Plymouth, MI—Visotek Inc., a 2001 spin-off from the Fraunhofer Center for Laser Technology (CLT; Plymouth, MI), is a privately owned U.S. corporation that develops and commercializes easy-to-use, compact, and reliable laser components and systems for production environments.
Patrick Cahill, Bender's R&D manager, holds a test panel in front of the laser welding head.
Visotek has built a reputation for successful commercialization of products developed with CLT's support. Leveraging off of a Dual Use Science and Technology program awarded to CLT by the Air Force, Visotek has deployed fiber-coupled actively cooled diode lasers to the industrial market, for pumping solid-state lasers and for direct materials processing, such as the cutting and welding of sheet metal.
With Navy funding, Visotek has produced scanning optics that enable robotic laser welding for the shipbuilding industry (see "Laser breakthrough in U.S. shipyard"). Visotek has produced similar optics for the automotive industry to perform stitch welds of hang-on parts.
For more information, check out the company's Web site, www.visotekinc.com.