For three decades an integral part of global industry and primary research
Thirty years can be short or long. In the niche industry of aerosol and particle measurement, they have been a remarkable time for us.
Since 1991, technology-oriented particle analysis and sensor systems have been developed, designed, and manufactured under the name Topas. In the past thirty years, we have established ourselves as the specialists for generating, conditioning, and analysing test and reference aerosols. In the process, we have grown to be a mid-sized company, contributing to global industry and research from Saxony in Germany. For decades, our more than 60 product series and 20 available test systems have established the name Topas as the standard for the classification and testing of filters and filter media.
Founded by three ambitious tinkerers and budding entrepreneurs as a spin-off of the Technische Universität of Dresden, we have worked to earn our place as a sought-after partner in the scientific field. We were gratified to see our work recognized as, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had the opportunity to actively contribute our expertise in scientific and technical issues to the efforts to contain the infectious disease.
With the anniversary year beginning on the first of February 2022, we had many reasons to celebrate: more than 45 patent and utility model applications and 7 registered trademarks, around 12,000 precision instruments and 800 sophisticated testing systems produced, over 1,000 entries in scientific publications and almost 100 enthusiastic employees. Discover here many exciting stories and previously unknown anecdotes from the 30-year company history.
In discussion with the Managing Director
Claudia Jahn-Wolf has been Managing Director of Topas GmbH since 2021. She uses the company's anniversary as an opportunity to look optimistically to the future in an interview.
Dr.-Ing. Andreas Rudolph, founding shareholder / managing director - 2020
Dr Andreas Rudolph is a founding partner and was Managing Director of Topas GmbH until 2020. Today, he supports Topas as an important advisor and source of inspiration. Read the visionary's view of 30 years of Topas in the interview.
Dipl.-Ing. Christian Peters, Founding shareholder / Division Manager Marketing & Sales
Dipl.-Ing. Christian Peters is a founding partner and head of the three business areas Marketing & Sales, Integrative Applications and Software. In this interview, the researcher talks about 30 exciting years at Topas.
Dipl.-Ing. Klaus-Jürgen Müller, Founding shareholder / Research & Development
Dipl.-Ing. Klaus-Jürgen Müller is a founding partner and works in the field of research and development, especially redesign. In the interview, the technician reports on what he has experienced in 30 years of Topas.
Simply explained: What connects a gemstone with a modern technology company?
Again and again, we are asked what our company has to do with the precious stones, the topazes, which are popular all over the world. This year is the year of topaz for mineralogists. And therefore, a nice occasion for us in our anniversary year to draw a (not entirely serious) comparison.
ORIGIN AND ORIENTATION
The name topaz is presumably derived from a Greek spelling of the present-day Egyptian St. John's Island. There were probably precious stones there, but they were only called topazes by mistake. Our name, in contrast to that of the crystal, clearly comes from the mind and pen of our three company founders: Topas stands for technology-oriented particle, analysis and sensor technology, with the five initial letters forming the company name. Among other things, the beginning of the name is reminiscent of a support programme of the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1990s for technology-oriented companies, which we were able to take advantage of. Topaz is known and loved above all for its wide range of colours, from yellow, yellow-orange and yellow-brown to reddish-brown, pink and rose-red to light blue and, rarely, light green. Obviously, we also have a faible for colour – which makes the yellow technology company equally colourful and clearly identifiable in the amount of aerosol and particle device technology.
WORLDWIDE APPRECIATION
Like the magnificent gemstone, we are represented on all continents by a worldwide sales network. Our export quota is more than 75% at the moment. Interested parties can contact our partners in over 40 countries worldwide. In Germany, topazes are mainly found in Saxony - we too are a Saxon company and are located in the state capital Dresden since the company was founded in 1992. The Saxon Elector Augustus the Strong was particularly fond of his jewellery made of Vogtland topazes from the world-famous Schneckenstein topaz rock, which can be admired today in the Green Vault in Dresden. Topaz aerosol and particle technologies are also highly valued – in a variety of industries, by well-known filter or automobile manufacturers or in (basic) research at universities and numerous scientific institutes. Analogous to the great strength of the crystal topaz with a mineral Mohs hardness (MoH) of 8 after corundum and diamond, our customers can count on consistency and stability in the economic relationship as well as on durable and high-quality technologies and equipment since the beginning.
OF HIGHEST QUALITY
As "Saxon diamonds", the topazes from Schneckenstein also sold very well to the English King George III. Of course, we do not compare ourselves with the indestructibility of a diamond. But we hope that our devices and equipment represent a certain object of value for their owners and support their production, research and development as a high-quality and innovative product in the best possible way. If you would like to know more about topaz, you have the opportunity to do so until 24 June 2022 in the current cabinet exhibition at the Gera Natural History Museum.
AND WHAT DOES SELF-REALISATION HAVE TO DO WITH IT?
By the way: We are particularly excited about the healing powers attributed to topaz. As a stone of self-realisation, it is said to stand for the development of one's own abilities. A point that is particularly close to the heart of one of our company founders, Dipl.-Ing. Christian Peters: Topas employees (internally also called “Topase”) have many creative possibilities and should be allowed to contribute their strengths in order to further advance Topas and discover exciting fields of work for themselves. Read more in the founder interviews in the anniversary section below.
