Docter Optics (Neustadt an der Orla, Germany) has received the "Best Supplier Award" in the "Innovation" category from Automotive Lighting, a Tier 1 OEM and one of the world's leading sources of headlights and automotive illumination technology. Every year, Automotive Lighting selects one supplier in each of five categories for the award. The company honored Docter Optics for "outstanding performance in connection with the development of a special projection lens for the new Mercedes S Class" vehicle, which will launch this Fall. The lens features a complex shape with a series of functions required for the S Class's new AFX dynamic driving light system.
Docter Optics calls itself the international technology leader in the production of aspheres and free-form lenses for projection headlights. With its proprietary DOC3D molding technology, the company says it can produce virtually any lens shape and integrate additional optical functions regardless of the type of light source (LED, xenon or halogen).
During the awards ceremony, Dr. Michael Hamm of Automotive Lighting praised Docter Optics' doubled-side molding technology (DOC3D), the integration of signlight functions into the lens, and interesting optical effects that can be achieved by structuring the surface of lenses.
Earlier this Spring, Docter Optics announced its offering of molded-glass optical components with diameters greater than 1 inch, saying industrial-scale production allows the company to eliminate expensive components of ground and polished material. The company says it is able to produce free-form lenses and components of three-dimensional shapes that cannot be achieved using conventional processes.
In addition to its German headquarters, Docter Optics has locations in Japan, the Czech Republic and the USA.
For further information about Docter Optics see the company's website.
Barbara Gefvert | Editor-in-Chief, BioOptics World (2008-2020)
Barbara G. Gefvert has been a science and technology editor and writer since 1987, and served as editor in chief on multiple publications, including Sensors magazine for nearly a decade.