Adam Raugh

I build things and the teams that make them

I spent 17 years building X-Laser from a three-person main street operation into a skilled team running a vertically integrated, FDA-regulated hardware company manufacturing in the USA. My roles ranged from president and owner to, at times, the guy running the CNC machine. I designed electromechanical assemblies in SolidWorks, programmed CAM toolpaths, built domestic manufacturing infrastructure from the ground up, navigated FDA compliance, and hold a U.S. patent in laser safety systems.

Adam Raugh holding his newborn son on the X-Laser production floor, laser projector assemblies lined up on the workbench behind them

My background is unusual. I don't have a formal engineering degree. What I have is 25 years of making things, from setpieces and rigging at Baltimore's Centerstage, to designing fire alarm systems still in service in our schools, to ground-up design and manufacturing of precision laser projectors. That experience has built a deep conviction that the best products come from environments where the people designing them, the people building them, and the people using them are in constant conversation. At X-Laser, I built that environment: engineering and manufacturing under one roof, feeding back into each other, with constant in-the-field user expertise guiding it all. I led the team and designed the parts. I negotiated the acquisition and I marked up the prototypes.

I also consult independently on laser product compliance and manufacturing operations, advising companies on LILI/LEP source fixtures, FDA CDRH filings, IEC standards alignment, and evaluating contract manufacturing partners. It's work that sits at the intersection of cutting-edge technology, regulatory knowledge, and hands-on production experience, which is where I'm most useful and engaged.

X-Laser production line with laser projector units in various stages of assembly, wiring harnesses and driver electronics exposed, technician working in the background
Grid of CNC machined aluminum mounting plates still on the mill bed with metal chips, fresh off a production run
Machined aluminum enclosure prototype with handwritten engineering markup noting dimensional corrections and finish specifications

Get in touch

I'm always interested in connecting with others working at the intersection of hardware, manufacturing, and engineering leadership.

Laser safety perimeter demonstration with blue laser beams forming a geometric boundary around a person in a dark room