Richard Fotland has over fifty years experience in product, process, and materials development. This experience includes concept development, analysis, and marketing as well as the management of technology and product development programs. He has been involved in a number of high technology start-up operations. His professional achievements have been recognized through the following awards:
• Society for Information Display Johann Gutenberg Prize
• IGC Albert Rose Imager of the Year Award
• Imaging Science and Technology Kosar Memorial Award for the development of ion printing

As manager of applied physics department at Horizons Incorporated, a small contract R&D operation, Fotland developed an ultrasonic brain (ventricle) imager, an ultrasonic carburetor, x-ray imaging iconoscope, and was active in the field of organic solid-state imaging materials.

Fotland joined Dennison Manufacturing Company in 1975 to establish a corporate research and development operation. He set out to investigate phenomena that would enable the formation of electrostatic latent images at very high speed through the direct conversion of an electrical signal to a charge image. A unique means of producing high ion current densities through the use of air gap breakdown in fringing fields was discovered in 1977. In addition, he developed a system for the simultaneous transfer and pressure fusing of toned images to plain paper using dehydrated and then resin impregnated anodized aluminum rollers.

His small group developed a one hundred foot per minute ion engine which they interfaced to a Dennison Label press in 1983. By 1985, they had built five additional ion engines and the Dennison PRESIDAX electronic label printing division was selling PRESIDAX tags and labels at an annual rate of thirteen million dollars.
Since Dennison was not in the hardware business, it was decided to license the Fotland ion printing technology for computer printing applications. A joint venture was formed with Canada Development Company in 1980. Fotland and his group transferred the ion technology and assisted Delphax Systems, the 50-50 joint venture partnership, in developing the first commercially sold ion printer, the 2460. Delphax is presently a NASDAQ listed company, DLPX, with annual sales of about fifty million and has been profitable, on and off, since 1985.

While at Dennison, he developed several novel packaging materials based upon diffraction embossed foils and films. Working with investigators at Mass. General Hospital, he conceived a novel method for measuring the low shear modulus of biological samples.

Fotland served as architect and initial development director of a majority of ion (ebi) printers including:

Presidax 6.5 inch industrial web printer
The Olympus Optical desktop ion printer line – the first to operate at 300 dpi
SCI/United Airlines airline ticket printer (7000 produced)
The Moore Corp. Midax 300 web printer – the first to operate at 450 feet/minute
The Presidax wide web line of industrial printers including the Presidax 1440 and the Delphax CR series web printers

Fotland formed a consulting service, Illuminare Incorporated, in August 1997 after having managed Delphax Systems Advanced Development operation for five years. At Delphax, his group developed Cipress; a technology for high-speed full color printing which he described at the IMI Fourth Annual Digital Printer Conference. He managed a development activity involving the use of liquid nitrogen as a carrier fluid for liquid toning of electrostatic latent images.

To date, Illuminare has carried out conceptual R and D as well as experimental reduction to practice for seven clients. The Corporation has been profitable since its founding. While most of this effort relates to non-impact printing, experimental work was also carried out in the areas of novel quality control systems and methods of depositing fine doses of inhalable powders.

Fotland became interested in fine art and the effects of gradients, patterns in hue, saturation, and brightness on viewer’s impression. After studying a variety of painting media, he selected alkyd oil paint as a rapid drying, easily controlled, forgiving, and flexible media. He has been experimenting in this media since 2001 and has been awarded a number of ribbons from the over twenty competitive shows he has entered and has, to date, exhibited in three one-man shows. A sample of his works may be seen in the gallery section of this site.