OVERVIEW
Sharp Laboratories of America (SLA) is the U.S. research and development (R&D) subsidiary for Sharp Corporation of Japan. For over 100 years, Sharp has created products and technologies that have touched the lives of people across the world. These innovations include world-class liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing, Japan’s first crystal radio, the world’s first commercial LCD-based calculator, the world’s first commercial mobile cameraphone, ultra-high efficiency solar panels, market-leading television and business products, and many others.
SLA was founded in 1995 to speed introduction into Sharp of the revolutionary digital media technologies then taking root in the U.S. Current SLA focus areas strike a balance between traditional and emerging Sharp business areas, including: Video & Vision, Mobile Communications, Cloud & Business Solutions, Health & Environment, Energy, and Materials & Devices. SLA is the only Sharp R&D organization outside of Japan with significant capabilities in both software development and cleanroom-based device design and fabrication. SLA exploits its U.S. market and cultural insight, creating partnerships with university, industry, and government organizations and leveraging an innovation-centric work culture to drive business growth for Sharp Corporation.
SLA is the largest R&D resource for Sharp Corporation outside of Japan and a cornerstone of Sharp’s global R&D system, which also includes overseas laboratories in Oxford and Shanghai. To extend our capabilities, SLA founded Sharp Software Development India (SSDI), based in Bangalore, in 1999. SSDI continues to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SLA as we seek to further increase SSDI’s independent strategic scope and impact. SLA also maintains deep engagement with Sharp Electronics Corporation (SEC), Sharp Corporation’s U.S. business headquarters in Mahwah, NJ. Reflecting this global engagement, the SLA President serves on the Board of Directors of both SEC and SSDI.
SLA has a proud history of important contributions to Sharp’s business results. For example, SLA developed the industry-leading architecture on Sharp office products worldwide, created video processing technologies at the heart of Sharp televisions, deployed Sharp’s first internet-connected television service, created software functionality for Sharp U.S. and global smartphone models, and performed early research on key device technologies such as aluminum metallization and inorganic oxide transistors. Our current projects build on these accomplishments, in some cases taking them in completely new and unexpected directions.
Today, . SLA continues to push the envelope of discovery as we create technologies to enable the next generation of Sharp products. As we do so, we keep in mind Sharp’s founding principles of “sincerity and creativity”. Those principles describe both the work we do and our commitment to a respectful, open, and honest environment for our employees and for those with whom we do business.
HISTORY
Founded in 1995, SLA is Sharp Corporation’s first and only U.S.-based research and development laboratory. From the start, SLA has been given autonomy to focus on the trends, technology issues, and product demands of North American markets. This perspective has led to breakthrough innovations that have found their way into Sharp products sold throughout the world. In the process, we’ve added affiliated offices and facilities in Santa Ana, California and Bangalore, India.
With over 2,000 patent applications since our founding, SLA aims high and drives aggressively toward ideas that profoundly affect how people interact with and benefit from technology.
Community Engagement & Environmental Responsibility
SLA strives to make a significant difference both in our community and through our commitment to protecting the environment. We encourage our employees and customers to reduce their impact on the environment and to give back to the local community. In addition, SLA is proud to support many community organizations and causes.
As part of our environmental conservation efforts, SLA's Camas facility has retained ISO 14001 certification since 1997. We are committed to reducing our environmental footprint and hope to inspire others to do the same. As part of our continued efforts, we have partnered with Clark Public Utilities, Bonneville Environmental Foundation, EPA, and the Renewable NW Project, among others.
