A Brief History of PADT
PADT Inc. was founded by a group of aerospace engineers who felt that the tools and skills they used to design, analyze, and prototype aerospace systems could also be applied to other industries. In the summer of 1994, they joined forces to form Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies, or PADT for short.
The first office was a one-man executive suite. They crammed four people and three computers into this tiny room and started calling potential customers. Slowly but surely, work started to come in and the company was off and running. With the purchase of a 3D Systems SLA250 Rapid Prototyping machine at the end of 1994, PADT became the first independent Rapid Prototyping service provider in Arizona.
When the lease was up on the tiny executive suite, the search began for a larger facility that had room for both engineering services and rapid prototyping. A small suite in the eastern Phoenix suburb of Gilbert was discovered, and soon PADT had moved into the Fiesta Tech Center.
PADT has continued to grow through the addition of many hardworking and dedicated employees. In 1997, the company added a full-time sales and marketing staff. This important addition has allowed PADT to provide a truly complete solution to its customers.
In 1999, the company saw its biggest changes to date. PADT began product development programs funded by the U.S. Government’s Small Business Initiative Research (SBIR) program. Leveraging CAE technologies, these projects sought to break through the technical barriers in efficiency and sizing of rotating and power related machinery. The company also formed specific groups to tackle the entire product development project from concept to prototype. The final piece of the puzzle was to form a strategic partnership with a local testing company, Dynamic Labs, to provide customers with a wide variety of mechanical testing resources.
Since then, the benefit of everyone’s hard work has begun to pay off. PADT has grown extensively in the areas of development, testing, and manufacturing high-efficiency air and fluid handling devices. With the introduction of the Unirotor, the company is now marketing commercial solutions in this area. In addition, the software development portion of the company has produced several standalone products, as well as custom solutions for its customers, and has contributed to several new features in the ANSYS software package.
Another milestone occurred in 2002 when PADT moved from its long-time Gilbert facility to a new, larger facility at the Arizona State University Research Park, just down the street in Tempe. The new facility, with over 15,000 square feet, allowed an expansion in testing, manufacturing and inspection that was not possible in our previous cramped quarters. All areas of the company grew in 2001 and 2002, but the Power System Group grew the most, with the awarding of a total of four Phase II SBIR projects. In addition, many of PADT’s initial investigations transferred from research into development projects for a variety of commercial companies.
The Rapid Prototyping area has now evolved into a Rapid Manufacturing group with the addition of more technologies for quickly producing real-world and prototype hardware. The biggest advance in this area is the introduction of Prototype Injection Molding in 2002. Meanwhile, the Software Development portion of PADT’s efforts has also continued to grow with long-term projects for ANSYS Inc. and Honeywell Engines.
In March 2004, PADT celebrated its 10th anniversary with an open house that was attended by more than 250 customers, and with a user group meeting for the local ANSYS user community. The event was also marked by the expansion of the company into an adjacent suite to allow for more lab, office, and manufacturing space. The move brings the total facility up to 24,000 sq. ft. and includes a lobby that is actually slightly bigger than PADT’s original executive suite in Tempe! We have certainly come a long way.
Perhaps the most significant addition allowed by the expansion is a Class-1000 clean room, which will support of our vacuum systems and medical device systems efforts. In addition, a separate lab is now available for rotating equipment development and testing, including an endurance testing facility that includes soundproofing. The Rapid Manufacturing area is using their added space to support the company’s growth in in-house light production manufacturing and assembly. This will synergistically support of our maturing Power Systems efforts, which are moving from research and prototyping to providing production solutions to a variety of customers.
Over the years, PADT has grown to become the most respected mechanical engineering service provider in the region. By sticking to its core principles and growing its skill and technology base, the company has positioned itself to continue providing the best solutions … at the best price … in the best time.
March 30, 2004
