About

Research, Quality & Design Engineering LLC is an Engineering Services company based in Elmore, AL, in the Southeastern USA, just north of Montgomery, AL.  With immediate access to Alabama Highway 14 and I-65, RQ&D serves the growing demands of local and regional industries in Central Alabama and beyond.

Founded in 2005, our name identifies what we do: Research in the field of materials science, Quality through dimensional inspection and Mechanical Design in the field of new product development and support.

Our abilities define who we are:
Reliable: Concise: Precise

Research
RQ&D can solve your Metallurgy, Material Science, and Failure Analysis issues through fundamental material science and engineering techniques.  Additionally, RQ&D answers your most demanding questions using a JOEL model JSM-700DF Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) with Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS).

* RQ&D metallurgy capabilities include grain size determination, optical alloy phase identification, inclusion characterization, and void percentage calculations providing a precise understanding of your alloys.

* RQ&D material science capabilities include property degradation determination, fitness for use testing, and process optimization to improve your product reliability.

* RQ&D Failure analysis allows you to identify the root cause of the failure using material science, quality, and statistical techniques in order to focus your efforts on a concise solution.

Product Research can minimize your risk during new product development and release.  RQ&D can evaluate your concept’s technical feasibility, and work with you to determine possible manufacturing options.  Additionally, RQ&D participates in technology research and standards development through various organizations.

* RQ&D product research uses statistical techniques such as design of experiments, uncertainty analysis, and Monte Carlo simulations to identify the key parameters precisely optimizing your products and processes.

* RQ&D product research reliably provides in-depth review of the domestic and international standards affecting your products.


Quality
A Brown and Sharp Global 9.20.08 coordinate measuring machine (CMM) provides RQ&D’s dimensional inspection capabilities.  With a maximum work piece size of 31 inch x 74 inch x 35 inches, RQ&D can accommodate many of your largest parts on our CMM.  RQ&D can assist with your inspection needs be they one piece or statistical inspections.  Whether your needs are one time inspection or contractual arrangements, RQ&D can provide your solutions.

* RQ&D CMM inspection of single articles include concise standard FPI, PPAP, and FAI documentation.

* RQ&D statistical CMM services include 32-piece inspections to validate or determine the statistical tolerancing of your precision products and components.

* RQ&D reverse engineering CMM capabilities allow reliable recreation of the worn section of your legacy tooling when the specifications are longer available.

* RQ&D provides reports in either standard tolerances or Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerances (GD&T).


Statistical services include Design of Experiments (DOE), statistical analysis of your data, or your inspection data.  RQ&D's Design group can also test your Design of Experiment (DOE).

Design
Whether your needs are simple drafting and documentation, product development, or optimization of your product, RQ&D can engineer your solution.  RQ&D reviews your standards and optimizes the designs to assure the use of appropriate materials in reliable processes to provide your solutions.

RQ&D’s Product Design provides feedback in your product development process using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to model concepts and materials providing preliminary validation of concepts. FEA during the design phase reduces the number of physical prototypes fabricated and optimizes the design; saving time, cost, and reducing operating expenses. As the design approaches completion, FEA characterizes the design based upon your statistical tolerances to determine the worst-case scenario for your products and the factor of safety of the design.

* RQ&D designs implement standard tolerances or Geometric Dimensioning & Tolerances (GD&T) which ever you prefer.

* RQ&D designs start with a focus upon quality.

* RQ&D provides Mechanical Design engineering services using COSMOS FEA and Solid Works modeling.