History
Chris Wilson, Stephen Abellera, and Corey Maki formed Design Resource Group in 2004: a small mechanical engineering and CAD resource with specialized skills in Pro/Engineer, SolidWorks, and FEA simulation.
Stephen and Chris were classmates in the mechanical engineering class of 1994 at the University of Toronto. After spending a few years working in industry (Chris – nuclear, mining, and petrochemical valving / Stephen – heavy equipment and hydraulics) they were reunited at Design Team Incorporated in 1998. DTI provided CAD and engineering services to a broad variety of industries. In 2004, we felt it was time to start out on our own and DRG was born.
OUR VISION was to create a small, flexible but full service mechanical engineering company. With this template in mind, we have worked to add both expertise, software, and personnel. Over time this has included expanding our simulation capabilities, adding testing: developing a suite of services that can answer any mechanical question necessary to product development.
In 2007 DRG and designforce (formerly Hetherington Welch Design) began collaborating on projects and decided that it would serve both to share an office. This relationship has enriched DRG’s experience and has enabled both companies to take on larger, multidisciplinary programs.
Today DRG Engineering has grown into a full fledged mechanical engineering resource supporting clients in a broad range of industries. Our most valuable asset is our staff: their experience and commitment to excellence.
Patents
DRG Engineering consistently contributes to innovative solutions for our clients. The patents below name some of our team and reflect both collaboration with our clients and novel approaches that DRG helped create.
End Pressure Plate for Electrolysers
Externally-reinforced Water Electrolyser
Systems and Methods for Trans-orifice and Transperineal Intervention
Electrolyser Module - Feedwater
Collaborative Product Development
Collaboratively working with our clients is the key to our mutual success. DRG partners with clients in various industries and of various sizes. We can be their mechanical team or work as an extension of their own staff to see their project through to completion. We are available, and often find it beneficial, to work at our clients' offices. Our flexibility to have our team either onsite or at our own office helps us contribute efficiently.
DRG provides more than just engineering services. We align ourselves with our clients' goals and tie their success to ours. We are not a staffing firm. We don't simply provide people or manpower. We provide a skilled and experienced team that can seamlessly integrate with your own to give your project the edge it needs to succeed.
Skills & Experience
Over our history DRG has completed over 300 projects in wide ranging industries:
All of these industries come with specific challenges, industry norms, and strategic emphases. DRG has developed an attuned attention to the details required for product success.
This experience allows us to use the right balance of parametric CAD, simulation, creative problem solving, and a disciplined approach to developing your product.
Project Deliverables
Key to any project or program is the final deliverable. All our efforts are focused on getting to this finish line efficiently and with a clear, useful product from our collaboration. Our delivery to you can take the form of:
· A completed, ready for manufacture design with supporting drawings and documentation
· A verification report, sealed by a PEng
· A working prototype, ready for test or demonstration
· An answer, in the form of an analysis or test report, to an engineering problem
All of the above have been delivered by DRG to clients throughout our history. We make it our burden to focus the program on what you need and marshal the various tools at our disposal.
Mechanical Design Using 3D CAD
Mechanical design is the core of DRG's business. We use 3D parametric computer aided design (CAD) as our primary mechanical design tool. Our command of 3D CAD allows us to conceptualize and build robust and easy to manipulate representations of your product. Modeling your vision of a product early in the design process means DRG can explore different configurations, investigate component efficiencies, and anticipate potential issues related to assembly or manufacturability. Our 3D models serve as the basis from which to build prototypes or create engineering drawings.
While versed in multiple CAD platforms, DRG primarily uses SolidWorks because of its wide industry acceptance and its Product Data Management (PDM) software. SolidWorks PDM enables DRG to securely and easily manage currency of CAD files while allowing live collaboration.
Simulation for Real World Answers
The core of FE analysis is discretization: the splitting of a complex problem into ‘discrete’ and ‘finite’ simpler elements which allows for computation. Both idealization of the problem and discretization introduce inaccuracy and the possibility of outright error. DRG’s DNA has always been to treat the situation as a real world problem requiring an engineering answer. As such, we quote, configure, and execute analysis projects from an ‘answer centric’ viewpoint: letting the client’s need drive the simulation.
Finite Element Analysis Capabilities:
Both packages we use, NX Nastran and Autodesk InCAD, contain a full breadth of capabilities in materials, solvers, formulations, and post-processing. The descriptions below represent DRG’s experienced skill set in the analysis engines.
· Static linear analysis
· Non-linear analysis
· Transient / time based simulations
· Vibration analysis
· Material specific analysis
CFD Capabilities (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
In pursuing a comprehensive mechanical service, DRG added thermal and flow analysis capabilities with CD Adapco’s Star CCM+. This world class software allows us to simulate flow and thermal problems to verify and optimize designs. For over a decade, DRG has used CFD for standalone projects and integrated support for larger design programs.
The advent, in recent years, of cloud computing has dramatically improved the effectiveness of CFD when integrated into a design program. Simulations that used to occupy a week of schedule can now be analysed in one day, allowing us to inform design decisions with minimal delay in the program.
· Incompressible flow
This is the simplest model for flow and the one most commonly employed by DRG. Whether it is optimizing a venturi pump, predicting grill effects on a fan, or verification of mixing for waste water treatment, DRG uses the full suite of tools Star CCM+ offers for this flow regime.
· Thermal analysis
Modelling heat rise can take many forms and requires a range of physical models. Buoyancy flow (free convection), complex conduction models, radiative heat exchange, and forced conduction all can play a role. DRG has developed expertise in system simplification to effectively model thermal problems for both design guidance and design verification.
· Compressible flow
CFD analysis of compressible flow can be extremely complicated and without a detailed understanding of the applicable physics can easily become a research project. DRG's in house CFD software has powerful capabilities for these problems but we choose to employ only a subset of Star CCM+'s capabilities for compressible flow as applied to situations where we are confident in the physics.
Prototyping & Testing
Prototyping is an important aspect of the product development process and DRG provides resources to create prototypes throughout. Prototyping is useful for proof of concept and product testing. DRG has both FDM (Fuse Deposition Modelling) and SLA (Stereolithography) 3D printing machines in house for rapid turn around on prototype needs. DRG also has a network of prototype shops both in North America and in China with different prototyping capabilities including 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal, and short-run tooling.
As required, DRG provides in house testing. DRG has experience designing and performing tests as means of investigating issues related to a design, as verification of product requirements, and as correlation of simulation results.