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Register Now for Our Next Ultrasonic Coating Seminar

Published April 11, 2012

Our next Ultrasonic Coating Seminar will be held on Friday, May 11, 2012, 9AM-4PM
at the Millennium Bostonian Hotel Boston at Faneuil Hall Marketplace

Seminar Outline:

We will try to tailor the applications and products sections to meet everyone’s interest, please tell us any specific topics or applications you are most interested in.

Registration Details:
Seminar fee is $199 – register before April 26th for a discounted rate of $99
Includes continental breakfast, lunch, and refreshments.
All attendees will also receive a certificate toward FREE Sono-Tek lab testing or discount on purchase of a new system (value up to $1600.00)

Registration Deadline: April 26, 2012
(Registration fee is non-refundable after 4/26/12, full registration price of $199 will be charged after this date)

Go to http://www.sono-tek.com/seminar-registration/ to register.

Space is limited, so don’t delay. This event provides coating professionals with a wealth of information, tips, ideas and ultrasonic coating process improvement techniques not available anywhere else!

Posted in Corporate, Food, Industrial, Medical, Nanotechnology

Ultrasonic Spray for Fuel Cell Platinum Catalyst Coatings

Published February 15, 2012

Look for Sono-Tek’s Technical Brief article in this February 2012 issue of ASME’s Journal of Fuel Cell Science and technology. The article, entitled “Maximizing the Use of Platinum Catalyst by Ultrasonic Spray Application”, was written by Robb Engle, director of Engineering, and focuses on the advantages that Ultrasonic Spray processes offer in the deposition of carbon black catalyst suspensions onto fuel cell PEM membranes.

The following is a brief excerpt from the article:

“By using a technology that is self cleaning, the atomizers are able to run processes without the risk of clogging. The core detriment of processing with nozzles that will clog is not when they fail, but in the event of slowly clogging, the spray characteristics are changing. Ultrasonic atomizers do not clog and therefore do not vary.

In addition, the delivery means to the atomizers are from closed volumes using precision metering pumps. The accuracy of and repeatability of material delivered to the substrate can be related to the fidelity of a quality pump. Moreover, keeping the material in a closed reservoir prevents loss of solvent by evaporation to atmosphere and subsequent changes during the process.

The net effect is that a properly run ultrasonic coating process maximizes stability and repeatability, thus maximizing efficient exposure of platinum.”

The full article can be found here: http://asmedl.org/dbt/dbt.jsp?KEY=JFCSAU&Volume=CURVOL&Issue=CURISS

For more information regarding Sono-Tek’s spray systems for fuel cell manufacturing, go to http://www.sono-tek.com/fuel-cell-coating-overview/ or email info@sono-tek.com.

Posted in Corporate, Energy, Nanotechnology

Visit Us at MD&M Minneapolis

Published October 19, 2011

Sono-Tek will be exhibiting at MD&M Minneapolis, Booth 1741, November 2-3 in Minneapolis, MN. Learn about our precision medical device coating technologies and get a close up, hands-on view of our patented ultrasonic nozzles in action.

Sono-Tek has over 25 years of expertise coating implantable medical devices such as stents, with anti-restinosis polymers. Our drug eluting coatings provide superior uniform coverage of delicate, complex substrates as well as wide area medical textiles such as bandages. Coatings applied include antimicrobial coatings, lubricious, hydrophilic, and a multitude of other surface enhancement coatings. Full coating solutions include fully automated systems configured in a sealed glovebox or XYZ motion programmable coating systems incorporating our ultrasonic nozzle technology to produce uniform drop sizes as small as 13 microns. We have helped hundreds of companies establish or improve their coating processes and bring the best quality medical equipment to market.

For more information about our medical device coating solutions, go to http://www.sono-tek.com/medical/subcategory/medical_device_coatings or email info@sono-tek.com. FOr more information about MD&M, go to http://www.canontradeshows.com/expo/minn11/.

See you at the show!

