The story
Ceradyne was founded in 1967 and in late 2004, the company added new product lines by acquiring ESK Ceramics of Kempten, Germany.
In addition to producing ceramic components for industrial processes such as silicon foundries and ceramic fuel pellets for nuclear reactors, Ceradyne researched and produced varieties of ballistic armour for both personnel and vehicles. The ceramic armor was lighter than regular steel plate armor facilitating greater mobility. On September 16, 2007, the company was selling 25,000 sets of armor a month to the Pentagon.
In December 2007, Ceradyne's lightweight armor was approved by the Army for use on military vehicles. Oshkosh Truck produced the first of these armored vehicles using the armor on HEMETT crew cabs. Ceradyne was also the producer of ceramic Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts (E-SAPI) for the US Army's Interceptor body armor, and the blast-proof components of the Ceradyne BULL MRAP/MMPV vehicle project.
In January 2008, the company also received an order for $9.6 million worth of body armor from UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries Inc.), which provided jobs and job training to inmates in US federal prisons.
On November 28, 2012, Ceradyne, Inc. was fully acquired by 3M becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of 3M.
On January 2, 2020, Ceradyne, Inc.'s advanced ballistic protection business and the Ceradyne brand were acquired by Avon Rubber.
From Wikipedia’s article on Ceradyne, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.6