Company History
The company owner is also an inventor. In 2017, GDH Enterprises LLC was formed to allow the inventor to continue the inventing process and maintain legal distance between the inventor and the invention. In the inventing process two designs were developed, and in 2018, the company filed a Provisional Patent with the US-PTO. In 2019, the company filed a full patent application with the US-PTO which included the two current designs. After filing the full patent application with the US-PTO, the company owner continued to conduct research concerning the designs and also became involved with the George Mason University hosted Virginia Innovation Commercialization Assistance Program (ICAP) which involves conducting Customer Discovery interviews to determine product fit into a market. On February 23, 2021, the US-PTO issued the following patent: US 10,927,617, under a new artform; US-PTO Artform: 2884.
About the Company Owner
After retiring from a 20-year service period in the U.S. Navy which included 17 years of steam plant operation and over 3400 hours of documented maintenance mechanic work, the company owner attended Old Dominion University and in 2007 graduated with a Mechanical Engineering Technology degree that also included an Electrical Engineering Technology minor.
Just prior to graduating in 2007, the company owner passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam in Mechanical Engineering. Starting in 2008, the company owner began working for a major defense contractor as a Mechanical Engineer, and worked for that defense contractor for 7-1/2 years. During that 7-1/2 year period, the company owner:
- Maintained 2 ball valve designs overseeing the publication of a new revision of one of the drawing sets that included several drawing design changes,
- Reviewed several design proposals by a major valve manufacturer to valve designs (form, fit, function, and welding) that were separate from 2 ball valve designs that the company owner managed with the engineering findings being presented to the valve manager for those designs,
- Completed three engineering studies,
- Designed two ball valve handle designs conducting stack-height analysis, function analysis, part-form analysis, part-fit analysis, material engineering, and stress-strain determination with these two handle designs that were reported to the customer, and the two handle designs were submitted to a major ball valve manufacturer for a manufacturing price analysis,
- Developed two testing designs that were approved by the customer and then executed.
Also, during the 7-1/2 year period, the company owner attended Old Dominion University again, and in 2015 graduated with a Masters of Engineering Degree in Engineering Management – Systems Engineering. Finally, during the 7-1/2 year period, the company owner was involved with two non-profit construction design projects and successfully designed the electrical designs for both projects as an Electrical Engineer.