Joel Moskowitz and several of his professional colleagues founded Ceradyne in August 1967 while gathered around Joel’s kitchen table in his modest house in Sepulveda, California. The original company name was “Nadik Industries” and it was located in a small (700 SF) rented facility in Canoga Park, California.

The early days were a struggle but business picked up in 1970. Along with a name change to Ceradyne, Inc., the company moved to a much larger plant (10,000 SF) in Chatsworth, California where the first hot press and diamond machine operations were installed.

Ceradyne products in these early years included research and development efforts in both single crystals and advanced technical ceramics, lightweight ceramic armor, microwave absorbing ceramics, airtight ceramic-to-metal assemblies, and strategic military components.

In 1974, Ceradyne was sold to TRE Corporation (who in turn sold Ceradyne to Kyocera in 1978). With the change in ownership, Ceradyne moved to Orange County, California near the current corporate headquarters. During these years, the Company grew and prospered; reaching $1 million in sales in 1976. Ceradyne expanded the number of hot presses and the ability to precision diamond grind large ceramic components.

On January 12, 1983, Ceradyne, Inc. once again became an independent company and assumed the corporate structure that exists today. On July 19, 1984, Ceradyne issued stock through an initial public offering and was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol CRDN.

During the early 1980s, the Company concentrated its efforts on technical ceramics for strategic military components. Ceradyne management determined that it would be a prudent strategy to diversify operations, which led to several acquisitions.

On November 17, 1986, Ceradyne acquired Semicon Associates from Varian Associates (now CPI). Semicon was a mature operation, manufacturing ceramic impregnated dispenser cathodes primarily for high-powered microwave tubes, lasers and cathode ray tubes. Semicon is situated in a modern manufacturing plant in Lexington, Kentucky.

On December 16, 1986, Ceradyne acquired Thermo Materials from its founding family. Thermo began operations in 1967 and quickly became a major supplier of a special line of ceramic products known as fused silica ceramics. Ceradyne Thermo Materials, located near Atlanta in Scottsdale, Georgia, fabricates fused silica engineered shapes and rollers for the glass and glass tempering industries. Additional applications include precision shapes such as high temperature forming tools and ceramic radomes for the defense industry, special castings used to transport molten metals, and crucibles for the photovoltaic industry.

On May14, 2004, Ceradyne acquired Quest Technology of San Diego. The acquisition of this small company resulted in Ceradyne acquiring a novel method of manufacturing complicated small parts known as ceramic injection molding (CIM).

On August 23, 2004, Ceradyne acquired ESK, the large German technical ceramic company located in Kempten, Germany. The ESK acquisition positioned Ceradyne as a multi-national company and will result in a more global company with a wide variety of non-defense product offerings.

Two acquisitions in 2006 resulted in the formation of Ceradyne Canada, based in Chicoutimi, Quebec. With BORAL^®, purchased from AAR Manufacturing Company in Livonia, Michigan and the purchase of a former Alumiform plant in Chicoutimi. Ceradyne Canada produces BORAL^® and extrudes or rolls MMC shapes using a proprietary MMC cast AL/B₄C material. Ceradyne’s BORAL^® and AL/B₄C MMC products provide market leading performance for neutron absorption in both wet and dry spent nuclear fuel storage and/or transport applications.

Ceradyne Thermo Materials has expanded their fused silica crucibles production with construction of a state-of-the-art 98,000 square foot facility in Tianjin, China. Ceradyne Tianjin Technical Ceramics is slated to begin production in July 2007; tripling company output of fused silica crucibles. The crucibles are used in the manufacture of polycrystalline silicon solar cells that convert sunlight into electricity.

Most recently, Ceradyne acquired two additional companies; EP Boron, Inc. in Quapaw, Oklahoma and Minco, Inc. located in Midway, Tennessee. EP Boron produces the Boron isotope B¹⁰ that is a strong neutron absorber used in nuclear waste containment and power plant radiation control. Minco, Inc. manufactures fused silica powders and is a key supplier of raw materials to Ceradyne Thermo Materials in Scottsdale, Georgia.

Ceradyne has grown 700 fold since our first $1 million in shipments in 1976. The company is now diversified with new products such as silicon nitride orthopedic implants, BORONEIGE^BN boron nitride powder for cosmetics, fused silica ceramic crucibles for solar cell production, neutron absorbing materials for spent fuel storage, and many defense products that help keep our country safe.