About APL Engineered Materials, Inc.
APL Engineered Materials, Inc. is a specialty chemical manufacturing company located in Urbana, Illinois with sales offices in Japan and China. The company is well known for manufacturing high-purity, moisture-free, customized, performance chemicals.
Key Markets
- Lighting
- Scintillation
- Nuclear
- Energy
- Displays
- Specialty
History
The company was founded by Scott Anderson in Urbana, Illinois in 1944. Listed below is a timeline with key milestones in the 75+ year history.
Anderson Physics Laboratory was established in 1944 in Urbana, Illinois by Dr. Scott Anderson to perform sponsored experimental research in molecular physics. The lab functioned as a contract research facility for industrial customers. In the late 1950s, under a grant from the US Atomic Energy Commission, Anderson Physics Laboratory began to purify alkali halides. Around this time, lamp companies began to use our purified salts. Our proprietary process of producing ultra dry (moisture-free, anhydrous), high purity lamp salts increased the efficiency and life of high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. The ability to manufacture precisely sized spherical material also led to the development of high-speed dosing equipment in 1981. Our client list includes most of the lamp manufacturers in the world.
In the late 1980s a name change was made to APL Engineered Materials, Inc. This new name 
retained the essence of the original Anderson Physics Laboratory and refocused the company’s aim to include other markets.
In the early 1990s APL introduced precision metal pieces for use in metal halide lamps, thermionic emission materials, barium peroxide getters for HID lamps, and we continue to improve our processes for reducing the amount of mercury used for the manufacture of fluorescent lamps.
In 1998, APL established APL Japan Co, Ltd.—a fully owned subsidiary of APL Engineered Materials, Inc. Located in Osaka, they manage sales, marketing, and technical services for APL’s products in Japan.
In 2007, APL Shanghai Co, Ltd. was established—also as a fully owned subsidiary of APL Engineered Materials, Inc.—to manage sales and marketing of APL materials in China and of Auer Lighting (an Advanced Lighting Group company in Germany).
APL’s abilities encompass the manufacture and purification of halides, halide mixtures, and rare earth metals not readily available elsewhere. APL dedicates itself to being the premier supplier of high purity & ultra dry metal halides, amalgams, metals and other components uniquely configured to meet specific customer requirements, with the greatest possible customer value.
Since 2015, we have been adding new products in the radiation detection market. These include high purity cesium iodide, thallium iodide, lanthanum bromide, cerium bromide, strontium iodide, europium iodide, 6Li salts, etc. The scintillator raw materials are used to grow single crystals or make flat panel displays.
We continue to grow our presence in other energy markets by providing key raw materials for photovoltaics, energy storage, displays and the nuclear industries.
APL was a 2017 Innovation: Longevity Award Finalist in the annual Innovation Celebration hosted by the Champaign County Economic Development Corporation
APL Engineered Materials Sister Companies
