Sunday, September 19, 1999
High tech in real places
Norwood firm is honored
BY JOHN ECKBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Sheet Dynamics has been recognized as a premier Ohio company and received an Excellence in Small Manufacturing Award for developing technology that measures vibrations and motions of machine tools.
The Norwood company, headed by President Stu Shelley, a Mariemont resident, was honored by Gov. Bob Taft at a ceremony Sept. 8 in the Ohio Statehouse atrium during the 1999 Edison Award Program.
The company is a high-technology firm that deals with equipment in low-technology factory settings. It was founded in 1996 by Mr. Shelley and partner and Vice President Tom Sharp of Terrace Park.
“The technology makes monitoring and control of vibrations feasible,” Mr. Shelley said. “A lot of the technology out there works well in pristine settings, but when exposed to the realities of the imperfections in the real world, they don't work very well. That distinguishes what we are doing from what has been done in the past.
“It was a great honor and a real thrill to be recognized,” Mr. Shelley said.
Company revenues of $500,000 in 1998 are a far cry from the firm's first year — “negative revenues,” Mr. Shelley said.
And revenues should improve in the months to come. “We have many irons in the fire,” he said.
The company employs 10 people at the Hamilton County Business Development Center, 1776 Mentor Ave.
One project under development is to create a control system that will stabilize the next generation of space telescopes. Multiple mirrors must be accurately aligned for space telescopes to work, Mr. Shelley said. Stability must be in the range of 10 nanometers.
“To get an idea of those tolerances, 10 nanometers is approximately the distance a manhole cover will bend if you place a dime on it,” he said. “It's pretty tight work.”
For more information on the company, go to www.sdltd.com on the Internet.
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