What’s Next in 2023?
Potomac’s internal R&D group focuses on developing market-driven products that solve the specific problems our customers are facing in bringing new products to market. Not only do we purchase the most advanced new hardware and software, we also develop tools in-house that push the envelope of manufacturing innovation.
Our R&D team continually expands our toolbox with unique inventions and processes that give us a competitive manufacturing edge in the marketplace. Our engineers also optimize recently acquired advanced lasers such as a high pulse repetition rate Coherent Excimer and a high power Fiber Laser from Trumpf with modifications specific to our microfluidic, EV battery, aerospace, and biotech market segments.
Prototype to Production
Potomac’s entire mission is to take a customer idea from prototype to high volume production. For example, since we can manufacture an entire microfluidic device, we are cognizant of the many steps that go into making the final product and how to scale to as many as 3 million devices per year.
Automated systems are key to these high production quantities and our goal in 2023 is to increase number of parts coming out of our factory with the highest quality yields in the industry at the fastest turnaround. Close partnerships with our customers allow qualification of our production processes to ensure those goals are met time and again.
Making “Fail Fast” a Reality
Potomac Technician Raif manufacturing parts in the lab!
Many of the startups we serve are venture-funded bringing reality to the Silicon Valley term “Fail Fast”. Our rapid lead times allow customers to quickly test new ideas and those that fail are quickly discarded as they innovate new options.
Our venture-led clients tell us that they are now able to develop new products in 3 – 6 months instead of the normal 2 – 3 years. Being first to market is always important in high tech but also being able to ensure that market launch is successful with a fully optimized product almost always lead to high market share.
The Latest and Greatest Innovations
Potomac has always been at the forefront of innovation and today we’re manufacturing new products that are leading the world to solve challenges that impact us all. Sustainability is at the forefront of everyone’s mind and innovation is again central to finding better batteries for EV’s,
Microfluidic devices are a type of miniaturized lab-on-a-chip technology that have been gaining popularity in recent years. These tiny devices are used to manipulate and analyze very small quantities of fluids, and they have a wide range of applications in fields such as medicine, chemistry, and biology. One of the key components of microfluidic devices…
Potomac can fabricate fully functional microfluidic devices in many materials such as Cyclo-Olefin Copolymer (COC). Often our customers ask us to treat the material to make if more hydrophilic. COC is a relatively hydrophobic material that can be difficult to wet with water or aqueous solutions. However, there are several methods that can be used…
To Create Liver on a Chip Research via NIH Grant Drug discovery is in a radical digital transformation period. Historically, developing new pharmaceuticals has been a very long – think years or even decades – and expensive – think billions of dollars – process. A large part of the time and cost in bringing new…