Accelerating the evolution of scientific discovery and technological development

Since 1991, Alicat Scientific has manufactured custom mass flow and pressure instrumentation to equip our customers with the tools they need to advance scientific discovery and technological development. Alicat devices are used in applications from aerospace and defense to research labs to environmental monitoring. To achieve this, we focus on being fast.

Fast instruments

When we pioneered the use of laminar differential pressure flow technology, we improved on traditional thermal and differential metering to create devices which can sample every millisecond, with response times of 50 ms. That way, you get real-time data with minimal fluctuations.

Fast delivery

If you’re building a new, automated system and need highly configured (or completely customized) mass flow or pressure controllers, you won’t be left waiting for six months. If you’re looking for a simple meter to run some tests, we likely have one we can ship right away.

Fast answers

Not every team has a flow expert on it, which is why we make it easy for you to get in touch with an applications engineer. They’re the ones who answer your calls by the third ring and respond to your emails within three hours. You’re able to get the information you need, fast.

We don’t know what will be most important to your process and project, so we work on increasing the speed of everything we do. Displays and control buttons on our devices, multiple communication protocols, a website designed around self-help, global service centers, access to our engineering team, our online store… It’s all designed to speed up your process and the technological advancements that come with it.

Why do we focus on custom?

Our customers need flow and pressure instrumentation for a wide variety of industries and applications, from leak testing stands for rockets to studying the impact of drought on rainforests to upgrading physical vapor deposition setups. Each process is distinct, and our applications engineers are always ready to configure our devices to meet specific needs. And if we don’t have the right solution for you, we’ll let you know – or start developing it immediately.

Customization also ensures that Alicat devices can be built for easy integration into any process – whether you’re looking for a painless switch to a faster flow controller with top-of-the-line specs, you’re just starting to automate a manual system, or you’ve recently realized a flow controller might solve that problem you’ve been thinking about in the lab all week.

Where did the name Alicat come from?

Ali’s Creative Advanced Technologies, AliCAT, began in 1991 with the idea that creative ideas could help scientists measure their results.

Ali Shambayati, Alicat’s founder, left a coaching session with Professor Sean Twomey (remembered by the Twomey Effect) at the University of Arizona with two sheets of equations. He was convinced that laminar flow and pressure could be combined to make a new type of flow meter.

In 1995, Ali left the company and his investors found former NASA contractor and science enthusiast, Neil Hartman, and bright, young college student, David Lashbrook. Neil had a knack for understanding how far science could go and David had a gift for making the instruments to help science get there.

More than 25 years later, Neil and David are still here – helping customers get custom solutions for very complex problems and building around them a community of people who believe in exploring the boundaries of what’s possible.

We’re hiring! If you’re passionate about flow technology, solving engineering problems, or quickly diving into customer applications, you’re right for the job.

Careers at Alicat