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Thread: Anyone Know This Company??

  1. #1
    Underemployed Genius Jacqui's Avatar
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    Question Anyone Know This Company??

    Has anyone heard of this company http://qspex.com/index.html ?? All I know is that they have a new(?) in-house lens production system and that they just received $4.5 Million in capital from GE. Has anyone around Atlanta heard anything?? This may be another in-house casting system related to NexGen Vision that was also in the Atlanta area.

    :cheers:

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    OptiBoard Professional Ory's Avatar
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    OptiBoardaholic Ineed Chocolate's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ory View Post
    I wonder if this is anything like the OLD Innotech lens casting system? It's hard to tell just by that one page...
    "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."
    --Carl Jung

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    Blue Jumper Have questions or want more information?.........................

    Have questions or want more information?

    Please Contact Us.


    QSpex Technologies, Inc.
    1525 Bluegrass Lakes Parkway
    Alpharetta, GA 30004
    770-751-7716
    email:Info@QSpex.com


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    Founder: Dr Su from Ciba Vision, TRI spinout, polymer chemist
    Steve Martin, CEO: ex-Ciba vision
    John Lowry, President & COO:
    Ron McGhay, Sales & Mktg VP, ex-Essilor
    Tim Rodgers, Director of Product Mgmt; ex-Ciba vision, Novartis, American optical.

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    Underemployed Genius Jacqui's Avatar
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    Starting to sound like another one for the "I do not like" catagory. But maybe I'll wait until I see thier product. :D

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    Now now, we need more new innovative companies like this starting up, with a bit of good experience behind them :)

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter DragonLensmanWV's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Flat Eric View Post
    Founder: Dr Su from Ciba Vision, TRI spinout, polymer chemist
    Steve Martin, CEO: ex-Ciba vision
    John Lowry, President & COO:
    Ron McGhay, Sales & Mktg VP, ex-Essilor
    Tim Rodgers, Director of Product Mgmt; ex-Ciba vision, Novartis, American optical.

    Hmmm...look at the CEO....wonder if their logo will be a lens with an arrow through it?
    DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
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    Essex Woodlands Health Ventures invested the 2007-startup QSpex 12 million dollars at the end of 2009. This is an amazing new technology enabling the optical stores to finish casting the lenses for the eyeglasses in 30 minutes. According to the in introduction on its website, the in-house lenses making machine is able to make Anti-glare, photochromic, polarized lenses in one integrated process. The surface quality of the lenses can be comparable with the lab-ground lenses, with accurate and precise prescription acuity. And it requires no special skills for the operators. It is heard recently QSpex finialized another round of capital financing from GE. All these venture capitals help to commercialize the patented technology and bring the novelty technology lenses to final users. QSpex plans to test the market in the southeast before the end of 2010, and then rollout through the country in the coming 3 years.

    QSpex will market its lenses through the independent doctor’s offices, and then spread though national chain stores. This new tech will greatly the increase the profitability and efficiency of the independent stores.

    The major members of the QSpex team are with perfect background in the industry of eye-care products. Stephen M. Martin, the CEO of QSpex Technologies. Is a veteran contact lens manufacturing executive, and he founded Ciba Vision in 1980 and Ciba Vision Ophthalmics in 1990. Dr. Kai Su, originally from Taiwan China, is the founder, Chairman and CSO of QSpex.

    Dr. Kai Su’s (PHD) background is particularly worth mentioning. He Founded QSpex Technologies Inc., and serves as its Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Su has been in the vision care industry for over three decades and is an expert in the field of polymer chemistry. Before QSpex, he was the President & CEO of Technology Resources International (TRI). Before this, Dr. Su spent 21 years leading research and development groups at Ciba Vision, Alcon Laboratories and Bausch & Lomb. During all these years, Dr. Su has invented over 100 eye care patented products and published many scientific papers in the area. Dr. Su’s the technologies have been used in a number of successful vision care products, such as Alcon’s Opti-Clean contact lens cleaning solutions and Softcolors line of colored contacts lenses within the CIBA brand. In 1996, he was awarded the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association Trailblazer Award for his excellent achievement in product development to the enhancement of the industry. Dr. Su gained his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in New York, and owned a BS in chemistry from Taiwan’s Tamkang University before he came to United States to further his study.

    This new technology, if proves to be workable soon, will surely transform and reshape the business model of the optical industry, and this will greatly impact the current participators, especially in the eyeglasses lens manufacturing industry.

