State, SPIE officials attend Trumpf dedication in Connecticut

Left to right, cutting the ribbon at the TRUMPF dedication: Peter Leibinger, Vice Chairman of the Managing Board, Head of the Laser Technology and Electronic Division , TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG; Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell; Rolf Biekert, President and CEO, TRUMPF Inc.

A new laser building on the campus of TRUMPF Inc. in Farmington, CT was dedicated recently. On April 30, 2008, the company celebrated the grand opening of the Laser Innovation & Technical Excellence (LITE) Building, a new research and manufacturing facility that will be used to develop new lasers and expand the company’s production of laser resonators. More than 400 people participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony attended by State of Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell, Lieutenant Governor Michael Fedele, company officials, representatives of national, state and local government as well as many customers and employees.

SPIE was well represented among the dignitaries, with SPIE CEO Eugene Arthurs, Society President Kevin Harding, and past presidents Tony DeMaria and Jim Harrington all in attendance.

SPIE Past President Tony DeMaria and Boeing Chief Scientist Petras Avizonis at the dedication. Avizonis was one of three invited speakers, along with Bob Akins, CEO of Cymer, and Bertold Hopf of Daimler.

Arthurs said he is impressed by Trumpf's commitment to the future, "the investment to develop the best tools for manufacturing, be it ever-more-powerful kW disk lasers with extraordinarily simple and technically elegant solutions to ensure almost 100 percent uptime on a long-term basis, CO₂ lasers with different attributes and power classes, or smaller solid state lasers for marking or micromachining. This future orientation gives some clue to Trumpf's success." (Full statement from Eugene Arthurs)

The new facility will add 86,000 square feet to the existing TRUMPF Inc. campus. The building will feature a new 55,200 square foot production hall and a 6,000 square foot, class 10,000 cleanroom designed for the manufacturing and testing of CO₂ and solid-state laser resonators. Approximately 120 employees will staff the new facility. In Connecticut, TRUMPF manufactures precision laser cutting and punching machinery, and CO₂ and solid-state laser resonators. The company employs more than 750 people in North America, the majority of which work at the Farmington facility. In its last fiscal year, the company’s sales revenues grew to $366 million in North America and the company reinvested $16.5 million in local R&D.