Our Team

Management Team

Rodney Babcock – President – Rodney began his manufacturing career in 1978. His machining experience includes CNC Lathe and Mill, conventional lathes & mills, gear cutting, programmer, tool maker, and pattern maker for resin shell mold process.  He also has experience in developing assembly and test process and procedure to ensure the highest level of quality assurance.Rodney has knowledge of the entire manufacturing process, starting with design concepts, engineering, through prototype and production.  He has experience ramping up large scale operations in the Semiconductor Equipment industry.  Rodney spends time understanding customer needs and requirements, and converting that into a manufacturing process to meet ISO 9001 and AS 9001 standards. Rodney is very passionate about the manufacturing industry, and is a member of the Manufacturing Leadership Council for Manufacturing Executive.  LinkedIn Profile

Cayse Babcock – CFO – Cayse has been with Next Intent since the beginning in 1996. She manages Payroll, A/P and oversees A/R and Human Resources.  LinkedIn Profile

Chris Baker – Manufacturing Manager - Chris began his manufacturing career in 1975. He has over 30 years experience in manufacturing including all types of CNC machining centers, both  CNC lathes and CNC mills. He has been using CAM programs since 1987, and GibbsCam CAD/CAM programming since 1995. He is familiar with machining all sorts of metals, plastics and castings. Chris was the first  employee at Next Intent in 1996, and he was the primary programmer for the Mars Exploration Wheels built by Next Intent.  LinkedIn Profile

Frank Larned – Operations Manager / IT - over 20 years technical experience including: 15 years in engine machining, blueprinting, assembly, and racing, 2 years tech support at a computer manufacturer, APICS course in Materials and Operations Management. Frank has been with Next Intent since 1999 as Operations Manager  & Information Technology. Frank is super knowledgable with computer systems and our M1 Enterprise software. He is an avid motorcyclist, both road and off-road.  LinkedIn Profile

Quality Assurance Team

Frank Vettel – Quality Assurance Manager – Frank has been a machinist since 1982.  He has programmed & operated many types of  CNC lathes, vertical and horizontal machining centers.  Frank was hired at Next Intent in 1996; he has been QA Manager and a member of ASQ since 1998.  He is Brown and Sharpe factory trained on our CNC CMM. Frank has a great detailed oriented approach to Quality Assurance.  LinkedIn Profile

Brian Buell – Quality Assurance Technician- Brian is a Aeronautical Engineering graduate from Cal Poly, and has been with Next Intent since 2005. He worked 1 year as a machinist, and is now part of the Quality Assurance team. He completed training in PC-DMIS / CMM software in 2007. He is an excellent Ultimate frisbee player, and is very focused. His Aero engineering background is valuable for the CMM programming and working with customer solid models.

Jeffery Timmer – Quality Assurance Technician- Jeffery is new to Next Intent as of June 2011.  Jeffery has machining and fabrication experience since 2006. He is learning how to use the CMM (Brown & Sharpe & Wenzel).

Engineering Team

John Wildharber – Sr. Mechanical Engineer / Certified SolidWorks Professional -Started engineering career in 1992 in the semiconductor equipment industry.  He has experience in mechanical engineering including: complete machine design, powertrain, motion control, electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic systems. He has completed all his coursework for his Masters Degree at Cal Poly, and is now working on his thesis, which be completed in 2011. John has a fantastic knowledge of Solidworks, and knows how to include key data in the solid model, as well as how to use GD&T in a practical way.  LinkedIn Profile

Shasta Palmer-Manufacturing Engineer- Masters of Science in Industrial and Technical Studies, Six Sigma Black Belt, lean manufacturing training, minor in packaging design and 12 years of varied work experience, 4 of which are in manufacturing and aerospace.  Additional areas of experience include ISO 9001:2008 certification process, electrical contracting/construction and polymer/packaging permeability research. Shasta tackles the toughest statements of work and specifications, and helps us to develop our manufacturing processes to meet those requirements. Shasta also helps with the quoting process and working with our supply chain.  She is a great asset to Next Intent, and her Project Management skills have been recognized by a number of our customers.

