REL was established in 1990 by Robert and Josh Loukus, both Michigan Tech graduates. The company began with two pieces of equipment—an engine lathe and a knee mill. Initially, REL was a small machine shop, completing repairs and job shop work for local customers. The job shop work continued until 2000.
In 2000, REL’s experience in machining and assembly work culminated in their first automated part inspection line, which was designed for and sold to Alcoa. Since then, REL has moved into many different areas of automation: robotic machining cells; totally automated inspection for fluorescent penetrant inspection (FPI); and automated thermal processing furnaces, presses, filtration systems, shape-ceramic shape-forming equipment, and material handling systems.
In the last three years, REL has grown to 18 employees and has added over 10,000 square feet of manufacturing space. REL’s advanced materials research lab in Calumet, Michigan, has equipment to produce parts on an industrial-size scale as opposed to a laboratory scale to ensure that technology that is developed can readily be commercialized and deployed to industry. The lab also has a state-of-the-art machine shop under the same roof to assist in the assessment of current machining technology, as well as advanced tailored machining processes for the developed materials.