Twenty-five years in thermal imaging
11/07/2011
What a difference 25 years has made to thermal imaging, and FLIR Systems’ Kevin Ellis has witnessed it every step of the way. Now Distribution Area Manager for the North of England, Scotland and Ireland, Kevin has just celebrated his quarter century in the business, a time span that has seen both the technology and its scope of application change beyond all recognition.Having completed his apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer with Dunlop, the 23-year old Kevin was keen to branch out into sales and achieved this ambition by making the move to engineering polymer specialist Polypenco. Eleven years later he sought another fresh challenge and took his first step into the world of infrared.
AGEMA is credited with the introduction of the world’s first commercial thermal imaging camera and became part of FLIR Systems in 1997. In the mid-eighties, the company, based in Leighton Buzzard, was seeking to expand its sales force and on 1 April 1986 Kevin was appointed as a Sales Engineer for the north of England.
“At the time, the AGEMA range of imagers was limited to maybe seven models cooled by LN2. So, to say the least, setting up for a demo was quite a challenge,” he explains. “All were trolley-mounted to accommodate the imager and the LN2 flask. The accompanying computer was the size of a house, so a demo at a steel plant or in a high-rise building was always ‘interesting’!”
He adds: “These models provided no direct temperature measurements either. All readings were put through hand calculators to acquire temperature values.”
Surprisingly, the markets Kevin served then differ little to those his distributors address now. But, of course, in those early days of commercial thermal imaging, the technology was solely restricted to high-end applications. It was extremely expensive, cumbersome and a very much more complex method than it is today.
Building inspection and energy management were notable absentees from the applications list at that time. Kevin continues: “These huge markets have only emerged in the last five to ten years, but they are great examples of how the uncooled technology has developed. It is now a tool that is easy to use and easily affordable. And, as unit prices fall, it will become attractive to an even wider range of industries and markets.”
Education has always been very much part of the sales role for Kevin and is still an important element as the process has evolved from direct sales to distribution at FLIR. “For us it is critical that our partners are able to offer a high level of support and applications knowledge to our customers. It has always been a FLIR strength and will continue to be so.”
He concludes: “FLIR is always looking to improve its products to maintain its premier position in our marketplace. People and industry look to FLIR for guidance on the best product for the job and it gives me a buzz to call on my 25 years in thermal imaging to help make that happen.”
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