Manufacturing Team

Matt Redman -  EDM Specialist / Mfg Process Engineer – Matt has been with Next Intent since 1997.  He began his manufacturing career in 1990, and has experience working in the Aircraft industry. He has worked extensively with Titanium, Stainless and Inconel. He is highly skilled in Wire EDM, Programming, CNC lathes and mills, and Tool and Die design and fabrication. He is highly skilled in developing tools and fixtures for very complex components, such as the actuator components for the James Webb Space Telescope.  LinkedIn Profile

Galen Moyer – CNC Programmer / Sr. Mfg Process Engineer - Began his machining and fabricating career in 1978, in fields including: CNC/manual mill and lathe work, CAD/CAM programming and welding. He has been using GibbsCAM since 1990 trained in Advanced Milling, Solid Surfacing and 5 Axis programming. Galen has been with Next Intent since 1998. He is very detail oriented, and has a great understanding of GD&T, Solid Modeling and tool paths.  LinkedIn Profile

Don Peca – Sr. CNC Machinist - over 30 years machining experience. Don has been with Next Intent since 2005.  He has many years of CAD/CAM programming experience and has worked in the Aircraft industry on a 5-axis 6-spindle gantry CNC mill on parts that were over 12′ in diameter. Don has a high level of understanding of all machining processes in all types of materials. He can tackle very complex parts, including parts made from Titanium 10-2-3 and 6Al-4V. Don is a key part of Next Intent’s success, and keeps our 2  OKK 50 taper machining centers running at full speed.

Dale Bruce – Sr. CNC Machinist / VMC Supervisor – He began his machining career in 1978. Master level machinist in CNC machining centers with 4 & 5 Axis, CNC lathes, fixturing and tooling. Dale has the ability to trouble shooting difficult to machine materials, or complex parts of all shapes.  Dale has been with Next Intent since 2000. He was part of a manufacturing team in 1984 that produced the first pelvis implant. He has machined custom medical implants using CAT scans to custom fit the devices. Dale is a mentor to many of the younger machinists at Next Intent, and gladly shares his knowledge and experience to help others.

Steve Gilbert – CNC and EDM Machinist – Steve began his machining carreer in 1979 running manual mills, lathes, grinding machines.  In 1982, he became a CNC Lathe Setup / Operator, along with CNC Mills.  He has lots of experience with tooling, grinding, tool grinding, screw machines, tool design, and machine manufacture. Steve has been with Next Intent since 1997.

Richard Ryan – Sr. Machinist / Toolmaker- Richard began his machining career in 1970. He has been with Next Intent since 2002; and is a master machinist, originally trained in England. He works closely with our EDM department building special tooling and fixtures.  His skills and experience cover everything in the shop, also, he is a really nice guy!

Peter Capponcelli-  Sr. Machinist / Mold maker. Peter has been a machinist since 1977, building racing engines for motorcycles. He has been building aerospace component since 1982, which is when he started CNC programming with punched tape. In the mid 80′s he worked at PS Machine on the east coast. Some of the parts he machined were on the Shuttle Columbia.  Peter and his family moved to California in 1986, where he worked for XYZ Machine as a mold maker. He began to learn MasterCam , and really enjoyed the mold making. Peter continued to master many type of machine tools including CNC mill and lathes, OD/ID grinders, surface grinders and jig grinders. While at CalAmp in Camarillo, he was involved with die-cast molds & fixtures, which later led to a position as Manufacturing Engineer. In 2006 Peter worked for Superior Controls in South Carolina to build the MRAP military vehicle for Force Protection, Inc. His largest project was the design of a complete facility to manufacture all the bulletproof window assemblies. Peter moved to the central coast of California in 2008, and started with Next Intent in 2010.

Bino Cabreros – CNC Machinist- Bino has been with Next Intent since 1999, and has been a machinist since 1990. He spends most of his time setting up and operation CNC Lathes, but is flexible and experienced on CNC mills also.

Mike Hendricks – CNC Machinist / Lathe Specialist- Mike has been with Next Intent since 2001. He specializes in CNC Lathes, on both setup and operation. Mike is also flexible in his machining experience to move around to various milling operations as well.

