ASK R&D's monthly newsletter: surprises and prizes!

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May 2015 - Volume 2

Since 1978, ASK Research & Development has been a recognized leader among engineering, design and machine specialty shops. Put our versatility, speed and unconventional knowledge to work! Visit us at ASKRD.com to learn more.

Say, What's This?

Win A Chance To Have Lunch On Scott!

Our "What’s This” winner from last month is Zach Griggs, Design Engineer of AeroQuest.com. Scott’s on the hook to take Zach to lunch as the first winner for his guess. Congratulations, Zach! Scroll down to find the answer to last month's "What's This."

Now here’s your chance to win lunch on Scott. What’s this? Send Scott a note and see if you’re right!

What's This?

You Can Find It Here!

Say, What Was That?

We Made These Hinges For The DeltaWing!

DeltaWing Hinges!

We recently had the opportunity to work with DeltaWing Racing that has run a “Garage 56” entrant as a “revolutionary race car”. Innovation and progressive efficiency as the hallmark of this project also brings hundreds of iterations for a single race, all lead by Managing partner Don Panoz.

With a very talented and skilled team, bandwidth and complexities necessitated reaching out to ASK Research and Development to build cockpit hinges where safety and performance must align.

Take a look at this innovative racer on the track!

Look What Walked

In the Door!

Antennas And Then Some!

Our Original Prototype.

Today's AvL Antennas.

What MIT, Harvard, and Stanford say….Jim Oliver from AvL Technologies agrees!

Iterations and re-design should always be expected regardless of talent. "Even with the greatest minds, drawings, and the best in 3-D printers, there is no substitute for having a centralized multi disciplined team. In working with ASK, we were able to get our a working prototype to a worldwide show in 3 months. If we would have missed this trade show in Amsterdam, we would have missed an entire year of getting the product to market,” said Jim Oliver of AvL Technologies.

Every single component and various back-up materials were needed in this project, where design was modified and modified again. From sheet metal, motors, and machined parts with multiple geometries to fit, it was key to have them in one place where Jim admits it would have taken 6 months to complete with multiple suppliers. "The process of iterations and re-designs is here to stay,” explains Jim.

Project funding took every dime Jim had and fortunately ASK took some of the financial risk in floor planning the materials and labor to make the project come to life. ASK founder Andy Cisternino helped fund parts for the project and that spirit of taking interest exists today. ASK has helped launch several industries from medical, energy and communications.

The rest of the story comes from Jim, a technician and engineer at a firm of over 185 employees with a 20,000 square feet building in Asheville North Carolina. It’s a great story from buying satellite time (which was cheaper at midnight) for the prototype in the parking lot of ASK, to being a $90M company that gives back to the Asheville community.

From having crunch time in 1994 to today, AvL delivers superior mobile satellite communication antenna systems and positioners. AvL's visionary approach to mobile satellite antennas and positioners has established the company as a global leader in innovation and reliability.

Thanks to Jim Oliver for his time to talk with us and tell his story.

Thanks for Reading!

So What Can We Do For You?

Tell us what you're working on and how we can help! Visit us at ASKRD.com or give us a call at (770) 448-6212. Thanks!