A Bit About Us
Welcome to Texas! When the former Austin, Texas-based DVC Company joined the Thorlabs family in 2011 as Thorlabs Scientific Imaging (TSI), a couple of longtime Thorlabs employees, including Ralph Savioli, an electrical engineer, made the move to Austin. Ralph reports back, “Texans take the matter of state pride to extremes, so much so that you genuinely feel like you’re in a different country.” This is especially striking in Austin, where vibrant technology industries, entertainment venues, and academic institutions combine with the fierce Texas pride to form a truly unique environment to live and work. Consequently, Ralph got the idea to provide a Texas identity to the TSI products by creating a unique version of Thorlabs’ Face Value dog mascot that would appear on TSI documentation. Within their version, the dog sits on a burnt-orange map of Texas. Burnt orange is the predominant color of the University of Texas (UT), located in Austin. “You can’t go anywhere in Austin without encountering at least one person wearing an orange UT shirt—with Longhorns of course,” Ralph says, adding, “and these aren’t students; these are regular Austinites!”
Thorlabs Scientific Imaging added some Texas flair to the Face Value Dog Mascot
The TSI team’s devotion to their new mascot was obvious when Cindy, the wife of TSI’s general manager and a pastry chef, created an edible version to top a cake celebrating the team’s first release of a new scientific camera. Releasing a new camera is a major accomplishment for everyone on the team, and so a small celebration was definitely appreciated! Since that first party with the Face Value cake, TSI has taken to celebrating each new product release with lunch at one of Austin’s famous barbeque joints. As Ralph concludes, “Nothing compares with genuine Texas slow-cooked, smoked barbeque beef brisket, smoked sausage, coleslaw, ‘tater salad, and white bread!”
To celebrate their first product release, the Texas-based team enjoyed an edible version of Thorlabs’ Face Value Dog.
The Thorlabs Scientific Imaging Team in front of their Austin, Texas facility, which once served as the set for the movie Office Space.
306