Powerlase Photonics, a client of the University of Central Florida Business Incubator in the Central Florida Research Park, recently sold 50.1 percent of the company to international technology company Andritz based in Graz, Austria. Powerlase specializes in picosecond and nanosecond high-energy, diode-pumped solid-state (DPSS) lasers. It supplies international customers from the photovoltaic, microelectronics, automotive and aerospace industries. Andritz, a long-time client of Powerlase, has been using their high-energy lasers in its ablation systems for removing coatings from metal. The new company name is Andritz Powerlase and it will be based in Crawley, England. “This agreement represents a major step forward for Powerlase,” said Young Kwon, managing director at Powerlase. “It enables us to pursue our ambitious growth plans to be a key provider of high-power lasers for surface preparation, polishing, cleaning, ablating and many other industrial applications.” The growth plans include rapidly scaling their North American subsidiary, which is located at the Incubator. The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high-growth enterprises.