In an address to Corning shareholders immediately after the general meeting on 26 April 2007, James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Specialty Materials, outlined a number of gro…
In an address to Corning shareholders immediately after the general meeting on 26 April 2007, James R. Steiner, senior vice president and general manager, Specialty Materials, outlined a number of growth opportunities for the USD 400 million division. He told shareholders that the division has been focusing on applying existing technologies and capabilities to several new market opportunities. He noted that over the years Corning has found new product applications for several technologies. Borosilicate glass, first used to manufacture PYREX(R) more than 80 years ago, is now the basis for optical windows used in digital light processors such as business projectors and projection television. The fundamental process used to make fiber optics, known as vapor deposition, is being used to produce a number of specialty optical products, including space shuttle windows, large mirror blanks for telescopes and highly complex lenses for optical equipment. Steiner also said that the company is applying its glass ceramic technology, first developed in 1952 for producing missile nose cones, to a research project intended to produce transparent armor windows for military vehicles. “We are working on a glass solution that will be able to deliver superior ballistic performance at a reduced weight”, he said. Finally, he said that his division is using an original glass composition created in the 1960s for automotive windshields to develop a highly protective glass for cell phones and other handheld smaller devices. This glass would withstand scratching and surface marring.