1950s (gas turbine):
- material testing
- fluid dynamics laboratory
- technical physics
- mechanical stressing
- vibrations and acoustics
The beginnings of nuclear physics and reactor technology in the 1950s and 1960s led to the development of more capabilities, especially in the fields of material strength and behaviour, test engineering and separating and mixing processes. The latter formed the basis for the Process Engineering Department, the forerunner of today's Sulzer Chemtech.
1960s (hip joints, reactor and process technology):
- metallography
- finite element analysis
At the start of the 1970s, Sulzer's well-developed Materials Department provided key support with the development of artificial hip joints - the beginnings of Sulzer Orthopaedics and, later on, Sulzer Medica. At about the same time, a start was made on the development of a thermal spraying process – plasma spraying – to apply coatings to materials. This marked our entry into surface technology, which nowadays - as Sulzer Metco - is a major cornerstone of the new strategy for Sulzer's industrial sector.
1970s (surface technology):
- tribology
- cavitation
- laser measurement
- technology
- fracture mechanics
- first CAD studies
- thermal spraying of gas turbine blades
- numerical simulation CFD
- biotechnology
In the 1980s, diversification led to the investigation of numerous possibilities for new products and processes. "Micro-casting" - a 3D net-shape welding process using robot technology - and isothermal hot-die forging are now successfully used for production. The highly promising Sulzer Hexis fuel cell project will shortly reach the commercial stage.
1980s (HEXIS, biofilters, clean coal technology, robotics):
- computer applications
- isothermal hot-die forging
- lasers (with EPFL)
- glass-metal
1990s (new ventures):
- micro-casting
- material modelling
- multi-body simulation
- informatics and diagnosis
- biomaterials/tissue engineering
- composites
- multiphase flow
In 1990, the corporate R&D centre was converted into Sulzer Innotec with a new structure and a sharper focus on the needs of our business units.
As long ago as 1994, we began to prepare for the development of a new core technology of biomaterials; this unit has worked successfully in a number of areas, including growth factors. At the start of 2000, this sector was transferred to Sulzer Medica where it is now one of the cornerstones of the new Biologics Division at Zimmer Ltd.
In 1993, Sulzer Innotec was converted into a public limited company ("Aktiengesellschaft"), whose capital was fully owned by Sulzer AG. This move was followed in 1999 by reintegration into the newly-formed "Sulzer Markets and Technology AG". Since then, Sulzer Innotec has been run as a department of this business unit.
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