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Episode 64: Beyond the Spectacle Lens: SOLA's Untold Innovations with Rod Watkins

10 minutes ago
2 min read

Most of us know SOLA for CR-39. Fewer know it was once Australia's major defence optics manufacturer, or that it was casting disposable contact lenses years ahead of the rest of the world.

In Part 3, Rod Watkins takes us inside SOLA’s lesser-known innovations, from optical systems for Australia’s Leopard tanks and Rapier missiles to disposable contact lenses that were years ahead of their time. Rod also shares what he learnt as SOLA grew into a global business, and why it's the people behind it who stayed with him most.

About the Guests:

Rod Watkins has spent over five decades at the intersection of optics, science and industry. After lecturing in optometry at the University of Melbourne in 1969, Rod joined SOLA International in 1970, where he spent the next 14 years as Group General Manager – Technical, helping steer the Adelaide-born company through its transformation from a small optometry practice offshoot into one of the world's largest ophthalmic lens manufacturers. In 1987, he founded Scan Optics Pty Ltd and led the company as CEO for over two decades, until 2008. Since 2011, Rod has held an Associate Professor position at Flinders University, continuing to shape the next generation of optical thinking.

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Key Topics with Timestamps:

3:00 - SOLA's defence and precision optics years

9:31 - How defence work strengthened the rest of SOLA

11:42 - Casting a contact lens ahead of its time

20:40 - The discontinuation of the contact lens project

23:58 - SOLA’s ability to solve problems from CR-39 to contact lenses

26:23 - The missed opportunity to enter the contact lens industry

29:02 - What Pilkington saw in SOLA, and a shift in culture

30:37 - Rod’s decision to leave SOLA

33:33 - Growing big while staying close to the end user

38:42 - What Rod takes away from his SOLA years


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