Scott is our machinist. You can do hand sketches and draw pictures in CAD until your fingers ache, but it takes a machinist to turn your ideas into something real. 

Good machinists are worth their weight in gold. With past machinists, we could tell them, “Go make this thing, about yay big,” and they’d go off and do it. When we ask Scott to make something, though, he shoots back, “What are the dimensions? What are the tolerances?” “Good enough” isn’t in his vocabulary. You know when Scott makes something, it’s going to be properly done. 

Scott isn’t one for the limelight, but recently, we cajoled him into a short interview about his work in innovation.

How did you get into innovation?

For as long as I can remember, I have been fixing things and finding ways to make them work better. I have now been a machinist for twenty-nine years.

What drew you to PCDworks?

PCDworks just fits me. It’s real people working on real problems.

What is your greatest strength?

My work ethic. You can count on me to show up and get the job done right.

What are you most fascinated by right now?

Shape memory alloys (SMAs). For SMAs to work properly, they need to be housed in a fixture that allows them to move and pull, while also making sure the wires don’t touch each other while they’re being heated and cooled. It’s extraordinarily complicated and requires close attention to detail.    

What’s your favorite project you worked on and why?

My favorite project was when we made Harmonic Drives. They are fascinating and complicated to machine. They require extreme precision, and the gear teeth need to be shaped a particular way to prevent as much wear as possible. We were making very small Harmonic Drives, which made them even more challenging. At one point, we had to examine the gear teeth under a microscope.

What do you think is most important to innovation?

To do more of it. Innovation doesn’t stop.

What is your favorite quote related to innovation? 

“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got.” 

—Albert Einstein