Custom engineering

If your research needs it, we can build it.

Our core strength is designing and fabricating equipment that doesn't exist yet. From a sketch on a whiteboard to a commissioned system in your lab, one team handles the mechanical design, fabrication, electronics and software.

Start a custom project See our systems

Overhead view of a custom recirculating flume

Capabilities

Everything under one roof

Because we design and build every subsystem ourselves, the pieces are engineered to work together — and we can support all of them for the life of the system.

Mechanical & fluid design

Flow conditioning, pump sizing, plumbing and hydraulics designed from first principles for uniform, repeatable flow.

Precision acrylic fabrication

High-clarity acrylic viewing sections, chambers and tanks in the sizes and geometries your experiment demands.

Welded & powder-coated frames

Steel and aluminum stands engineered for full wet weight, with leveling and mobility options.

Electronics & sensing

Custom control boards, sensor integration, embedded instruments and robotics.

Software & automation

Aquafab Workbench, custom trial programming, data logging, calibration wizards and remote alerts.

Thermal & life support

Chillers, heat exchangers, filtration and water-quality systems for fresh, salt and brackish water.

Our process

How a custom project works

A clear, collaborative process with a fixed quote before fabrication — no open-ended engineering invoices.

Discovery call

We learn your research question, organisms, protocol, space, utilities, timeline and budget.

Concept & quote

You receive a concept, key specifications and an itemized, fixed-price quote.

Design review

We share drawings and control logic for your sign-off before fabrication starts.

Build & validate

We fabricate, integrate and run the system, verifying flow, temperature and controls.

Install & train

Delivery, installation, commissioning and hands-on training — then lifetime support.

Project spotlight

The robotic mussel

Researchers needed flow, temperature and oxygen data from inside living mussel beds — where no commercial sensor could go.

We engineered a robotic mussel with embedded sensors that sits among live animals and autonomously records water flow, temperature and oxygen within the interstitial spaces of the bed — data that was previously impossible to collect.