Atec, Inc. specializes in the design, manufacture, construction and maintenance of precision components, large fabrications, systems and facilities. Atec provides solutions for low to medium volume requirements involving engine test, aero support equipment, spaceflight components, and energy service products. Over 20,000 Atec products have been used by the United States Armed Forces and others, including the Federal Aviation Administration. Atec was named NASA Small Business Subcontractor of the Year for 2016, in recognition of contributions to NASA and BoeingManned Spaceflight Programs.
History
Atec was founded in 1953 as Accurate Instrument Co. and was officially incorporated in the state of Texas on July 13, 1956. Accurate Instrument Co. primarily manufactured instrumentation for the aviation industry. Some notable products included a standard day instrument, signal generators, frequency counters, oscillators, and pressure test sets. In the 1960s, Accurate Instrument Co. was renamed Atec, Inc., in concert with a shift from custom instrumentation to aerospace and energy equipment, such as hush houses, jet engine test stands, spaceflight components, control systems, exploration surface equipment and wireline tools. Atec operates to ISO 9001, AS 9100D and ISO 14001 standards. Since its founding, Atec has made many notable acquisitions, including Lymco Electronics in 1976, Kestran in 1989, Celtech in 2013 with Space Corp., Hager Machine & Tool in 2016, and Vital Link in 2017. Locations in Oklahoma City, Singapore, Dubai and Istanbul also service international customers.
. In 2013, Atec began work on 27 lithium-ion battery adapter plates to be used on the International Space Station. The electrical system of the International Space Station previously used 48 nickel–hydrogen batteries, which are being replaced with 24 lithium-ion batteries, built by Aerojet Rocketdyne. Six adapter plates were launched on HTV-6 in December, 2016. These adapter plates were installed by Peggy Whitson, Shane Kimbrough, and Thomas Pesquet over the course of two spacewalks in 2017 as part of Expedition 50. Atec, from a 2015 contract, began designing and manufacturing an electrical polarity and flow control unit for the next generation Crew Capsule, which will carry astronauts to the ISS and other manned-flight destinations.
Development and legacy liquid propulsion components
Atec is a participant on several new development and heritage rocket engine programs including the AR1 and RS-25 engines.
Atec has designed and manufactured many modular turbine test cells for APU, turboshaft, and turbojet engines. Notably, Atec designed and fielded 2 modular, regenerative turboshaft test cells for Rolls-Royce. These test cells were developed for the M250 engine and were tailored to Rolls-Royce’s Indianapolis production facility. Typical turboshaft test cells often utilize a water brake or other type of dynamometer to place a load on the engine, absorbing the produced energy. The Atec test cells use 500 hp electric generators to convert the rotational energy of the turboshaft into electrical energy. This allows Rolls-Royce to power the engine facility and sell excess generated power back to the Electric utility. Other electric regenerative system installations include those for Bell and Bristow. Atec, Celtech and Vital Link Europe are also very active in worldwide helicopter and APU test cells.
Large turbine engine test cells
Atec has designed and constructed multiple large turbine engine test cells. One notable example was contracted by Kalitta Air. This 10-meter Tilt up concrete engine test cell is rated at 100,000 pounds of thrust and is sized for testing Pratt & Whitney JT9D, 1000G, 2000, 4000, V2500, and GP7000 series; General Electric CF-6, CF-34, CFM-56, smaller GE-90, GEnx, LEAP, and CFM-56; Rolls-Royce RB211 and smaller Trent engines. This test cell is 240 feet long by 33 feet wide. The inlet height is 45 feet, and the exhaust is expelled at a height of 56 feet. Recent large turbofan projects include a data acquisition system in Zurich and an eight-meter test cell in Miami.
In 2016, Duncan Aviation selected Atec to design, manufacture and field a Phoenix Series Modular Turbofan Engine Test Cell rated for 20,000 lb. thrust class engines. This environmentally friendly test cell will be used primarily for MRO testing in response to Duncan Aviation's designation as a Honeywell TFE731 Heavy Maintenance Facility. Duncan Aviation and Atec jointly announced this program at the National Business Aviation Association Conference, 2016. The cell was completed in August 2018.
Subsidiaries
Celtech Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atec, based in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Atec acquired Celtech from ASE Holdings September 1, 2013. Celtech was founded in 1976 and incorporated in 1991. Celtech is a supplier of A/M37T-20C, A/M37T-21D, FEDS and other jet engine and turboprop test stands for the United States Air Force and Foreign Military Allies. Celtech acquired the assets of Space Corp. & Page Avjet and as a result, Atec now owns these assets and data.
Hager Machine & Tool, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atec based in north Houston. Atec acquired Hager Machine & Tool on August 12, 2016. Hager was founded by Bill Hager in 1983 and is a renowned machine shop specializing in precision components for Petroleum Industry, Hydraulic, Air Tool, and Heavy industry customers. Hager's machines and infrastructure have been modernized since 2016.
Vital Link, Inc., acquired in 2017, is a subsidiary based in Sealy, Texas. Vital Link is active the in manufacture, construction and sustainment of turbine engine test enclosures. The campus is 45 miles west of Houston, and provides over 100,000 square feet of buildings on 30 acres. This facility produces very large scale structures, buildings and weldments. Vital Link serves as the United States Air Force worldwide long-term IDIQ task contractor for hush houses. Founded in 1990 by Jim Sitko, Vital Link has a unit with offices in London, Dubai and Istanbul, which handles European and Asian projects and services.