Posted in Medical, Nanotechnology

Sono-Tek Celebrates 35th Anniversary Milestone

Published September 29, 2011

2011 marks the 35th anniversary of the founding of Sono-Tek Corporation, Milton, NY USA. The Company was started in 1975 by Dr. Harvey Berger, inventor of the ultrasonic nozzle. From modest beginnings during the oil crisis of the 1970s, we have continually developed our unique technologies and grown from being a company that only provided ultrasonic nozzles to a full coating solutions company. Our initial developments included fuel efficient nozzles for oil burners, but we quickly realized the unique capabilities of our ultrasonic nozzles would benefit manufacturers in a wide variety of industries. Our current worldwide offerings include spray fluxing systems for PCB manufacturing, XYZ coating platforms used in Solar and fuel cell manufacturing, precision medical device coating equipment, and various other industrial coating machines for glass, textile, and food applications.

The Company’s diversification plan into several industries has allowed steady growth for the past 6 years and counting. Sono-Tek has delivered over 10,000 ultrasonic coating systems around the world through the company’s history.

Dr. Christopher Coccio, Sono-Tek’s CEO, made the following statement regarding this historic milestone for the company, “Having worked with Sono-Tek for the past decade, I have seen the company and many of our products develop into industry standard methods for coating in several industries. The opportunities we find for implementation of our ultrasonic spray coating equipment continues to expand, and we see exciting potential in the years ahead”.

Posted in Corporate, Electronics, Energy, Food, Industrial, Medical, Nanotechnology

Sono-Tek Enhances Customer Service with New Sales Team Member

Published August 22, 2011

Sono-Tek Corporation announces the addition of Karla Frisenda to our ultrasonic coating solutions sales team. Karla will be supporting our sales team and working with customers and distributors all around the world, providing ultrasonic spray solutions to the precision medical device coating and glass and textile coating industries. Karla has served in a sales support role for the past few years at Sono-Tek. We welcome her as she takes on a more active role in our ultrasonic coating sales group. Visit http://www.sono-tek.com/ for more information about our Ultrasonic Coating Solutions group.

Posted in Corporate, Industrial, Medical, Nanotechnology

Sono-Tek to Exhibit Ultrasonic Spray Coating Systems for CIGs Solar Cells Coating at EU PVSEC

Published August 16, 2011

Sono-Tek Coporation, Milton, NY, USA, plans to exhibit ultrasonic coating technology for spraying CIGs solutions and CdTe layer chemistries in thin film solar cell manufacturing at the 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) September 5-8, in Hall A4/B27b, in Hamburg, Germany.

As ultrasonic wet process spray gains popularity for use in thin film solar manufacturing, Sono-Tek remains at the forefront of companies offering these cost effective spray solutions. In particular, Sono-Tek has developed the ExactaCoat spray system for R&D applications, and the WideTrack system for pilot line and full production scale applications, both of which provide uniform thin film coatings of suspensions used in thin film solar manufacturing, and are easily integrated with existing lines.

Capital equipment costs for manufacturers using wet process ultrasonic spray technology are a fraction ofCVDand other vacuum deposition process equipment costs, making investment into new lines more feasible for emerging companies.

Further manufacturing cost savings achieved with ultrasonic spray include: seamless integration with inline high volume production lines versus slow batch processing, and high effective material transfer of very expensive rare elements used in CIGS and CdTe suspensions (up to 95%). The targeted, low velocity ultrasonic spray produces very little overspray. Independent control of process parameters such as drop size, flow rate, and deposition contributes to the highest possible uniformity with the flexibility to optimize morphology characteristics.

Sono-Tek’s patented ultrasonic nozzles, the core of all of the company’s coating equipment, are non-clogging precision atomizing devices, whose high frequency vibrations break up any agglomerations in solution throughout the entire coating process. This is particularly valuable when depositing cadmium-based suspensions where agglomerations can result in non-uniform distribution of particles and lower cell efficiency. Ultrasonic atomization creates a very stable process with highly repeatable thin films, and uniformities as low as +/-2%.

Sono-Tek ultrasonic spray systems are proven and currently in use at some of the largest solar cell manufacturers in the world. For more information on Sono-Tek’s ultrasonic coating systems for thin film solar manufacturing, visit http://www.sono-tek.com/energy/page/r&d_thin_filmor email info@sono-tek.com.

