Optomec, based in Albuquerque, provides machines that use the company's optics-based manufacturing capabilities for the aerospace, medical and industrial markets. The $1 million LENS system was purchased by Beijing Purple Light Laser Technology Co., which will use the equipment to manufacture and repair industrial gas turbine components.
Optomec has made sales in France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea and Singapore, but this is its first in China.
Optomec's Chief Technology Officer, David Keicher, a former senior member of Sandia National Laboratories, invented the LENS process, which stands for Laser Engineered Net Shaping.
The technology produces metal parts directly from computer-generated designs by using a laser to "print" layers of metal that fabricate a part from the bottom up. The process allows manufacturers to make metal prototypes of parts that are more functional than conventional plastic ones.
David Ramahi, Optomec president and CEO, says about 40 percent of his firm's business comes from overseas customers. He praised the Technology Transfer Act, which U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, helped pass in 2005, for reducing the amount of bureaucratic red tape associated with lab-private sector partnerships (LENS is a registered trademark of Sandia Corp., Sandia National Labs' operator).
