About Us

SST, Inc.

SST was founded in 1996 as an LED chip and wafer manufacturing company.  In its early years, SST used Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) technology to fabricate LED chips that were sold to assembly companies.  In 2000, SST won the Competitive Award from the Kansas Enterprises Technology Corporation to develop Aluminum-Indium-Gallium-Phosphide (AlInGaP) High Brightness LED (HB-LED) products using MOCVD.

It did not take long to realize that most LED products on the market fell far short of reaching their full potential.  Traditional chip manufacturing methods are widespread, and each step of the process is often performed by a different company.  Armed with expertise in LED chip manufacturing, SST began making its own LED lighting products with a new, application-specific design in 2005. SST patent application in 2006 was patented in 2008.

While most LED lighting manufacturers place their LED chips on a Metal Core Printed Circuit Board (MC-PCB) and use plastic coverings, SST’s AS-LED design places LED chips directly onto an aluminum housing (that acts as a heat sink) and uses glass lens coverings. This design leads to unmatched heat dissipation, lighting efficiency, and operating lifetime, even compared with other types of LEDs. SST uses vertical integration in its manufacturing process and controls all aspects of its LED product design and production.  SST’s products are designed and assembled in the USA.

SST offers to the mechanics a wide selection of LED products through Snap-on Inc., including LED penlights, LED flashlights, LED underhood lights and LED tool storage locker lights. SST offers to law enforcement LED flashlights, LED forensics lights and other military accessories.

SST also provides complete lighting solutions, electrical layouts, and custom lighting designs for commercial, industrial, and residential lighting.  SST’s innovative fixtures are now being integrated into sustainable lighting designs around the world.

A technology-oriented company, SST is growing in its business focus and ran its business operations through the Lawrence Bioscience & Technology Business Center (BTBC) from 2010-2013 before moving to a new Lawrence office and warehouse facility.  SST was nominated for the 2013 business of the year award by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce.  SST has also worked with the Kansas small business development center (KSBDC) and was awarded the 2014 Existing Business of the Year by the KSBDC.  In 2015, SST was given a Top 25 Outstanding Businesses award by Thinking Bigger Business Media, Inc.  SST is proud to innovate and continually design products for a variety of unique applications, and in 2016 SST’s proposal to design Switching Electronics for Space-based Telescopes with Advanced Adaptive Optic (AO) Systems was selected for a NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II Award.

All of SST’s LED light can be incorporated into an existing Smart Lighting setup.  They may also easily be upgraded into SST’s Smart Controlled setup without having to change the original fixtures.  Select SST models come with Color Temperature Tuning and RGB Color Changing options as well.  As of 2016, SSST has a 21,000 ft² office headquarters & warehouse building and a 58,000 ft² manufacturing facility (shown below).