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Rich Bentley: How Test Devices Will Advance Customer Agendas

November 2, 2016

Richard Bentley has spent the past three decades driving successful programs and platforms. Since joining the Test Devices team as Director of Business Development in 2012, Bentley has been instrumental to the company’s growth. He holds both an MBA and a Ph.D. in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

“We have been concentrating on our core capabilities and expertise. Right now we are very focused on how to apply those to new markets where we can truly be of value,” said Bentley.

Production spin testing is an area of expertise that the company aims to vertically integrate. Test Devices plans to turn its current pre-spinning operation into more of a turnkey process, facilitating the delivery of a complete final product to its customers. “In addition to pre-spinning turbine disks before final machining, we can handle the semifinish machining and essentially deliver the customer a disk ready to finish,” said Bentley. “We are developing partnerships with forging companies that have the same pre-spinning and machining goals, but do not have the pre-spinning capabilities we have.”

Bentley said that partnerships with forging companies could be a valuable connecting point in serving new industries that Test Devices is currently exploring, such as the oil and gas industry, that rely on machinery with rotating parts.

Test Devices’ newest capabilities, such as subscale turbine testing and optical strain measurement, will be instrumental to company growth as it meets advanced aviation industry challenges with go-to solutions. “Our bailiwick has been the generation of crucial data,” said Bentley. “As we develop new advanced technology, our customers will receive more very advanced, complex data to interpret. We are looking to partner with analytical companies to deliver not just data, but more rich information.”

As experts in systems engineering components such as air flow, oil flow, instrumentation and controls dynamics, Test Devices also plans to produce new testing equipment with a general appeal, beyond its already popular spin testing equipment.