Rapid Prototype Engineering (RPE) and Design For Manufacturing (DFM) are two key infrared systems engineering capabilities that Dexter Research now offers its customers.

“This investment is consistent with the organizational innovation that won us recognition as A Top Fifty Companies To Watch In Michigan award by the Edward Lowe Foundation,” says Dexter Research President Robert Toth, Jr.

Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm presented the award recently.

“It is also consistent with the governor’s support of defense and security industries to revitalize Michigan,” Rob continues, “and with Dexter Research’s 30-year traditions of custom collaboration.

Dexter’s new RPE and DFM capabilities are built on technology transfers from Michigan’s 100-years as the world center of automotive engineering expertise, the state’s defense and security centers that earn over $1 billion annually, and Dexter’s unique 30-year relationship with the University of Michigan’s science and engineering centers.

“We recognize that today our customers need prototype systems designs in weeks, beautifully finished for buy-in by stakeholders and end-use customers, and designed for manufacture to shorten the proof-of-concept and manufacturing launch cycles.

“The days of an R&D center, or a small inventor, acquiring a couple of detectors and then taking five years to perfect an infrared-based system design are behind us,” Rob observes. “Our successful customers are moving at light speed. We have to be prepared to move with them, both in designing the system and by supplying the volumes of components and subsystems.”

Under founder Robert (“Bob”) Toth, Sr., Dexter Research has led the commercializing of the industrial infrared detector since 1977, while dramatically cutting costs to one-tenth and sometimes even one-one hundredth of original detector units.

Equally important, the company has always performed collaborative customization and adaptive customization for its long list of customers.

“This company grew because our customers around the world knew that they could ‘Ask Bob’ when infrared solutions eluded their engineers,” son Rob recalls. “Bob is still here and active in our labs, along side of our expanding capabilities.”

Today, Dexter’s detectors leadership in sensitivity and durability have made them the detector of choice for such wide ranging applications as NASA space missions, hospital anesthetic monitoring, fire suppression in military vehicles and aircraft, and industrial and environmental monitoring. “We have units in the field that have operated without failure for up to thirty years,” Rob reports. “Our customers tell us that we make the best detectors in the world.”

“That’s not enough for us,” Dexter’s president continues. Now we are offering turnkey and plug-and-play solutions. We use our unique knowledge to optimize the integration of detector and board to create a superior sensor. And then we build upstream towards our customer for optimized performance.”

In addition to their durability, Dexter detectors are passive, thin-film, bimetallic units. “We call them The Eyes That Never Sleep,” Rob notes. They are undetectable in perimeter and building security applications until they report an intruder or an assault. By then, it’s too late for an aggressor to evade them or to take them out.”

Rob believes that rival detector companies lack the integrated RPE and DSM capabilities to perform at the scale and speed of Dexter Research.

“That’s the plan,” Rob says of his company’s drive to seek an overwhelming competitive advantage. “Now it up to customers who are cross-shopping capabilities to see for themselves.”

For more information: contact Kurt Hochrein, Director of Sales and Marketing, at +1 734.426-3921 or email KHochrein@dexterresearch.com.