The company's founder - Spirit of research
Instrument Systems was established in 1986 by today's president Richard Distl while he was still a student at Munich Technical University.
The foundation of the company and the first product developments received funding under the TOU sponsorship program financed by the Federal Ministry of Research and Technology in Germany. This program was geared to promote establishment of technology companies. At the age of 26, Richard Distl was the youngest entrepreneur in Germany under the TOU Program. He also received the maximum possible funding.
When Richard Distl was a teenager, he developed a new polarimeter concept in the "Jugend Forscht" research program for high school pupils in Germany and won the state prize for his pioneering work. Further development of this principle to determine the wavelength of light radiation and the concept for the subsequent fast-scanning technology built into spectrometers formed the platform for establishing Instrument Systems.
Future needs heritage
Instrument Systems - Corporate History | |
|---|---|
1986 | Richard Distl establishes the company with funding under the TOU sponsorship scheme financed by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Technology. The company's first site is in a building at the Munich Technology Center |
1987 | Market launch of the first product: the PL10 Wavelength Analyzer |
1988 | Market launch of the RPA2000 Polarization Analyzer |
1989 | Market launch of the SPECTRO 100 Scanning Spectrometer (first instrument with innovative Fast Scanning Technology) |
1990 | 51% of the shares in the company are purchased by Rohde & Schwarz, Munich; relocation to the Rohde & Schwarz building at Tassiloplatz in Munich |
1991 | Market launch of the SPECTRO 320 Scanning Spectrometer |
1992 -1994 | Development of key accessory components (LED Adapter, EOP120, ISP80, GON360, TOP100, LS100) |
1994 | Buyback of all shares by Richard Distl |
1995 | Relocation to the current company building, at Neumarkter Str. in Munich |
1996 | Market launch of the CAS 140B Compact Array Spectrometer and SpecWin Software |
1998 | Market launch of DTS 500 Display Test System |
2000 | Market launch of the LumiCam 1300 Imaging Photometer |
2000 | Photonics Circle of Excellence Award |
2002 | Market launch of the LED Tester |
2003 | Market launch of the LumiCam 1300 Imaging Photometer and Colorimeter and the ISP 500 integrating sphere |
2004 | Market launch of the high-resolution LumiCam 4000 Imaging Photometer and Colorimeter |
2006 | Market launch of the CAS 140CT Compact Array Spectrometer |
2007 | Market launch of the SpecWin Pro Software |
2008 | Market launch of the TOP 200 Telescopic Optical Probe and the ISP 1000 integrating sphere |
2009 | Accreditation of the test laboratories in conformity with ISO 17025; market launch of the calibration LEDs ACS-530 series |