    From: Optical News

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    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Gold Supporter DragonLensmanWV's Avatar
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    Snore..
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    Quote Originally Posted by DragonLensmanWV View Post
    Hmmm...look at the CEO....wonder if their logo will be a lens with an arrow through it?
    Didn't he invent that little handle on the front of frames that you used to push the pooly adjusted glasses back into place?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed View Post
    Didn't he invent that little handle on the front of frames that you used to push the pooly adjusted glasses back into place?
    The Opti-Grab

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    check out eyeoverheard.com There is a story about this and some interesting comments.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Firmoo View Post
    Essex Woodlands Health Ventures invested the 2007-startup QSpex 12 million dollars at the end of 2009. This is an amazing new technology enabling the optical stores to finish casting the lenses for the eyeglasses in 30 minutes. According to the in introduction on its website, the in-house lenses making machine is able to make Anti-glare, photochromic, polarized lenses in one integrated process. The surface quality of the lenses can be comparable with the lab-ground lenses, with accurate and precise prescription acuity. And it requires no special skills for the operators. It is heard recently QSpex finialized another round of capital financing from GE. All these venture capitals help to commercialize the patented technology and bring the novelty technology lenses to final users. QSpex plans to test the market in the southeast before the end of 2010, and then rollout through the country in the coming 3 years.

    QSpex will market its lenses through the independent doctor’s offices, and then spread though national chain stores. This new tech will greatly the increase the profitability and efficiency of the independent stores.

    The major members of the QSpex team are with perfect background in the industry of eye-care products. Stephen M. Martin, the CEO of QSpex Technologies. Is a veteran contact lens manufacturing executive, and he founded Ciba Vision in 1980 and Ciba Vision Ophthalmics in 1990. Dr. Kai Su, originally from Taiwan China, is the founder, Chairman and CSO of QSpex.

    Dr. Kai Su’s (PHD) background is particularly worth mentioning. He Founded QSpex Technologies Inc., and serves as its Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Su has been in the vision care industry for over three decades and is an expert in the field of polymer chemistry. Before QSpex, he was the President & CEO of Technology Resources International (TRI). Before this, Dr. Su spent 21 years leading research and development groups at Ciba Vision, Alcon Laboratories and Bausch & Lomb. During all these years, Dr. Su has invented over 100 eye care patented products and published many scientific papers in the area. Dr. Su’s the technologies have been used in a number of successful vision care products, such as Alcon’s Opti-Clean contact lens cleaning solutions and Softcolors line of colored contacts lenses within the CIBA brand. In 1996, he was awarded the Contact Lens Manufacturers Association Trailblazer Award for his excellent achievement in product development to the enhancement of the industry. Dr. Su gained his Ph.D. in polymer chemistry from the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in New York, and owned a BS in chemistry from Taiwan’s Tamkang University before he came to United States to further his study.

    This new technology, if proves to be workable soon, will surely transform and reshape the business model of the optical industry, and this will greatly impact the current participators, especially in the eyeglasses lens manufacturing industry.

    From: Optical News
    Have not seen a molder yet that was not a big loser.

