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Pacific Research Laboratories was founded in 1975 by Foss Miller, a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University.

The company’s first products were prepreg composite parts for the sporting goods industry. Soon a connection was made with Dr. Frederick Lippert who was the Chief of Orthopaedics at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Seattle and Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Sawbones

About Sawbones

Pacific Research Laboratories was founded in 1975 by Foss Miller, a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University.

The company’s first products were prepreg composite parts for the sporting goods industry. Soon a connection was made with Dr. Frederick Lippert who was the Chief of Orthopaedics at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Seattle and Associate Professor of Orthopaedics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Dr. Lippert was concerned that the orthopaedic resident training programs did not include enough hands-on training. Lippert’s vision was to have a plastic artificial bone that cut, drilled, and felt like real bone to be used to practice all the various procedures of orthopaedic surgery. With the aid of Dr. Lippert’s enthusiasm and guidance, the right combination of materials was formulated at PRL and SAWBONES was born.

The company, headquartered on Vashon Island, now has over 100,000 square feet of manufacturing space and provides Sawbones products to customers all over the world. In addition, we have a sales and customer service office and warehouse located in Malmoe Sweden – Sawbones Europe AB – servicing all of our Europe, Middle East and Africa customers.

Commercial Sales

If interested in our products, visit: Sawbones.com

Seaglider

Pacific Research Laboratories collaborated with University of Washington’s Oceanography department to fabricate the exterior housing for Seaglider, an autonomous underwater seafaring research submarine deployed internationally.

Pacific Research Labs Role

PRL worked with APL-US to design and manufacture the fairing and housings for Seaglider.

About Seaglider

Seagliders fly through the water with extremely modest energy requirements using changes in buoyancy for thrust coupled with a stable, low-drag, hydrodynamic shape. Designed to operate at depths up to 1000 meters, the hull compresses as it sinks, matching the compressibility of seawater.

The AUV Seaglider is the result of a collaborative effort between APL-UW and the UW School of Oceanography. These small, free-swimming vehicles can gather conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) data from the ocean for months at a time and transmit it to shore in near-real time via satellite data telemetry.

Seagliders make oceanographic measurements traditionally collected by research vessels or moored instruments, but at a fraction of the cost. They can survey along a transect, profile at a fixed location, and can be commanded to alter their sampling strategies throughout a mission.

Commercial Sales

If interested in this product, visit: Kongsberg Underwater Technologies, Inc. (KUTI)