20 years ago, nobody would have dreamed that the Compact Lasers for Efficient Ablation (Clean) project idea would develop into a company with around 1,200 installed systems. Back then, the two Managing Partners tirelessly tried to direct focused pulsed laser radiation into hair-thin light guide cables in the basement of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) in Aachen.
Soon the first employees joined the company and Clean-Lasersysteme GmbH moved to the TechnologieParkHerzogenrath (TPH) in Kohlscheid. The first “big” customers from the automotive and aviation sectors trusted in the new laser process. With these references, improved laser technology and increased environmental requirements, nothing stood in the way of expansion.
In retrospect, we can look back on an eventful time with two buildings of our own on Dornkaulstraße in Herzogenrath, many technological achievements and products, partners in 20 countries and the award of the German Environmental Prize in 2010 – presented by the Federal President.
On 13 September 2017, the specialist conference “cleanLIGHT – lightweight construction and more” took place for the first time with top-class presentations from research and industry. In the evening, participants, employees and business partners met for “cleanNIGHT” in Aachen to celebrate 20 years of cleanLASER.