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    Here’s my two cents’ worth on QSpex:
    Several months ago I was asked by a friend of mine who deals with business investments to look into information from a company who was asking him to put an investment package for them. He passed along to me a prospectus sheet furnished to him by QSpex, and asked me to give him my thoughts on what they were saying, and of the potential of the company to be successful. I have in the optical business for 10 years, and when I read what they were saying I immediately thought “yeah, right” and told my friend that the technology that appeared to be proposed by QSpex was tried unsuccessfully before, and that their success was simply not possible unless they had done something radically different from the others that have failed at this technology, like Innotech, Opticast and the Matrix system that LensCrafters used to have years ago.
    My friend asked me then if I would be willing to visit QSpex and actually see their system and report back to him about what I see. Since I always like to see anything that has to do with lenses and spectacles, I decided to take him up on his offer. I thought that if anything, at least I would spend a couple of hours away from my office. I expected to see, at best, a new version of an old technology. I came out of my visit telling my friend it would be foolish NOT to invest in the company.
    What they have created is something completely different from what I expected. Their system uses a small filling unit and a curing unit (which uses visible light instead of UV), which create lenses ready to edge in less than half an hour. The lenses are created using disposable molds, which need no gaskets or additional parts to include, since the back mold has an included spacer, and cylinder in lenses is created by a protractor feature in the front part of the mold. These lenses can be made in one step in single vision or progressive designs.
    I was particularly impressed by their polarized lenses, which have absolutely no chromatic aberrations of any kind around the edges. None. The polarized film is attached to the mold, and it transfers the polarization to the resin during the curing process. The edges of the lenses are as clear as the center. I have to admit I was blown away by that. Now they have molds that include scratch coats, 7 layer anti-reflective coating and photo chromic properties to the resin, which allows the user to create a lens with all the options in one step. They told me that their ARC has the oleophobic and hydrophobic properties of the best ARCs in the business, so that could certainly be an added bonus in terms of optical quality and durability of the lenses.
    They have visited my lab with several times, and have brought finished lenses for my inspection. The quality of the lenses they have brought for me to inspect is comparable with the best of the business, and they are always open to suggestions on how to improve their product.
    Since my visit, I have signed my office up to become one of the beta-testing sites for their system before they go into the market, and they have asked me to be as critical in my assessment of the system as I can be (no problem there, I already told them that one of their early prototype machines looked like a microwave oven.) Their people have a lot of experience in the optical business (3 of the top 5 managers have been presidents of ophthalmic product companies that are well known in the business), and they have consulted with several colleagues whom I respect a lot in all phases of the development of their system.
    This may sound corny, but I’m a believer.

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    Master OptiBoarder rinselberg's Avatar
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    Focused on fast: Steve Martin, left, and Ronald McGhay of QSpex. “Lenses are ready in less time than required to submit and track a lab lens order,” McGhay says.

    Read more: QSpex out to transform eyeglass biz - Atlanta Business Chronicle
    http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlan...09/story3.html

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    What next? A return to plus cylinders? *shakes head*

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    Umm... no. This is veeeeeery ifferent, for all the right reasons. Can't blame anyone for being skeptical, though. You really have to see it to have your Eureka! moment.

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    Hmmm... Looks like an attempt to build up a brand for the sole purpose of being purchased by Essilor.

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    Sorry to bring up an old thread, but I wanted to get a word in.

    I've been working in casting for a few years now, mostly with large factories in Asia. I would never go out of my way to sell a casting system to an optical store. The investment in molds and equipment is high and it's not so easy to get good results without skilled and experienced people.

    That said we've had both labs and stores come to us who were committed to the idea before we spoke to them, and it still took a long time for them to get good results. I think you have to approach it from the angle of creating a small lens factory, rather than making lenses for your own use. I say this as someone who would profit immensely if in-store casting were popular, since our UV cure monomer works well with pretty much every UV bulb I've tried.

    If you're looking to cut your lab bills and aren't interested in supporting a local lab, I would first look for a good lab in Asia and get a weekly delivery via courier. At least then you'll get a lens with a proper hard coat and AR coat, applied with proven (US/EU) equipment. An Asian lens factory pays about $50/kg for photochromic monomer and about $8kg for CR39, so unless you're getting similar prices why not pay someone else to do the work, without the huge initial investment?
    Last edited by d_a_h_u_k; 11-16-2010 at 11:43 AM.

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    Master OptiBoarder Ginster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed View Post
    Didn't he invent that little handle on the front of frames that you used to push the pooly adjusted glasses back into place?
    LOL,hahaha, The Opti grab, be Somebody....

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    GE fronted $4.5 mill!!?? On a molder!? OMG they will never get involved in optical again! HAHAHAHA!!!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Speed View Post
    GE fronted $4.5 mill!!?? On a molder!? OMG they will never get involved in optical again! HAHAHAHA!!!
    You're laughing, but if they've got a good AR solution that doesn't require the purchase of a $300,000 machine I suspect they will do quite well.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flat Eric View Post
    Founder: Dr Su from Ciba Vision, TRI spinout, polymer chemist
    Steve Martin, CEO: ex-Ciba vision
    John Lowry, President & COO:
    Ron McGhay, Sales & Mktg VP, ex-Essilor
    Tim Rodgers, Director of Product Mgmt; ex-Ciba vision, Novartis, American optical.
    Did Essilor have another offspring?

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    Quote Originally Posted by sharpstick777 View Post
    Hmmm... Looks like an attempt to build up a brand for the sole purpose of being purchased by Essilor.
    aka the Essilor lottery retirement fund.

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