MicroDynamics was founded in 1999 by John Bearden and Randal Enterkin. The pair had been contacted by a company that needed to know the volume of printing cells more accurately than what they were able to achieve with the ink smear methods currently in use at that time. A competive system was available, but it was very costly, as well as difficult to use.
In response to this need, John Bearden developed MicroDynamics first microscope, the 3D9000. Built in 1999, it utilized a multi-access system, but eventually proved to be too vibration-sensitive for production applications.
The next generation was the 3DMX, completed in 2003. The revolutionary 3DMX was the first generation of white light interferometry microscopes.
The 3DMX was followed by the 3DQC, completed in 2005, which provided an even higher resolution white light interferometry system.