LEXINGTON and BURLINGTON, Mass., July 25 /PRNewswire/ --
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) has signed an agreement with Surmet Corp., a
pioneer and technical leader in the Advanced Materials field, that allows
Surmet Corp. to develop Raytheon's aluminum oxynitride (ALON(R)) manufacturing
and process technologies. Surmet Corp. will initially focus on marketing
ALON(R) to the semiconductor equipment, lighting, bio-medical, bar code
scanner, defense and homeland security industries.
Raytheon developed ALON(R), which has the physical appearance of glass but
has phenomenal ballistic properties, as an alternative material for sapphire
for missile seeker window applications. ALON(R) products possess excellent
light transmission, impact resistance and structural stability over a wide
range of temperatures.
"ALON(R) was developed as advanced military material and kept as a well
guarded secret," said Timothy C. Davis, president and chief executive officer
of Surmet Corp. "It has never before been produced, marketed and available for
commercial applications. With material properties similar to sapphire but with
far lower costs, ALON(R) could be a replacement for many materials including
alumina, quartz as well as sapphire."
"Using patented and proprietary plasma enhanced PVD and CVD processes,
Surmet has developed advanced ceramic, metal and composite coatings that
significantly improve the performance characteristics of many materials," said
Dr. Suri Sastri, founder and chairman of Surmet Corp. "ALON(R) provides
tremendous synergy for the technologies we have developed over the past 20
years. We are very excited to be acquiring rights to commercialize ALON(R)
and working with Raytheon to commercialize this advanced material."
"This strategic relationship is the latest example of how Raytheon's
leading-edge defense technology can be utilized in commercial markets to
create a long term competitive advantage for our partner," said Glenn Lenzen,
vice president of Raytheon's corporate Intellectual Property and Licensing
department. "Surmet will be able to utilize ALON(R) in a variety of
applications and industries that would significantly benefit from the
technical and cost characteristics."
Raytheon's Intellectual Property and Licensing department teamed with
Raytheon Commercial Ventures Inc. (RCVI) to form the new partnership with
Surmet Corp. RCVI was established in February 2001 to create a
"commercialization engine" within Raytheon and since then Raytheon has spun
technology into five companies where it has retained an equity interest.
Surmet Corp., of Burlington, Mass., is an industry leader in surface
metallurgy and engineered coatings.
Based in Lexington, Mass., Raytheon Company is a global technology leader
in defense, government and commercial electronics and business and special
mission aircraft.
Amy Hosmer
781.860.2423
Raytheon Company
Timothy C. Davis
781.272.3969
Surmet Corp.
SOURCE Raytheon Company
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Related links:
http://www.raytheon.com
CONTACT:
Amy Hosmer, of Raytheon Company,
+1-781-860-2423; or Timothy C. Davis, +1-781-272-3969, Surmet
Corp.
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