Brad Hudson – Machinist / Fabricator- Brad has been in manufacturing since 1987, and with Next Intent since 2007.  Brad has extensive experience with all conventional machine tools and grinders.  He builds fixtures, and performs all types of second operation machining functions. Brad is super optimistic and has a “can do” attitude at all times. He has been trained as an EDM operator, and is also involved with precision assembly work.

Vicente Rosales – Machinist / EDM Operator- Vicente has been with Next Intent since 1999. He is a very hard worker, who is always looking to help others anyway that he can.  Vicente has been trained on all of the Sodick EDM machines, which he sets up and runs every day.  Vicente also oversees the part finishing department. He has a keen eye for quality, and is very clever in finding ways to part finish very difficult components.

Jesse Hesch- Machinist- Jesse has been with Next Intent since 2008, and work on both CNC mills and lathes.  He has a great attention to detail, and is very capable setting up and running all of the CNC mills at Next Intent. His past experience comes from the Automotive machine shop industry, which includes ID & OD grinding experience.  Jesse is always looking out for others, and for way which he can help. His machining skills are improving a fast pace, due in part to his motivating personality.

Jason Woods- Machinist- Jason started his machining career in 2006. He has been with Next Intent since early 2010. His past experience building camera components, heat sinks,  and prototyping of camera mounts has been valuable.  He is pursuing his AA degree in Machine Technology and a certificate in MasterCam.  Jason continues to improve his machining skills, tackling tough jobs and materials in stride.

Carmen Silva-Guerrero – Part Finishing & Assembly – Carman has been with Next Intent since Jan. 2001. Carmen has an excellent eye for detail. He has been trained for installation of all types of inserts. Carmen is also trained in the use of our Sunnen Hone.  He is a super hard worker and we are glad to have him on our team.

David Handshy – Machinist- David is new to Next Intent in Jan. of 2011, but he’s not new to machining. David has a wide range of machining experience dating back to 1984. His experience includes metal stamping, plastic injection molds, toolmaking, EDM (sinker and wire), lathes, mills, grinders and assembly. David supports our EDM tooling & fixturing work, along with prototyping, R&D jobs and assembly.

Roger Williams – Sr. Machinist- Roger has been with Next Intent since February of 2009. He has been a machinist for over 25 years. After leaving the military, Roger graduated from a formal apprenticeship program that helped him get his first machinist position. Roger began his machining career in the “Tech Corridor” between Goleta and Ventura, CA. In various machine shops, he worked on projects for McDonnel Douglas, Hughes Aircraft, Sloan Technology Corp., Teletrak, NASA, Raytheon and many more. His work helped to position America as technology leader. Roger’s experience includes all types of manual equipment, CNC Lathes, CNC Mills, grinders rotary tables and specialty equipment.

Juan Vega- Machinist- Juan has been with Next Intent since 2004, where he started in Shipping and Receiving. Since then, Juan returned to school at Hancock College, and took a number of courses related to machining and mathematics.  He is now full machinist at Next Intent working on CNC Lathes and our Mori Seiki Mill / Turn machining centers. Juan is a super cool guy who cheers for the Dallas Cowboys no matter how they are playing.

Operations Team

Tony Brass – Purchasing – Tony has been with Next Intent since 1999, where he began his career in shipping / receiving.  Tony works very well with the Next Intent supply chain, and does a great job keeping raw materials and outside process completed in a timely fashion.  Tony is easy going, but gets things done and is a great team player.  LinkedIn Profile

Susanne Swaggerty – Accounting & Customer Service – Susanne started at Next Intent in Nov. 2010. She has been in the accounting field since 2002. She assists Cayse with A/P, A/R and Payroll.  Susanne also works with our supply chain for RFQ’s. She is a super nice person who has a great attitude at all times.

Kurtis Baker – Shipping / Receiving – Kurtis started at Next Intent in Oct. 2009. He does a great job in our shipping / receiving department.  He takes pride in his ability to find low cost, high protection ways to ship product to our customers. He helps with assembly, and is very skilled in created custom crates as needed.