Family Founded in 1992

Founded on the vision of Gregory Hooper, LaserBond is a testament to grass roots, family initiated enterpreneurship. Gregory's decade-long blend of practical, theoretical, and managerial experience within the Thermal Spray and reclamation industries laid the foundation for a service company at the forefront of thermal spray technologies.  With his parents Rex and Lillian Hooper, Gregory founded HVOF Australia Pty Ltd in 1992, working from a small workshop in Ingleburn, NSW. The current CEO, Wayne Hooper, was invited by the family to join the business in 1994 to assist in driving its growth.

Innovation Led Growth

The company was at the forefront of the development of the High Pressure High Velocity Oxy Fuel (HP HVOF) process. The HP HVOF process sprays semi-molten droplets of coating material at extremely high velocities, resulting in coated surfaces of the highest possible quality and performance to improve durability, resistance to corrosion, or both. The investment in an in-house Scanning Electron Microscope remains unique today amongst LaserBond’s peers. The design and application of high performance metallurgical claddings requires an understanding of bonding and the deposited material. The well-equipped metallographic laboratory enabled LaserBond to make world-leading advances in surface engineering for wear and corrosion utilising thermal spraying, laser cladding and other technologies.

Our innovation with laser cladding dates back to 1999 when, after recognising the new markets the tecnology could open up, we designed and built one of the world's first high-powered commercial laser cladding systems. The company now has designed many LaserBond® cladding systems for its own use as it has grown, in addition to systems for technology licencees around the world and for several universities in Australia.

In 2014, Gregory Hooper, with fourteen years of experience in developing the Laser Cladding techologies at LaserBond, invented a ground breaking "Laser Deposition Method'. This method, for which LaserBond holds patents (with Gregory as the inventor) allows for the deposition of exceptionally thin, metallurgically bonded layers using lower energy levels. It effectively addresses significant challenges by avoiding inter-metallic dilution and porosity. Hooper's innovation has significant implications for precision-reliant industries, enhancing product quality, energy efficiency, and manufacturing cost-effectiveness.

Industry Collaboration

LaserBond’s growth has accompanied its collaborative relationships with key and and enduring customers. Starting from a problem solving opportunity we develop technology based solutions to wear life and performance problems that constrain our customers. In turn we develop specialized products, or standardized service protcols that becomes a growth partnership.

Our formal collaborations with researchers in several Australian universities (UniSA, Swinburne, Monash and others) through Cooperative Research Centres (CRC's) and Australian Research Council funded projects has accelerated this passion for innovation.