written on Jun 13, 2016

David M. Browning: A Passion for Machine Design

I have a passion for machine design. I always have.

As a small child I was notorious for finding a stray wrench and using it to take out every bolt or screw that it fit. My dad would come out to the machine shed on our farm and find that whatever I could reach I had taken apart. The passion followed me all through my youth as I built and repaired bicycles, motorcycles, cars, and just about any machine I could get my hands on.

When I was 14, my dad took a job in Huntsville, Alabama, working in the space race. It was a crazy boom town with Warner von Braun heading the development of the Saturn 5 rocket at the Redstone Arsenal.

I went into the office with him on weekends, wandering around the labs at will. One day I walked into a lab where two engineers were working out a problem on a chalk board. I was enthralled with the notations they were making on the board–it was a secret language, the language of applied physics. In that moment I knew I had found my calling.

David M Browning I graduated Oregon State University with a mechanical engineering degree and since then I’ve had the great pleasure of indulging my passion for, as I call it, painting with physics.

After some early years working for industrial machinery manufacturers I went out on my own to provide high quality machine design and mechanical engineering services to customers in need of custom solutions to problems. Some years later, Kay Altman joined the firm and, with her leadership, we transformed from a single “gun for hire” to a full-scale engineering and manufacturing services company.

What a ride it has been and still continues to be! Every day I come to work and I have the privilege of working on an array of amazing electromechanical and hydraulic systems. The work is always challenging and each new project fills me with the same excitement I had back on that day when I saw those rocket engineers working out that problem on their chalkboard.

If you have a challenge, I hope you will give us an opportunity to once again indulge our passion.

Altman Browning & Company

We specialize in mechanical engineering design, analysis and manufacturing
services for industrial environments. From initial sketch to finished product,
our 25 years of experience, comprehensive expertise and hands-on
approach deliver the best solution for your needs.

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