Engineering & design
From theoretical mechanical engineering to the wrench.
AH&M is owned and run by Art Hughes — b.s. mechanical engineering, clemson university — who works the full span of the discipline: analysis and 3D design on one end, physical installation and testing on the other. Most shops do one or the other. This one doesn't hand off.
Capabilities
What an engineer-owned shop can take on.
3D design in SolidWorks
Skids, brackets, manifolds, piping layouts, and machine components modeled in SolidWorks before anything gets fabricated — so fit-up problems get solved on screen, not in the field.
System engineering & sizing
Load profiling, equipment selection, and system design grounded in mechanical engineering fundamentals — thermodynamics and fluid mechanics, not catalog guesswork.
Installation & commissioning
The same engineer who designs the system installs and commissions it. No handoff gap between the drawing and the finished, running installation.
Field testing & verification
Measured performance data — like flat-plate orifice testing on vacuum pumps — to verify that what was installed actually delivers what was promised.
The process
Five steps, one person accountable for all of them.
01
Understand the load
Every system starts with what it actually has to do: flow, pressure, duty cycle, environment. We walk the plant, look at the process, and put real numbers on the requirement before talking equipment.
02
Engineer the system
Equipment selection and system design grounded in mechanical engineering fundamentals — thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, materials. The goal is a system sized for your load, not the biggest machine the catalog sells.
03
Model it in SolidWorks
Skids, brackets, manifolds, and piping runs get modeled in 3D before fabrication. Interferences, clearances, and fit-up problems get caught on screen, where fixing them costs minutes instead of change orders.
04
Install and commission
The engineer who designed the system does the physical installation and startup. No drawings thrown over a wall, no interpretation gap between design intent and finished work.
05
Verify with measurement
Commissioning ends with data, not a handshake — measured performance against the design requirement, the same way we flat-plate orifice test vacuum pumps in place.
Where this shows up
Typical engineering work
Compressed air system design
Sizing compressors, dryers, receivers, and piping for a new line or a plant that outgrew its air supply.
Custom skids & mounting
Equipment skids, brackets, and mounting solutions modeled in SolidWorks and built to fit the space you actually have.
Hydraulic power unit builds
HPUs specified and assembled for the load — reservoir, pump, motor, manifold, and controls as one engineered package.
Vacuum system evaluation
Field testing and analysis that separates pump problems from system problems before capital gets committed.
Retrofit & replacement engineering
Fitting modern equipment into legacy installations — matching connections, footprints, and controls.
Troubleshooting with instrumentation
When a system misbehaves and nobody knows why, measurement plus engineering fundamentals usually finds it.
Have a system that needs engineering, not just equipment?
Send the problem. If it's outside our lane, we'll say so — and if it's in it, you'll get one engineer accountable from model to startup.