{"id":974,"date":"2007-03-19T14:42:37","date_gmt":"2007-03-19T14:42:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vibrant.bdnvisuals.com\/2007\/03\/19\/marketing-muscle-and-an-irb-extension-albuquerque-journal\/"},"modified":"2007-03-19T14:42:37","modified_gmt":"2007-03-19T14:42:37","slug":"marketing-muscle-and-an-irb-extension-albuquerque-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/marketing-muscle-and-an-irb-extension-albuquerque-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"Marketing Muscle, and An IRB Extension (Albuquerque Journal)"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Andrew Webb, of The Journal<\/em><\/p>\n

TECH BYTES: Quasar International, a small Albuquerque company supplying the\u00a0transportation industry, is about to get the marketing muscle of one of the world’s largest industrial\u00a0suppliers.<\/p>\n

Illinois Tool Works, or ITW, a $14 billion, publicly traded company that makes a vast range of\u00a0components, industrial systems and consumables, purchased Quasar last month.<\/p>\n

Quasar makes equipment used for nondestructive quality testing of cast metal and ceramic products\u00a0by measuring the effects of vibration and comparing it to standard results, such as detecting cracks in\u00a0auto or aircraft engine blocks and other components.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, one of ITW’s 750 worldwide divisions, the venerable automotive and aviation\u00a0industry component testing supplier Magnaflux, will take Quasar under its wing. Quasar will stay in\u00a0Albuquerque, and will operate as an independent unit of ITW.<\/p>\n

„Magnaflux invented nondestructive testing in the 1920s, and has been a leading player in that industry\u00a0for the 20th century, and intends to do the same in the next,“ Steve Groeninger, general manager of\u00a0Magnaflux, said, calling Quasar the „next generation“ of nondestructive testing.<\/p>\n

„Bringing along what we think is a major advance in technology like Quasar offers us a good way to\u00a0get started.“<\/p>\n

Quasar’s technology has roots in technology licensed from Los Alamos National Laboratory in the\u00a0mid-1990s to measure resonance\u2014the vibrational response returned by an object in response to some\u00a0sort of stimulation.<\/p>\n

In Quasar’s case, a casting, such as a forged-steel piston connecting rod or part of a car’s suspension is\u00a0vibrated, and resonant frequencies are then compared to a standard frequency for a part that is known to\u00a0be acceptable. Pattern-seeking algorithms developed by Quasar can determine whether a part is cracked\u00a0or is hiding a manufacturing defect, while accounting for subtle differences in production that would not\u00a0necessarily harm the part.<\/p>\n

The nondestructive testing process allows for checking the quality of a production run without\u00a0actually cutting into parts.<\/p>\n

Jim Schwarz, one of Quasar’s two co-founders, compares the technology to a consumer assessing fruit\u00a0at the grocery store.<\/p>\n

„Say you want to buy a watermelon. You can’t cut it in half, so you thump it, and supposedly, from\u00a0the thump, you can tell if it’s ripe,“ he says.<\/p>\n

The company was a presenter in Technology Ventures Corp.’s 2000 Equity Capital Symposium, soon\u00a0after which it received about $3 million in equity capital from Arizona-based Valley Ventures, which has\u00a0received some backing from the State Investment Council and has an office in Albuquerque, and two\u00a0out-of-state venture firms.<\/p>\n

Itself a spinout from the now defunct, 20-year-old technology commercialization firm Quatro Corp.,\u00a0Quasar created its own spinout in 2003. Albuquerque-based Exagen Diagnostics uses the same\u00a0pattern-seeking software systems to diagnose, predict the course of, and plan treatment for diseases like\u00a0breast cancer.<\/p>\n

Quasar has also licensed its technology to other companies, including Albuquerque’s Vibrant, which\u00a0uses it to test critical aircraft parts, such as jet turbine blades, during routine aircraft maintenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Quasar has sold about 100 of its units to auto companies or their suppliers in North America, Europe\u00a0and Asia. One of its largest customers is the network of suppliers to General Motors, which use Quasar’s\u00a0technology to quality check parts like brake master cylinders.<\/p>\n

Schwarz said one Mexican supplier of engine components to GM reported an 80 percent cost\u00a0reduction for quality inspection, and slashed the percentage of parts scrapped at the factory from 7\u00a0percent to 1 percent a year after it began using Quasar’s systems.<\/p>\n

Illinois-based Magnaflux makes widely used dye penetrant and magnetic particle nondestructive\u00a0testing systems for the automotive and aviation industries. Its products are used for all stages of a\u00a0product’s life, from factory production testing to maintenance and overhaul shops.<\/p>\n

In the automotive industry, the name Magnaflux has become synonymous with detecting elusive\u00a0cracks in engine blocks and other components. Magnaflux employs 100.<\/p>\n

Schwarz says the acquisition by ITW and alignment with Magnaflux is an important milestone for a\u00a0technology his small company has labored for 10 years to perfect.<\/p>\n

„Most important to me is the sense of validation to have the world’s greatest nondestructive testing\u00a0company say ‚this is something of value, we’re going to buy it,'“ Schwarz said.<\/p>\n

Quasar, which now employs 35 in New Mexico and at an office in Detroit, will likely grow with the\u00a0marketing and financial backing of ITW and Magnaflux.<\/p>\n

„We think Quasar is poised for significant growth,“ Groeninger said. „It is our intent to invest in the\u00a0business and help maximize its growth.“<\/p>\n

Quasar has annual revenues of about $4.5 million. Terms of the sale to ITW were not disclosed.<\/p>\n

ECLIPSE IRBS EXTENDED: Eclipse Aviation last week successfully appealed to the Albuquerque\u00a0City Council for a two-year extension on $45 million in industrial revenue bonds.<\/p>\n

The city approved the bonds in 2004. Eclipse planned to use them primarily to acquire manufacturing\u00a0equipment, test equipment, tooling and other infrastructure. But in a recent request to the city, the\u00a0company said it has only spent about $17 million, because of unforeseen delays ramping up to full<\/p>\n

production of its $1.5 million Eclipse 500 jets.<\/p>\n

Industrial revenue bonds do not put the city at financial risk, as the companies themselves are\u00a0responsible for any debt, but they do allow for abatement of taxes on property and capital equipment. In\u00a0Eclipse’s case, the city stipulated that the company would have to pay back any tax incentives if it were to\u00a0cease operations within a set time frame.<\/p>\n

The bonds were originally set to expire July 30. In its application for an extension to July 31, 2009,\u00a0Eclipse noted that its employment had far exceeded the 2004 estimate of 577 people by 2007.\u00a0The company employs more than 1,000.\u00a0The council unanimously approved the request.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Schwarz, one of Quasar’s two co-founders, compares the technology to a consumer assessing fruit at the grocery store. „Say you want to buy a watermelon. You can’t cut it in half, so you thump it, and supposedly, from the thump, you can tell if it’s ripe,“ he says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-company-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=974"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/974\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibrantndt.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}