Resonetics has grown into a vertically integrated manufacturer of nitinol-based components for the entire MedTech market.
Originally featured in Orthopedic Design & Technology on July 23, 2025.
This year, Resonetics celebrates a remarkable milestone: 35 years of consistent and innovative nitinol melting and processing. From its roots in the early commercialization of shape-memory alloys to today’s fully integrated, melt-to-device nitinol platform, Resonetics has played a pivotal role in shaping the capabilities and global adoption of this unique material. The journey began in 1990, when our New Hartford, NY facility started commercially supplying today’s established VIM/VAR nitinol ingot.
Raychem to Memry: A strategic transfer of innovation
Raychem Corp. was a pioneer in the development of shape-memory alloys for industrial and aerospace applications, including one of the earliest uses of nitinol. But in 1996, Raychem sought to divest its nitinol business, seeing more immediate returns in its core electronics and polymer technologies.
Memry Corp. seized this opportunity and acquired Raychem’s shape-memory alloy business, including key intellectual property, and at the time, a state-of-the-art processing plant in Menlo Park, California. This acquisition enabled Memry to pivot from manufacturing finished devices to becoming a vertically integrated supplier of nitinol wire, tubing, and components for the burgeoning medical device industry.
At the time, Memry was a small company with fewer than 20 employees. The Raychem acquisition was well-timed and marked an important inflection point. Soon after the acquisition, the demand of nitinol wire increased significantly due to the specialized processing and the emergence of new, high-value medical applications.
Memry quickly became a trusted supplier to medical device innovators focused on stents, guidewires, filters, and minimally invasive implants.
Resonetics: From precision laser processing to melt-to-device leadership
While Memry was scaling its nitinol supply chain across California and Connecticut, Resonetics (founded in 1987) was carving out its niche in precision laser micromachining for medical devices. Over the next 30 years, the company rapidly broadened its capabilities, adding laser ablation, centerless grinding, microfluidics, and complex component manufacturing to its portfolio. Though it began processing nitinol components, Resonetics was already laying the groundwork for a more ambitious goal: delivering a fully integrated nitinol solution.
That ambition came to fruition in 2023 when Resonetics acquired Memry and SAES Smart Materials from SAES Getters for $900 million. This acquisition instantly transformed Resonetics into the only vertically integrated nitinol manufacturer with in-house capabilities spanning melting, alloy development, sheet, tube and wire drawing, laser processing, EDM, shaping, electropolishing, and finishing.
With nitinol facilities now across Connecticut, California, New York, New Hampshire, Minnesota, Costa Rica, and Israel, Resonetics can support customer needs from early-stage prototyping to high-volume production, all within the same company!
Serving the full spectrum of the market
Today, Resonetics serves a global customer base ranging from nimble startups to the largest OEMs in the medical device industry. The company is unique in its ability to support:
- Custom Alloy Melting: Binary, ternary, and quaternary nitinol compositions.
- Raw Material Forms: Bar, ingot, tube, sheet, and wire.
- Component Manufacturing: Laser-cut tubes, precision ground wires, shaped devices, braided structures.
- R&D and Prototyping: Lightspeed Labs locations for rapid innovation.
- Scale-Up: High-capacity tubing and wire lines for commercial volumes.
- Lead-Time Optimization: Internal supply chain coordination for faster turnaround.
Importantly, Resonetics also openly supplies melt material to other raw material and component suppliers, reinforcing its position as an enabler across the industry rather than a closed-loop competitor.
Looking ahead: Innovation through integration
As the medical device industry continues to demand smaller, smarter, and more resilient implants, nitinol continues to play a significant role. Its combination of elasticity, fatigue resistance, and biocompatibility make it needed in many applications.
Resonetics is committed to pushing the boundaries of what nitinol can do, developing tighter tolerances, more complex geometries, and advanced metallurgies that enable next-generation therapies. This commitment is backed by decades of accumulated IP, cross-disciplinary engineering teams, and a strong focus on customer success.
A legacy of leadership
Thirty-five years after our first commercial sales of nitinol ingot material, and nearly four decades since Resonetics’ founding, the company is now the global standard-bearer for nitinol processing. Resonetics has not only preserved the original innovation but has amplified it, building a robust, scalable, and agile platform that serves the entire nitinol market.
With the industry’s most comprehensive capabilities and a legacy rooted in technical excellence, Resonetics is poised to lead the nitinol market into its next era of growth and innovation.