Newtown-based Sonics & Materials, Inc celebrated two major events with several high-profile guests March 20. The company welcomed Governor Dannel P. Malloy, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, and First Selectman Pat Llodra to its 45th anniversary luncheon, which also served as an impromptu 75th birthday party for Sonics & Materials founder, President and CEO Robert S. Soloff.

The high tech firm with offices on Church Hill Road, in New York, and a field office in Shanghai, China, is a leading supplier of plastics welding systems and ultrasonic liquid processing equipment.

Sonics & Materials, a privately held, family-owned business, was started in 1969 in Danbury by Mr Soloff and one additional employee. Sonics opened its offices in Newtown 16 years ago and currently employing 75 people at its headquarters, along with a worldwide network of distributors and representatives.

During the past 45 years, Sonics has cemented its role as an industry pioneer, acquiring a total of 22 patents — plus seven pending — for technological innovations, continuing the work started by Mr Soloff.

In 1965, he was awarded the original patent for the ultrasonic method of welding thermoplastic parts. The groundbreaking technique is now used universally across many market sectors, including the automotive, life science, medical device, and electronics fields.

As Mr Soloff pointed out in his remarks March 20, Sonics develops, manufactures, and services virtually its entire product line in Newtown. Sonics offers in-house application assistance, materials testing laboratory service, onsite  field service, plus a global sales and distribution network.

“I like to think of our company as a symphony — we all play a part,” Mr Soloff said. “But when we come together we make beautiful music, even though that music is in the 15 to 40 kilohertz range.”

He thanked many of the current and long-term employees of the company, including those who traveled to the event from China, Canada, and across the United States. Mr Soloff also recognized a number of the company’s high-profile partners and clients, including Crayola, DuPont and John Deere.

And to illustrate how far and integrated the Sonics products are around the globe, he noted one of the company’s most far-flung clients, India’s Central Institute for Research On Goats.

Mr Soloff pointed out that about half of the company’s sales are to overseas clients and that in his 45 years, he has seen more than 300,000 Sonics & Materials products shipped. He said the main reason for the company’s success is because Sonics is “constantly innovating and investing in good people,” including graduates from Abbott Technical High School and many area colleges.

During her remarks, Mrs Llodra said she was struck by the company’s and the Soloff family’s affinity for its workforce. Gov Malloy also noted “the human connection” Mr Soloff has made with Sonics employees, clients, and the Newtown community.”

Mr Soloff also recognized his daughter, company Executive VP Lauren Soloff, as “the best partner a person could ask for,” along with his wife Carole and his grandchildren who were on hand providing logistical assistance for the event.

The company is ISO 9001 certified, and manufactures handheld, bench-top, and semiautomated plastics assembly and metal welding systems, as well as the most technologically advanced line of high-intensity ultrasonic liquid processors used for applications such as dispersing, blending, cleaning, cell disruption, sample prep, homogenization, emulsification, and atomization.