Aircraft Tooling & Design Group, Inc. was started in 2003. Over the past ten years we have participated in more than thirty aircraft programs amongst other engineering and manufacturing efforts. From humble beginnings with our “little 5-axis CNC router that could” in a cramped facility where we cut our teeth building hundreds of master tools for Aerospace to our current climate controlled and clean facility with shiny floors and a large world-class 5-axis CNC router that can split hairs. Throughout our growth we have developed tooling technologies which improve accuracy and reduce cost. From torsion boxes to our proprietary seamless paste process for nickel mold mandrels, our innovations and intense focus on the details have made us a valued and trusted supplier to our customers.
Steve Meisman, President
Steve has been working in Aerospace since 1998 but he has been building since he was a kid. By doing carpentry at age 10, metalworking with MIG and TIG welding at age 14 and manual machining at 16 years he was well prepared to start his career in manufacturing. All the while he was becoming a CAD expert throughout his teens, starting AutoCAD Version 3 at 9 years old. At 21 years he bought his first CNC mill and started his first manufacturing business. “Custom Fabrication & Manufacturing, Inc.” offered CNC machining, MIG & TIG welding, precision tube bending and even injection molding services. At 24 years he bought his first high end CAD/CAM software, SDRC I-deas Artisan with GenMac.
In 1998 he went to work for a small, ill-fated start-up composite ultralight aircraft manufacturer – this is where he discovered Aerospace composites and went in a new direction. In September of 2001 he went to work for Adam Aircraft Industries where he was trained on Unigraphics (UG) Version 18 CAD & CAM as well as composite tooling. It was love at first layup and 5-axis machining and composites for Aerospace remains his passion.
Kerry Battles, Production Supervisor
Kerry has taken to Aerospace machining and composites like a fish to water. But, it didn’t start that way. Kerry has a degree in IT and had just graduated from USF when he started at Aircraft Tooling. For his first several weeks he worked overtime on a fast paced DARPA project the details of which he couldn’t be told about (and still hasn’t due to the secrecy of the project). But Kerry had a life before Aircraft Tooling and college. He is an Eagle Scout and an accomplished video gamer with extensive knowledge of computer hardware and software.
Kerry has received intense training in composite part layup, composite mold layup, master tool construction and CNC machine operation. Being our IT manager as well, he plays a key role in configuration management. He is a key man at Aircraft Tooling and has a hand in most customer products.
Amy Meisman, Accounting
Being an owner in the company, Amy has done a stellar job in ensuring the financial recording for the company from the day we filed for incorporation.