DURYEA, Pa. — Newswatch 16 was invited on a tour through Schott, a glass production facility, after a major achievement for the company.
Workers here are going to be playing a role in US Military defense systems.
"It's an exciting project to work on, especially when you get to see the actual end product of what you're making," said project engineer Elizabeth Chase.
She was talking about these specialized pieces of glass that are used in handheld projectile launchers used by the military.
"These windows are a critical component because they're highly durable, to be able to be scary on the shoulders of soldiers and infantrymen in the battlefield," explained Director of Sales Stephen Sokach. "Yet, they also are highly transmissive at multiple wavelengths, to allow the guidance systems within the launch tube to lock onto the device they're tracking and to be able to secure make sure we hit the appropriate aggressive target."
U.S. Representative Matt Cartwright toured the facility, too; he says these components will play a major role in the war in Ukraine.
"If you follow the war in Ukraine, you know that the air attacks are not coming from planes. They're not coming from Russian warplanes, it's all missiles. And that's because of the effectiveness of the stinger missiles that the Ukrainian ground forces are able to use," explained Rep. Cartwright, (D) 8th District.
Folks at Schott say if this contract goes well, it could lead to growth and more jobs for the company in our area.
"It's great. I like to see the company growing and always bringing in new people and highly technical people to the area. Especially people are sometimes unaware that such good development goes on in such a small area or in this little five area, and some people don't even know the company is here, but we do a lot of exciting technical things here. So it'd be great to keep growing and getting more scientists in the area," added Chase.
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