Kollmorgen, today a manufacturer of drive and control technology, celebrates its centenary from the foundation in 1916 in New York by Friedrich Kollmorgen, inventor of a periscope for submarines patented in 1911. A centenary that has come about thanks to ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit, paired with a systematic overview and systems and overall solutions that defined the company’s development through the years, merged with other visionaries of the period including Norman Macbeth, chairman of Macbeth Daylight Company, Hugo Unruh, founder of Inland Motor, and Robert Swiggett, circuit board inventor at Photocircuits.
The company then gradually evolved into a manufacturer of servo drive technology and motion control products, and is today regarded also as a pioneer in the development of engines with permanent magnets. Among many projects, Kollmorgen fitted out the Mars Rover and the ISS, as well as the robot used by Robert Ballard to capture the images of the Titanic in 1986. “It’s a real honor and privilege to work for a company that is 100 years old – says Kollmorgen ceo Dan St. Martin -. Our success is built on the dedication of all our employees, who every day continue to put all their effort into trend-setting innovations, in every corner of the world”. Today the company comes under the umbrella of Fortive, which has 1.500 employees worldwide.