster, reach higher precision and bring in new business.   While many people think of MRF mainly as increasing capability, a growing number of customers are using it to increase capacity as well.  By leveraging the strengths of MRF and their existing equipment, they can make high precision optics faster, more predictably, and with more confidence.

Customers also solve problems, increase capability, and add capacity by including our sub-aperture stitching products (SSI® or ASI®) in their finishing process chain.  Whether it is full-aperture dome metrology or high-resolution characterization of mid-spatial frequencies, stitching can show you what your surfaces really look like, and catch problems before they get to your customers.    From 15 mm dia., mild aspheres to 250 mm dia., 750-wave departure aspheres, ASI metrology does away with custom nulls, reduces your turnaround time and enables you to reach higher precision levels.   And the “absolute” aspects of our stitching process (removal of reference-wave error, precision pixels scale and distortion control) provide exactly the “food” your metrology-driven finishing tools need to run to their fullest potential.

In this newsletter, we highlight customers who promote their increased capacity and capabilities as a result of using QED products.  Many of our customers are members of the Elite100 group - optics manufacturers who share a goal of producing the best precision optics anywhere in the world.  Many of the Elite100 members will be exhibiting at the upcoming Photonics West tradeshow in San Francisco.  I invite you to visit them during the show and learn how they can support your optics manufacturing needs.

I also invite you to visit our booth at Photonics West (#722).  Come learn more about how your business might benefit from our products and services.   Let us answer your questions about our MRF and stitching products, as well as explain how QED’s Advanced Production Services (APS) group offers contract polishing and metrology services for high precision optical components.   If you have an unusually demanding optical prescription or geometry, or need expanded manufacturing capacity, we're ready to work with you (we present two short case studies featuring our large optics finishing capability later in this newsletter.)

Remember to check out our website (www.qedmrf.com) for the latest info on our products and services, and I wish you and your businesses continued growth and success in 2011!