Page 50: of Marine Technology Magazine (October 2014)

Inside San Diego?s Blue Tech Economy Inside San Diego?s Blue Tech Economy Seeing Under Pressure According to Bill Raggio, Rayotek ScientiÞ c isnÕt speciÞ cally a maritime company, but it deÞ nitely is part of San DiegoÕs ÒBlue Economy.Ó ÒWeÕre both an engineering company and a sapphire and glass manufacturer. We makes specialized glass for windows and sight windows, diffusers, pressure vessels, hydraulics and boiler systems, submarine periscopes and camera covers,Ó says Raggio, RayotekÕs chief technology ofÞ cer. ÒSpacecraft and submarines both require windows that can take extremely hostile environments and thatÕs why we are the only company in the U.S. that makes the windows for the Orion spacecraft. We also make protective domes for cameras and human occupancy vehicles to withstand harsh environ- ments and high pressures, such as the bottom of the Mariana Trench.Ó Sight glasses provide the opportunity to look into pressur- ized systems. ÒOne of the most reliable instruments are our own eyes, and sight glasses allow us to view into extreme pressure environments safely, be it a hydraulics system or the deep sea,Ó says Raggio. Raggio says Rayotek is an engineering company special- izing in developing new technologies to support better, safer viewing of hostile marine environments from deep sea drilling operations, mining and oceanographic research. Sapphire is actually a common material used much like glass, and found in supermarket scanners and cell phone camera windows as well as missile guidance windows and periscopes ÒWe use a lot of sapphire,Ó Raggio says. ÒWe create it syn- thetically. ItÕs one of the strongest and most scratch resistant optical materials next to diamonds, and many times stronger than glass.Ó ÒBecause we are also an engineering Þ rm, we can engineer special windows for any application,Ó Raggio says. ÒWe donÕt just make the part, we engineer a solution. We help NASA make windows safer for their spacecraft.Ó Rayotek products are used in many industrial applications, to include commercial refrigeration and heating systems, and compressors for the petroleum and natural gas industries. The company provides sight windows for furnaces and incinera- tors, and windows for surface vehicles that must endure ex- tremely hostile environments. The military is a big end user, as well. The company makes sight windows for aircraft hydraulics, lens covers for sensors, mirrors for missile systems, AINS windows for star naviga- tion and lighting components for aircraft like the F-16. The company has many academic and research customers. Rayotek makes observation windows for pressurized tanks and vessels used for scientiÞ c analysis and testing. ItÕs also a major supplier to the oil and gas industry. ÒWe provide down- hole camera and pressure windows for Petroleum wellbores.Ó Raggio says itÕs important to choose the right material for a speciÞ c application. There are signiÞ cant differences between glass and crystalline materials such as sapphire and diamonds. When tolerances such as ß atness are very tight and tempera- tures are high, the choice of a crystalline material is superior to glass because it will maintain its shape at higher tempera-tures, he says. Sapphire is colorless and optically clear, and can be grown into shapes such as sheets, ribbons, domes and tubes with very smooth surface qualities, high purity and opti- cal translucence. The company also works with borosilicate glass, fused quartz and fused silica, and the more common soda lime glass. Raggio says San Diego is a high tech town. ÒItÕs a good place to bring talent; everybody wants to live here!Ó Raggio says Rayotek is part of the ÒBlue TechÓ com- munity, but not nearly as much as it could be. ÒThe Blue Tech economy is large, yet still under appreciated and for Rayotek relatively untapped. We have many opportunities to gain more business for Rayotek, but also to bring more Blue Tech busi- ness into San Diego at large by getting the word out of what the San Diego Blue Tech community has to offer.Ó ÒWe are part of the blue economy,Ó Raggio says. ÒWe see potential to grow with our blue partners. They may not repre- sent large volumes, but they are deÞ nitely high end, high tech, and very cool.Ó Rayotek & Safer Viewing of Hostile Marine Environs Rayotek designed the 7.5 ft. diameter glass sphere for Triton?s 36000/3 Submersible. October 201450 MTRMTR #8 (50-64).indd 50MTR #8 (50-64).indd 5010/10/2014 12:18:15 PM10/10/2014 12:18:15 PM