Jim Sykes

How do you teach the driest topic in industry? With humour, patience, a little Devil’s Advocacy and some intentional misdirection. That’s how I help you rise from GD&T newbie to an effective user (Oh, and of course the best training material in the industry helps!). GD&T isn’t a sexy or exciting topic, and it’s not trivial to understand. I still remember what it was like in those early stages of learning… boundaries, symbols, datums,…whoa. They say you need to see something at least three times to learn it, but repetition is boring. When the presentation fronts the same material in different ways again and again, you start to learn it effectively before you realize it. I know I’ve done my job well when a training client tells me they felt like they were just having a good conversation and understood the material before they realized they had learned it. I’m a Professional Engineer with over 20 years of hands-on experience in engineering and manufacturing. I’ve been involved in production, field service, product development and design, project management and process development/improvement/implementation. Managing a global GD&T implementation for design, manufacturing, quality and suppliers on three international business campuses taught me a lot about change management, and I’ve presented to groups about the pitfalls relevant to any technology implementation, and on the value of GD&T.

Since receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with a Concentration in Management Studies, I’ve participated in a number of industries:

• Aerospace
• Armoured Vehicles
• Automotive
• Medical Devices
• Agriculture
• Composites
• Injection Molding
• Packaging
• Consumer Goods
• Electronics/Automation