OMAX Responds to Growing Technology Demands

The abrasive waterjet manufacturer appoints new vice president of product engineering so it can exceed the growing technology demands of its global customers.

Several industries, from aerospace and medical to food processing and transportation, rely on OMAX Corporation’s (Kent, WA) abrasive waterjet technology for the fast, precise cutting of various materials, including exotic alloys, glass, rubber, stone and wood. The company, which designs and manufactures all of its machines, pumps and accessories in the U.S., recently hired Doug Kelley as its new vice president of product engineering to ensure it exceeds the growing technology demands of its global customers.

Holding a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington, Kelley’s career diversity ranges from utility subsurface installation services to enhanced oil well drilling technology to new developments in supercomputers. He has spent more than 30 years as an engineer for a variety of global high-tech industries and has earned 15 patents in a variety of technical applications. His most recent patent came in late 2011 for air conditioning systems for computer systems and associated methods.

“Our talented engineering team is constantly developing new and improved abrasive waterjet technologies to meet the diverse and ever changing needs of manufacturers worldwide,” said Dr. John Cheung, the chief executive officer of the company. “Because innovation is at the core of everything we do, we are extremely excited to have him as part of our team. His engineering expertise
and proven successes will be a great asset to us and our customers.”

Before joining OMAX, Kelley spent 13 years as a senior mechanical engineering manager for Cray, Inc., a company that designs and manufactures world-class supercomputers. In this position, he conceptualized and orchestrated the company’s first commercial research and development contract, and developed an innovative two-phase cooling system, allowing the world’s most powerful computer to save 1MW of power. Kelley was Cray’s only hardware engineer to meet for six consecutive years with key customers at the International Supercomputing Convention, the world’s oldest and one of the most important conferences for the high-performance computing community.

Prior to Cray, Inc., Kelley was the founding engineer for the start-up UTILX Corp. and was involved in the concept and commercialization through an initial public stock offering of proprietary technology used to install underground utilities without surface restoration. He also was director of engineering for FlowDril Corp., where he promoted leading-edge designs and analysis for high-pressure technology for the oil and gas drilling industry.

Headquartered in Kent, OMAX® Corporation is the global leader in abrasive waterjet machining. Each JetMachining® system is powered by the company’s innovative control software, bringing affordable abrasivejet technology to an expanding and diverse group of industries. www.omax.com