Who We Are
Lupine Research is an advanced materials engineering company based in Boulder, Colorado. We do one thing, and we do it deeply: coatings and materials engineering. From plasma-based thin films to electrochemical surface treatments, we develop, refine, and scale the surface technologies that make demanding products work.
Our Story
Lupine Research was founded in 2012 by John Francis, Ph.D. and Alex Macpherson, Ph.D. to develop new materials and manufacturing techniques for the medical device community. What began as a research partnership grew into a full materials engineering practice serving customers across the medical, aerospace, automotive, and industrial sectors.
Today, as part of the Weiss-Aug Group, Lupine Research combines the agility of a focused research lab with the manufacturing depth of an established precision-manufacturing organization — taking coatings from concept and feasibility through validated, production-ready processes.
Our Lab
Our Boulder facility houses a state-of-the-art materials R&D laboratory with ISO 6, 7, and 8 clean rooms, purpose-built for surface engineering development:
- Physical vapor deposition — magnetron sputtering of metals and dielectrics
- Plasma polymerized chemical vapor deposition (PPCVD) — ultra-thin functional polymer coatings
- Plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO/MAO) — hard crystalline oxide layers on lightweight metals
- Photochemical machining — precision etched metal components
- Thick-film screen printing — printed circuits, heaters, and sensors on ceramic substrates
How We Work
Every application is different, so every engagement starts with your problem — not our catalog. We run a phased approach of exploration, testing, and prototyping to de-risk the science early, then engineer the process so it is repeatable, measurable, and ready for manufacturing.
If you have a surface engineering challenge, we’d like to hear about it.