Michael Bridges Email and Phone Number

While most teenagers in Indianapolis, Indiana, were hanging out at the mall or making a few extra bucks at burger joints around town, I was elbow-deep in engineering projects at local machine shops. I’m not sure if machining has always been in my blood or if I was drawn to it during my childhood, but what I do know, is that from as early as I can remember I’ve always had a passion for manufacturing and engineering.My earliest memories are rooted in auto racing. My father worked on and managed Indy Car teams. In fact, when I was five, I remember racing “¼’ Midgets” and “Go-Karts!” The racing experience and participation in sports started to highlight my interest in how things worked. I threw myself into learning as much as I could.One of my favorite jobs growing up was working in a machining shop producing performance components the racing industry. I was working with a family friend who was an engineer at the shop. I looked at a component he had just created and was blown away. When I asked him how it was made, he simply explained it was always there, he just stripped it down to its basics. I knew I was in love with the industry right then.After high school, I went straight to work on an Indy Car to figure out which specific engineering field I wanted to study and started to go to school at night. It wasn’t always easy to balance life with night school, but I knew something big was on the horizon. I ended up coming out of school with a mechanical design degree, in addition to hands-on knowledge. This combination makes me a hybrid in my field—I can not only engineer the product but I can also machine it using anything from a manual to CNC machines. I knew these skills would allow me to start my dream of making a change in the machining industry.At 26, I was hired to oversee operations at a well-known machine and engineering shop. This opportunity gave me the confidence to take the leap of faith when asked to start my own machine shop.