Ryan Spoering is an organic chemist and former Harvard University instructor who loves to solve problems. When he realized that many of the standard tools available to researchers weren’t enough to support innovate new techniques and ideas, Spoering founded Lab Machinist Solutions. The company provides lab equipment customized to the needs of scientists, so that they can conduct their experiments the way they envision them, without having to compromise.

Lab Machinist Solutions specializes in on site, collaborative, creative relationships with small-to-medium sized research and development companies and academic labs. What Spoering realized, he says, is that CAD is the most common roadblock for innovation-minded researchers. In an article he was featured in by engineering.com, Spoering says, “Many universities and companies don’t even have a machine shop,” he said. “Sometimes there is a simple solution that the research team would never have imagined because they don’t have CAD or machine shop experience. It’s a different type of creativity that isn’t in the lab. Therefore, these researchers need to find makers to support their labs. They can bring ideas to life that the other researchers would never think of — creating new opportunities.”

Spoering choose Solid Edge because he wanted something easy to learn and easy to use that still offered deep “engineering awareness”, including tolerancing, costing, simulation and process awareness. He also valued the flexibility to get started quickly with design concepts, and the ability to make changes during development. With Solid Edge and a 3D printer for rapid prototyping, Speoring can quickly show his design ideas to the teams he is working with, get feedback and iterate to get to a final design. As a small startup, the subscription options for Solid Edge also meant that he could budget for a professional level CAD program without using up all his operating budget when starting a small business.