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Not many companies can boast of being on the cutting edge of tomorrow's technology today and also of having an accomplished history that goes back more than half a century...but ELCAN is no ordinary company.
As makers of the world's most demanding and high-precision optics, cutting edge electronics and revolutionary optoelectronic systems, ELCAN's strength rests not only on technology and automation, but also on the constant innovation by generations of talented scientists and craftsmen.
Our history derives from the combination, by the Raytheon Company, of great legacies in the, once separate, worlds of optics and electronics - the Hughes Leitz Group in Midland, Ontario, the former Texas Instrument Optic Center for Excellence and Digital Display Group in Richardson, Texas and the Raytheon microelectronics facility in Málaga, Spain. Our combined histories of accomplishment not only define who we are and the way we work, but also promise what we are capable of accomplishing in the future.
| 1952 |
After more than a century of fine optics production in Wetzlar Germany, Ernst Leitz Canada establishes in Midland to manufacture Leica cameras and lenses. |
| 1954 |
Ernst Leitz Canada plant expanded to produce wider range of commercial and defense optics. This unit eventually becomes the core of ELCAN's Midland plant. |
| 1956 |
Texas Instruments purchases WI Mann Optics Company of Monrovia, CA, moves operations to Dallas, TX. This unit has evolved as the Texas facilities for ELCAN Optical Technologies. |
| 1959 |
ELCAN brand name (standing for Ernst Leitz CANada) introduced for commercial markets, Canadian military and US Navy aerial reconnaissance applications. |
| 1960 |
Ernst Leitz Canada designs innovative lens for Leica that creates new standards for 35 mm quality. |
| 1963 |
Texas Instruments Advanced Optical Materials Lab patents revolutionary lower-cost IR glass. |
| 1964 |
Texas Instruments Optics Design Group co-develops world's first Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) System. |
| 1970 |
Ernst Leitz Canada awarded design and manufacturing contract for new 70 mm IMAX projection system. |
| 1980 |
Texas Instruments OM&M Pioneers Precision Diamond Point Turning Capability. |
| 1983 |
Ernst Leitz Canada begins work with Panavision for state-of-the-art cinematographic lens. |
| 1990 |
Hughes Aircraft Co. purchases Ernst Leitz Canada. The company expands its operations as Hughes Leitz Optical Technologies. |
| 1995 |
Texas Instruments designs & produces DLP Components and designs Digital Display Products. |
| 1997 to 1999 |
Raytheon acquires the optical business units of Texas Instruments and Hughes Aircraft Co.; Midland and Richardson units are merged to form ELCAN Optical Technologies |
| 2000 to 2002 |
ELCAN Optical Technologies undertakes an aggressive marketing and technology development program, focusing its combined experience to serve Telecommunications, Defense, Commercial and Industrial markets. |
| 2003 |
ELCAN integrates with Raytheon's microelectronics facility in Málaga Spain.
ELCAN launches SpecterIR™, the world's first uncooled infrared riflescope focused on Homeland Security and low cost military applications. |
| 2004 |
With 18 years of experience producing rugged, reliable rifle sights for defense contracts, ELCAN launches the SPECTER line of precision day/night sights for military customers. ELCAN's family of advanced sighting systems also includes the new innovative PhantomIR™ thermal imaging binoculars. |
| 2005 |
ELCAN releases its first consumer riflescope: DigitalHunter™. The world's first fully electronic rifle sighting system designed for sportsmen. DigitalHunter™ is a quantum leap in sporting optics technology, eclipsing the traditional glass-and-metal design of conventional riflescopes. |
| 2006 |
ELCAN (Richardson TX) introduces TriTec MSF - Tri-Technology Multi Spectral Finishing. The result is a new process for affordable broad-spectrum reflective optics that delivers a level of performance that was previously only available for heavily-funded, small quantity, space-based systems. |
| 2007 |
ELCAN turns its resources and vision to innovative new approaches in medical imaging and treatment. The emerging Life Sciences customers that will partner with ELCAN include applications in indirect digital radiography, optical coherence tomography and pathological spectral analysis. |
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