Digital fabrication processes such as laser micromachining and 3D Printing have had enormous impact on manufacturing by allowing for rapid prototyping and testing of new product designs. These digital fabrication tools are driven by instructions from a computer aided design [CAD] file, so that any changes are made quickly and easily on the computer. With…
Engineering is a process, a continual development of new techniques to improve products so that we can expand their usefulness via better performance, longer lifetime and reduced cost. And it’s even more gratifying when the engineering process improvement saves more lives. Recently, Potomac had the opportunity to do just that in work for the Department…
In recent years, Potomac has done some rather interesting laser coding and marking work for customers. With the current celebration of black history month, we’d like to share one such project using QR Codes to help a headstone company bring black history to life for a Washington, D.C. cemetery. Congressional Cemetery is an historic resting…
Potomac Photonics has been collaborating with our friends at NASA for years. In fact, it was a set of Small Business Innovation Research contracts with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center back in the mid-1990s that was instrumental in putting our company at the forefront of the micromachining industry. While Potomac has grown exponentially since those…
Last week the laser community was saddened to learn of the death of Charles Townes, one of the inventors of the laser. Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation [LASER] devices are such a part of 21st century life that we now take them for granted but they are a fairly recent 20th century invention….
2014 was a year of many successes for Potomac. First and foremost, we moved to the bwtech@umbc research and development campus near Baltimore. Moving a functioning company after over 30 years on the DC Beltway was no small feat, but the opportunity to be part of a world-class science and engineering community is already realizing…
Computer simulations are powerful tools for development of new medical devices and treatments. At the Center for Cardiovascular Simulation (CCS) at the University of Texas, Austin, Dr. Michael Sacks’ group is working to provide advanced cardiovascular simulations in order for physicians and biomedical engineers to develop more effective treatments for cardiovascular disease. The specific research…
Anyone who has found themselves without the power cord for their laptop, iPad or smart phone knows the frustration of living in a “connected” world. Energy-harvesting is one of the research areas that would cut the cord, so to speak, to our electricity dependence. There is energy all around us, but the challenge is to…
Thanksgiving is a time when we think about giving back to the community in thanks for our own success and good fortune. Recently, Potomac had an opportunity to share our expertise on the powerful use of digital fabrication in diverse fields with attendees at the annual DigiFab Conference in Baltimore. Partially underwritten by Chevron and…
Advanced research in basic science is continually pushing the limits of commercially available chemical analysis equipment. Such is the case for the Kong group at Oregon State University whose physical chemistry work involves studying the basic structure of materials on the atomic level. Dr. Wei Kong has been actively designing new tools that are important…