Posted in Corporate, Electronics, Energy, Nanotechnology

Save the Date for Our Next Free Ultrasonic Coating Seminar

Published August 9, 2011

Sono-Tek 2011 Ultrasonic Coating Technology Seminar Series continues…

Who should attend this one of a kind free technology seminar?
Precision coating professionals in industries like medical device coating, float glass and flat glass coating, antimicrobial coating, protective finishes, moving web coatings for textiles and other wide area industrial substrates, drug release and other performance coatings, and nanocoating applications such as carbon nanotubes. Go to www.sono-tek.com for more information or email info@sono-tek.com to register.

TWO DATES LEFT FOR 2011!

Registration is now open for our next Ultrasonic Technology Seminar.
Minneapolis, MN
Friday, November 4^th(following MD&M Minneapolis, visit us at booth #1741)

Registration opens in October for San Jose, CA
Thursday, December 8^th(following BioMEDevice San Jose, visit us at booth #1225)

Posted in Corporate, Industrial, Medical, Nanotechnology

News Shows Anticipated Growth in Medical Device Coatings Market

Published July 7, 2011

All signs point to an increase in implantable medical devices and medical device coatings in the next few years. Treatment of cardiovascular, orthopedic, and diabetic conditions are likely to require bioabsorbable and biocompatible functional coatings onto implants and diagnostic devices such as stents, catheters, balloons, pacemakers and orthopedic implants. Sono-Tek is ready for this increased demand, with over 30 years of expertise in coating medical devices such as these with antimicrobial solutions and polymers.

An article in MPMN’s Medtech Pulse, published on June 28, reports that the implant device market will exceed $50 billion by 2015.
Other reports anticipate that microelectronic medical implants will be worth $15.4 billion in 2010, with pacemakers being the most well known of these devices.
A report by Global Industry Analytics indicates that the world medical device coatings market is projected to exceed $7.5 billion by the year 2015.

Some factors influencing this increase in medical coatings are an aging population, increases in hospital acquired infections (HAI), and worldwide medical advances. Antimicrobial coatings onto medical devices are common applications for Sono-Tek ultrasonic coating systems. Working closely with customers to develop turn key solutions or integrating with existing equipment, Sono-Tek is continually developing new coating systems. For more information, visit http://www.sono-tek.com/medical.

Posted in Corporate, Medical, Nanotechnology

SemiCon Intersolar Starts July 12

Published July 7, 2011

Sono-Tek is preparing for SemiCon-Intersolar 2011, July 12-14 in San Francisco, CA. We will be exhibiting in booth 2631 (South Hall). We will be highlighting our ExactaCoat Tabletop Coating System along with working demonstrations of their patented precision ultrasonic spray nozzles.The ExactaCoat system is the perfect solution for R&D and small volume processes coating deep well topographies such as MEMs with photoresist, as well as thin film solar cell layer deposition of buffer layers onto CdS solar cells, and active layer coatings such as CIGS, CdTe, and CzTs-based solar cells. Homogenous, uniform thin film layers of nanosuspensions and solutions are easily applied using ultrasonic wet process, at a fraction of the cost of CVD and sputtering processes.

Visit http://www.sono-tek.com/energy/page/r&d_thin_film for more information about the ExactaCoat ultrasonic coating system for solar cell manufacturing.

Posted in Corporate, Electronics, Energy, Nanotechnology

Free Ultrasonic Coating Seminar July 15, 2011

Published July 1, 2011

There’s still time to register for our next FREE ultrasonic coating seminar, scheduled for July 15, 2011 in New York, NY.

Event details are as follows:

Renaissance New York Times Square Hotel
Two Times Square, 714 Seventh Avenue at W. 48th Street
New York, New York 10036 USA
9AM – 4PM, lunch is included

Topics that will be discussed include:

Ultrasonic nozzle theory and atomization principles

Spray optimization with fine tuning of process variables
Enclosures and automated systems
Industry specific solutions for medical coatings, glass & textile coatings, and food safety coatings
Individual Q&A

Registration now open for our next seminar in Minneapolis, MN
Friday, November 4^th(following MD&M Minneapolis, visit us at booth #1741)

To register, please email info@sono-tek.com or call 845.795.2020.