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History

Kollen Park Building

Thermotron is North America’s largest environmental test equipment manufacturer. As an industry pioneer, Thermotron continues to meet and exceed customer expectations and market demand by producing innovative, superior quality products.

 

Thermotron’s Timeline

  • 1951: Charles Conrad invented the environmental test chamber and created the company Conrad Inc. He built the first chamber on the front porch of his home in Holland, Michigan. The chamber was built using a home freezer. Conrad modified the freezer so it could reach a temperature of -125°F. 
  • 1954: Conrad was issued a patent for a cascade refrigeration system.
  • 1962: Thermotron Industries was founded. Thermotron’s first product line was a solid-state water cooler and a lab incubator that used space-age semi-conductors for heat transfer by electron action.
  • 1963: The first Thermotron AGREE chamber was sold to Republic Aviation. That same model can still be purchased today.
  • Thermotron diversified their product lines in many ways, while still manufacturing their core products. Thermotron has created several new products over the years, including pottery wheels, kilns, heat pumps, and micrometers. 
  • 1971: The Kollen Park Facility in Holland at 291 Kollen Park Drive was purchased and is still in use today.
  • 1972: Thermotron began manufacturing its own instrumentation on their chambers.
  • 1976: Thermotron introduced the S-Series Test Chamber product line into the market. The first S-Series model built was a 4-cubic foot chamber called S/SM-4.
  • 1977: Thermotron manufactured its very first electrodynamic shaker.
  • 1979: Thermotron opened its European Headquarters in the United Kingdom. 
  • 1980: Thermotron was acquired by Venturedyne.
  • 1980: Thermotron purchased the manufacturing plant on 836 Brooks Ave. 
  • 1996: The SE-Series Environmental Chamber product line was introduced.
  • 1998: Thermotron introduced its Accelerated Stress Test (AST) systems (HALT Chamber).
  • 2000: ThermoTrak II is released, allowing users to control up to 32 chambers through a single PC.
  • 2002: Thermotron received a patent for the Universal Port. The Universal Port made it possible to integrate different conditioning modules with the SE-Series Environmental Chamber.
  • 2004: The 8800 Controller is introduced.
  • 2007: The 8200 Controller is released.
  • 2012: Thermotron celebrated 50 years of business.
  • 2013: Thermotron introduced the RSL-16 Portable Shaker to combine vibration, temperature, and humidity testing using a single SE-Series Environmental Chamber.
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