Hypertherm celebrates 50 years in business

Hypertherm, a Hanover, N.H.-based manufacturer of industrial cutting systems and software, is celebrating 50 years in business. Events this year will include the unearthing of a long-buried time capsule and celebrations at all its global locations with company founder Dick Couch.

Couch and Professor Bob Dean started the company in 1968 in a small, two-car garage, where they discovered that radially injecting water into a plasma cutting nozzle would form a narrow arc, making it possible to cut metal accurately and quickly while nearly eliminating heavy dross and double arcing.

Today the company designs and manufactures industrial cutting products for use in a variety of industries such as shipbuilding, manufacturing, and automotive repair. Its product line includes cutting systems, CNC motion and height controls, CAM nesting software, robotic software, and consumables.