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About Fluid Imaging Technologies
Fluid Imaging Technologies was founded in 1999 as a spinoff from
Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in West Boothbay Harbor, ME. The
original FlowCAM® was developed at Bigelow for studying plankton in
ocean water. An extremely novel concept, the FlowCAM was designed to
combine the benefits of a flow cytometer and a microscope in a single
instrument. Marine Biologists from around the world visted the lab and
were exposed to the FlowCAM. Many of these scientists found the
instrument to be so useful for their research that they expressed
interest in acquiring one for their own lab. At this point, Dr. Chris
Sieracki, one of the co-developers of the original FlowCAM, formed
Fluid Imaging Technologies to manufacture instruments for other
researchers.
During the initial 5 years of the company's history, the FlowCAM was
sold exclusively to the oceanographic research community. Towards the
end of this period, several non-oceanographic customers evaluated the
FlowCAM for their particle analysis applications, and eventually
purchased instruments. These early "industrial" customers included a
flavors and fragrances manufacturer and a petrochemical company.
Recognizing the potential of the FlowCAM to address these other
"industrial" applications, the company expanded and began marketing to
the industrial sector while continuing to sell to the core
oceanographic customers. The FlowCAM also began to see use in other
aquatic applications, such as limnology (the study of inland waters) at
this time.
During the second 5 years of the company's history, the growth became
more rapid in both the aquatic and industrial parts of the business. As
a result, the company outgrew its modest facility outside of Boothbay
and moved to a brand new facility located in Yarmouth, ME (just outside
of Portland). The new facility had room to keep up with the projected
growth of the company. At the same time, the company expanded
dramatically in international sales, leading up to Fluid Imaging being
named the US Small Business Administration's (SBA) small business
Exporter of the Year in 2008.
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