One of the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NCMEP) clients, BrightView Technologies, a Durham, North Carolina-based global supplier of Visual Intelligence™ solutions, was recognized as a “Hero of Manufacturing” by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP). The Heroes of American Manufacturing video series, created by NIST, celebrates small and medium-sized manufacturers succeeding with the help of their state MEP Centers. The series highlights manufacturing facilities across the country, the people-leaders and workers making things that improve our daily life, and the jobs and opportunities they provide to their local communities and the nation’s economy. The video also features the relationship between the MEP Center and the client—helping to tell the story of what makes the MEP Program unique as a private-public partnership.
BrightView specializes in custom-engineered optics, called “visual intelligence” (VI). It uses a unique photolithography process to print microlens arrays (MLAs) onto substrates. Its MLAs are components in consumer electronics, automotive, 3D sensing, lighting and robotics applications. An essential element of BrightView’s success since its founding in 2002 has been its ability to stay responsive to changing trends in technology, materials and production to deliver innovative solutions to its manufacturing clients.
BrightView reached out to NCMEP during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic offering its services to manufacture face shields for organizations in need. The company possessed the know-how to produce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). However, Brightview needed assistance to identify companies in the healthcare market that needed Personal Protective Equipment during the height of a health crisis. The Heroes of American Manufacturing Video chronicles BrightView’s journey to shift its product line from display technology to manufacturing face shields for organizations in need.
One of the NCMEP network partners, NC State University Industry Expansion Solutions Regional Manager, Mitch Poteat, connected BrightView with the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina (EDPNC) and provided contacts at the North Carolina Emergency Management, a division of the Department of Public Safety that was mobilized to identify PPE sources for North Carolina.
“We were proud to share BrightView’s journey, from our leadership in manufacturing high technology optical components that enable Visual Intelligence through our pivot during the pandemic to serve the needs of the State of North Carolina by producing face shields,” said Jennifer Aspell, CEO, BrightView Technologies. “The series captures our motivation as an American-based company serving new cutting-edge markets across the globe. We’re constantly inspired to reimagine, reinvent, and reconsider all possibilities to create transformative value for our customers, employees, and key stakeholders.”
To view the latest segments in the MEP Heroes of American Manufacturing series, please visit: www.nist.gov/mep/mep-national-network/manufacturing-videos. For more information on how the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension partnership can help your manufacturer, visit: ncmep.org.
About the North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership
The North Carolina Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NCMEP) is the state network in North Carolina for the national Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) which is part of the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). MEP is a unique public-private partnership that delivers comprehensive, proven solutions to manufacturers, fueling growth and advancing U.S. manufacturing. NCMEP is administered by NC State University Industry Expansion Solutions (IES) and is joined by partners from the North Carolina Community College System, NCWorks Customized Training; the Economic Development Partnership of NC; the Polymers Center of Excellence; the Manufacturing
Solutions Center; NC A&T State University Center of Excellence in Product Design and Advanced Manufacturing; Hangar6; East Carolina University College of Business; the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Industrial Solutions Lab; and NC State University Wilson College of Textiles.
About BrightView Technologies
BrightView’s Visual Intelligence™ solutions are at the intersection of physical perception and the digital world. BrightView combines polymer expertise with its patented microstructure lens array (MLA) technology to produce optimized solutions for a variety of applications such as LiDAR, consumer electronics, 3D Sensing, automotive, lighting, machine vision, robotics, and other Visual Intelligence™ markets. Headquartered in the Research Triangle Area of North Carolina, BrightView Technologies designs and manufactures its range of advanced components for customers worldwide. For additional information, visit BrightView online at brightviewtechnologies.com; on Twitter @Bright_ViewTech or on LinkedIn.
