Navitar Acquires Special Optics

By DE Editors

Navitar (Rochester, NY; navitar.com), designer, manufacturer, and distributor of precision optics and opto-mechanical assemblies for the machine vision and digital projection industries, announced the acquisition of Special Optics, a privately owned manufacturer of optical assemblies for long range surveillance, laser scanning, laser projection, UV, visible, and infrared applications. The acquisition was effective January 25, 2008.

Founded in 1965, Special Optics is a fully-integrated provider of custom, precision optical and electro-optical solutions that span markets and applications from medical imaging, semiconductor metrology, digital projection, laser projection, laser scanning, digital radiology, unmanned aerial vehicles, unmanned ground vehicles, missile tracking, and homeland security and defense.

Special Optics rapid prototyping and lens design capabilities will increase Navitar’s product offerings and complement Navitar’s lens manufacturing capabilities and ability to bring its designs into volume production. David Manzi, Special Optics president, says, “The design and prototyping strengths of Special Optics, combined with the financial strength and production capabilities of Navitar, allows us to accommodate anything from custom optical assemblies used in long distance surveillance or unmanned aerial vehicles to over 1,000 units per year for precision lenses used in new biomedical applications.”

The combination of Navitar’s volume production expertise and Special Optics rapid design and prototype capabilities is expected to enable Navitar to increase its competitive advantage and technical offering to military contractors and commercial accounts seeking to outsource optics based assemblies.

For further details, contact [email protected].

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.