When I established my business five years ago, I had a bold vision for Innovative Drive Solutions LLC. As a solo mechanical design engineering consultant, IDS is me and I am the business. It’s a reflection of me in what I have done, am doing and will continue to do personally and professionally.
Innovative Drive Solutions LLC celebrates five years keeping your gears turning.
As I reflect on these five years, I am proud of the many things I have accomplished. Most notably:
Two of my three patents were issued, one in 2015 and one in 2016.
I presented a technical paper at the AGMA (American Gear Manufacturers Association) Fall Technical Meeting in 2016 in Philadelphia. At the gear industries’ premiere event, 20 technical papers are chosen each year to be presented over a four-day period by engineers from all over the world.
I presented a module on gear and gearbox design in 2017 at a week-long Society of Automotive Engineers seminar in Troy, Michigan.
During 2016/17, I authored Tooth Tips, a monthly technical column in Gear Solutions Magazine. With a circulation of 13,000, the magazine is one of the two main publications serving the engineers and executives in the gear industry.
I guest lectured at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana twice in a three-week period in the Fall of 2019. For the School of Technology, I gave future mechanical engineers an overview of how to design a complete gearbox/transmission from scratch. For the Krannert School of Business, I taught budding entrepreneurs how to start and maintain a sole member, one-person consulting company like I did.
Here is a partial list of industries I have served and consulted with about gearing and geared drive systems related issues:
Energy (off-shore oil and gas exploration); lift trucks, motorcycles; small kitchen appliances; ZTR lawn mowers; electrification of devices; personal flying machines; on-highway trucks; classic cars; underground coal mining equipment in South Africa; and others.
When you do a Google search using the terms quiet gears, very strong gears, high pressure angle gears, high contact ratio gears, and other related terms, the results would list my publications within the first several hits.
Thanks to my customers for their business and faith in me. Thanks to my suppliers, sub-contractors and others who support me, encourage me, and are helping me along the way. And thanks to my nephew Morgan for designing my website.
But most of all I thank my lovely wife Monica for her help in marketing, bookkeeping, proofreading, and moral support. I couldn’t have done this without her.
The work has been interesting, challenging and rewarding both personally and professionally. And through it all, I have been able to meet and work with amazing and talented people — some of the best in the industry.
I look forward to continuing this satisfying work in the years ahead.