Brookfield, Connecticut – Nordex, Inc., a leading manufacturer of precision electromechanical parts and assemblies, announced today that it has been certified to the AS9100D quality standard by the American Systems Registrar, LLC.  AS9100D is the gold standard of quality certifications, building upon ISO9001:2015 to account for the high stakes involved in manufacturing for the aerospace industry.   

“AS9100D certification is an important milestone for Nordex,” said Dan Agius, Jr., Nordex’s CFO and part-owner.  “We are ready to take our reputation for quality gears, machined parts, and assemblies to new heights by welcoming a wider range of clients from the aerospace sector.”

Nordex has been manufacturing in the USA for over 60 years, and Agius credits Nordex’s success to a commitment for innovation and improvement.  “We have relationships with clients who are Fortune 500 companies that go back decades.  It is our constant goal to improve—to be the best manufacturer we can possibly be—that helps us to keep serving these customers.  AS9100D certification is another achievement that demonstrates our commitment to continuously improve.” 

AS9100D certification has helped Nordex to improve all facets of its manufacturing operations, including its gear manufacturing.  “Nordex’s bread and butter is gear manufacturing.  The gear industry constantly changes and advances.  Becoming AS9100D certified has helped Nordex to build the tools we need to keep evolving with the industry,” said Randy Ketchum, Nordex’s Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs. 

“Our entire existing client base gains from these improvements,” Agius explained.  “AS9100D helps us to better run and manage our business, while improving our quality processes and better controlling our costs—this is a benefit to all of our customers.”

About Nordex Nordex, Inc. develops fully integrated turnkey subsystems to address the power transmission needs of customers in the medical, aerospace, defense, robotics, semiconductor, and factory automation OEM industries. Family-owned-and-operated, located in Brookfield, Connecticut, and proudly manufacturing in the USA.  Nordex’s highly experienced engineering staff stands ready to answer a client’s call and assist them in developing sophisticated solutions for their most cutting-edge problems.  For more information, go to www.Nordex.com.

We had a great time at the Design 2 Part show.

Thank you to all that came to visit our booth.

Charles Paulsen, associate director of the Mechanical and Manufacturing Technologies for Energy and Sustainability (MET2) program at the Connecticut College of Technology walked into the Nordex lobby in Brookfield, CT, on a mission. He was visiting engineering companies in the area hoping to find people interested in supporting a student project known as Prosthetics for Kids.

“The prosthetic arm created by the students was for children who were either born without an arm, lost their arm in an accident or in an act of terror in other countries,” said Lisa Barrett, sales manager at Nordex, Inc.

Nordex was excited to participate in the project because it mirrored the company’s very own engineering philosophy:

“We exist to assist fellow engineers design and bring to life new and innovative ideas,” said Barrett. “Our goal is to make a difference in the world by offering innovative ideas and fostering the philosophy that anything is possible.”

Nordex contributed parts for the Prosthetics for Kids project. Recently Senior Engineer Nick Antonelli and Barrett visited students at the University of Hartford where eight student projects were presented as part of the MET2 program.

Caption: Lisa Barrett (far left) and Nick Antonelli (far right) visited students at the University of Hartford.

“We look forward to seeing the project get funded and every child who is in need of a prosthetic arm is able to afford one,” Barrett added. She and the Nordex team were thankful for all the people that participated in these amazing projects.

In addition to Prosthetics for Kids, students presented other projects including:

The Traveling Oasis, a water purification system that was portable and could create its own power to filter and purify water.

The Green Infrastructure project which produced a versatile electrode probe kit that records water infiltration systems to monitor the success of green infrastructure for the United States Geological Survey.

Other projects included a state of the art centralized cooling system, wireless e-data and a smart guitar that incorporates microprocessor and touchscreen technology.

Barrett noted the commitment and teamwork fostered by Paulsen, John Birch, executive director of MET2 and Eric Flynn, principal investigator of the MET2 program.

“The students had so much love, respect and appreciation for these three men that helped make a difference in their lives. We were very touched at how they made themselves available day and night, seven days a week, to see their projects to completion,” Barrett added.

Nordex regularly stays active in the local community when filling job requirements. They hire students from Henry Abbott Technical High School in Danbury, Connecticut. The school offers a precision machining technology course and students start working in their sophomore and senior years and learn on the job. Many take full-time jobs at Nordex when they graduate.

The company also participates in job fairs at the University of Connecticut and offers a tuition reimbursement program.

Engineers are sent to Solidworks courses as well as other related courses depending on their knowledge and experience.  “We are also a member of AGMA contributing ideas and suggestions at meetings, a board member of the National Tooling and Machining Association (NTMA), and the Connecticut chapter (CTMA) that is committed to workforce development,” Barrett said.

The student projects proved to Barrett that the future of manufacturing and engineering is in very capable hands.

“We were very impressed with the enthusiasm, professionalism and confidence of the students,” Barrett said. “Many of the students attend school full time and have part time or full time jobs. They still dedicated a lot of their time to their projects.”

(www.nordex.com)

Someone asked me what the absolute coolest project was that we have worked on at Nordex. There have been many, but one of the seminal projects that firmly established us in the world of mechanical miniaturization was a device to control a miniature probe that was inserted into the brain of an awake, freely moving animal. Continue reading →

One of the biggest complements that I’ve ever gotten in my career was receiving an honorable mention on a patent. It happened to be on an ultrasonic breast imager. We were able to miniaturize the existing art Continue reading →

Check out an interview with our company president published in the April 2015 issue of Gear Solutions: Q&A with Dan Agius.

Every so often, something that is so familiar that you don’t even think about it jumps out at you. Like our logo – I see that numerous times nearly every day. But for some reason it really grabbed my attention today. Continue reading →

During my morning scan of the headlines, I noticed an article about prosthetic devices that are powered by a person’s own brain. In fact, these types of prostheses are the culmination of research and practical prototype building stretching back for decades. It’s very rewarding to know that Nordex was involved in fabricating prototype components for some of the scientists who developed brain-wave driven prosthetics.

Sometime around 1990, we received a phone call from an engineer at one of the top-tier institutes of technology asking us if we would be willing to help them build a special gear box. My answer is always “yes,” depending on the size of it (cannot be bigger than a breadbox). This gear box involved high torque, but had to be very lightweight.

Continue reading →