Paul Lukaniec

Can you share your background and how you ended up at Comet?

"Sure. My career began at Macklet Laboratories, a company that licensed Comet to manufacture parts of X-ray tubes. I initially worked in electronics, then moved into applications for medical X-ray tubes, focusing on integrating medical image intensifiers. After that, I went independent, selling X-ray tubes for 13 years across markets in Korea, China, and Japan before transitioning into the industrial X-ray sector. I was recruited in 2005, with my first official day on January 1, 2005, as unusual as that sounds. The president of Comet X-ray at the time brought me on to lead the Technical Services Department across all three divisions: BUXI, Fine Focus, and VAC CAPS. After Comet acquired YXLON, I had to choose a division to focus on, and I ultimately decided to stay with the BUXI group. I started as the Service Manager for the Americas, covering all three divisions then."

And what is your current role and focus?

"I'm now the Technical Services Manager for the East Coast, while Jochen Dietel covers the West Coast, giving us coast-to-coast support. Our role is to assist customers with integrating Comet's modules into their systems and to provide second-level technical support for equipment in the field. We don't directly handle first-level service but support the customers' service teams, relying on TCS Flamatt for additional assistance."

Tell us about the applications lab in Shelton.

"This lab serves our customers and other suppliers, including X-ray detector providers. It was initially built around a 600 KV system since no one else had an enclosure at that level, and we needed a dedicated space to demonstrate the system's advantages. We set up that testing capability here to showcase its strengths. Currently, we're running about one to two studies per month, testing any new products here first, as most of our customers don't have the facility to evaluate them independently."

"We're focused on verifying the system's performance. Typically, a customer brings in their panel and samples, while we supply the source. Based on the results, they may purchase a system ranging from 75 kV to 600 kV. We use CR (Computed Radiography) and DR (Digital Radiography) for digital imaging. In the past, we occasionally used film, but now we're fully digital."

Can you tell us about TCS and your role within the Swiss organization?

"Thomas Peters is the overall manager of the TCS team. We have Roland and Roger on the Swiss team, while Paul Lu, Martin Ding, and other members in China are also on the team. Jochen and I handle technical questions across the globe, so we're a truly worldwide team. This means that we can assist with issues in China or Switzerland, just as the Swiss team can step in to support us if needed. We all have access to the same mailbox, allowing us to tackle challenges wherever they arise."

How does the applications lab make a difference to our customers?

"It makes it very easy for our customer to make a proof of concept; they're making a recommendation to their customer. They might be asking: What system with which modules is the best suited for their application, and when you're spending upwards of $200,000 on the system? And I'm talking about it at the end-user level. They would like to know if it will work – that's why the end-user visits Shelton to meet with our customer, the OEM." 

What keeps you motivated in your role at Comet, and what excites you about the future?

"I'd say it's the challenges; the fact that you don't know what you'll face each day is probably why I enjoy what I do. A good, complex challenge keeps me motivated, and I hope that'll last until I can't do it anymore, which, since it's a mental job, should be quite a while. Looking ahead, I'm excited about the prospect of Comet continuing to introduce new technologies. I love staying at the forefront of tech; seeing it develop, sometimes even faster than we do, is part of my drive. One recent highlight was the iVario product; while it was initially seen as a hardware product, I perceived it as a software solution. What we introduced to the market was more of a software product, and that shift in perspective has been especially rewarding."

All right, Paul, let's end the interview on that note. Thank you.