UNDER PRESSURE

Sometimes, tried and true methods are the key to success.

That is certainly the case at Tavis Corporation, a company that has been located in Mariposa since 1969 and has its footprint literally across the solar system.

“There is a sense of pride here,” said Adam Schmaus, vice-president of the manufacturing company that has a campus tucked away along Highway 49 South near Woodland.

For the average person, the bulk of what they do at Tavis involves pressure transducers. Those are critical components when it comes to monitoring various systems aboard spacecraft as well as military jets, submarines and more.

In layman’s terms, the transducer “plugs into” various systems, said Schmaus, and then monitors critical systems like fuel, environmental controls and more.

Schmaus likened it to how oil pressure or a fuel tank is monitored in passenger vehicles. A transducer monitors the fuel in the tank and then relays that information to the fuel gauge on the dash.

Only in this case, these components are monitoring million and billion dollar programs, including Artemis, the current effort by the United States that aims to put humans on the Moon for the first time in five decades.

NASA’s Artemis program had a recent setback when there were issues with loading the liquid fuel for the rocket’s main engines. That setback means the launch has been delayed likely until March.

Schmaus said because Tavis generally works with contractors, they don’t always know which systems are involved in the various parts of spaceships. But in this case, he said it’s likely their transducers probably played a role.

The first Artemis mission will be a “fly around” of the Moon to test the systems with the second launch aiming to land humans on the moon.

And pieces from Mariposa will be aboard.

The final frontier …

That has been the case at Tavis for decades as their components have been used in much of the country’s spaceflight efforts.

But, interestingly, they were not part of the original Moon missions as the company was just being formed around that time.

That means Artemis will add another feather in the space cap of Tavis.

There are many other programs, however, where these components are aboard, including the International Space Station, which has had Tavis components on board since the beginning.

Those transducers on the station monitor the cooling systems that keep the astronauts safe and keeps the inside of the station at the right temperature. Not a small thing considering the safety of the astronauts is job one for NASA and all of the other companies which contribute to the ISS.

Tavis has flow meters that are on the station and they are fairly heavy in weight. That, said Schmaus, is because they have to hold up to the rigors of space for years. The first crew boarded the ISS in 2000 and construction of the station began two years earlier. That means the Tavis parts have been functioning for a long time — and keeping the astronauts safe and comfortable.

Schmaus said one of the keys to manufacturing the components is they can hold up in the vacuum of space. That, he said, is why the processes have not changed a lot with the development of new technology.

The newer technology works for many applications, however, when it comes to the extreme cold and heat of space — including the vacuum as well as zero gravity — the older methods are preferred by the companies involved in spaceflight.

Tavis has components on the Viking landers that reached Mars (the Viking program was the first time landers made it to the lunar surface), a spacecraft that successfully landed on an asteroid and a solar mission that was designed “to fail,” said Schmaus. The reason is obvious because the mission was for a spacecraft monitor the Sun and it slowly was drawn into the gravity of the star before inevitably burning up.

There are just some things that can’t survive, but having the success of the program bring new information to scientists was worth the effort.

The components were also on the space shuttles. Although tragedy struck the program twice, it is interesting to note that when the shuttle Columbia burned up and came apart in orbit over Texas, NASA officials combed the area thoroughly and studied how the parts that survived performed. The Tavis parts were still intact and functional.

The company also has a lot of components in satellites orbiting the planet. As Schmaus said, the components have to be durable. Sometimes, missions can last 10 to 20 years so it is critical the monitoring systems are functional.

“They do well,” he said.

Slow and steady

In order for that to be the case, intensive testing has to be done. That testing focuses on the violent shaking all components experience during launch as well as the “wild temperature swings” that happen quickly in space.

Schmaus said much of the technology that is still used was developed in the 1950s and 60s, and many of their customers continue to use that same tried and true method.

He said advances in technology are assisting with some of the company’s automation techniques as well as the “software side” of the business.

But the rock-solid components are still basically those developed by company founder John R. Tavis, who incorporated the company in 1969 in Mariposa.

“It’s qualified,” said Schmaus about why their customers continue to come back for the components.

“You have one shot,” said Schmaus, meaning there is no room for error.

And when program price tags get into the billions of dollars, reliability is paramount.

Moving forward

Tavis currently has 55 employees, said Maxine “Max” Chance, brand manager for the company. She said that number holds fairly steady.

Nearly all of the employees live in Mariposa and Eastern Madera counties, she said, though some of the newer employees live in Merced because housing is so difficult to secure in Mariposa County.

Schmaus said the company “primarily” deals in the space industry at this point, though there are some contracts involving military aircraft including fighter jets and submarines.

But Schmaus said because of the ever expanding spaceflight industry, the plan is to continue to work on the various programs and missions currently in operation as well as those being developed.

“My plan is to continue to focus on that community,” he said.

In doing that, they will also continue to focus on having top-quality employees, including various experts in their fields.

One of those components is the machine shop, where intricate work takes place — sometimes over a long period of time. Many of the processes they use have remained highly guarded secrets.

“There are very specific applications,” said Schmaus.

For instance, he said some contracts might take a year “to even start” the manufacturing process because of the details and design work involved. Then, he said, it could take two to three months to manufacture some of the components.

He also stressed they are a “fully in-house manufacturer” and source all of their materials from companies in the United States.

Different, but …

One thing, though, Schmaus said people might not know is how they are also what many would consider a typical company. Some people, he said, think Tavis is just a manufacturing facility but that is not the case.

The company has many aspects, including accounting, sales, engineering, quality control, machine shop, IT and more.

Chance said the company does a lot of in-house training because the processes are so specialized. She told the story of an employee they hired who had worked in the jewelry making business.

Schmaus said that is the kind of person they seek for the intricate processes they use. He said in days past, they would seek people who worked on watches.

“We have a lot of smart people but you don’t have to be a rocket scientist,” said Chance, noting that in many ways, they all are rocket scientists when you look at the end result.

Schmaus said one thing the company is exploring is how to make some of their components “smaller and lighter,” though he stressed quality would never be compromised.

The weight of everything related to a space launch is critical, he said, though there is one issue that rises above all others: “Astronaut safety is important.”

Indeed.

Yet Schmaus said he is hoping the company can move forward with new techniques that will be acceptable to their customers — as long as they continue to be reliable and function flawlessly for as long as necessary.

Community partners

One thing they are working on is being more public and involved in the community.

Schmaus said they have been looking through the archives of the company and one thing was clear: John Tavis was involved heavily in the community, as were many other people from the company.

They noted the founder was involved with local service clubs, was involved at the hospital and so much more.

Chance and Schmaus said they are hoping to revive that tradition, and are doing so already in some areas.

They are working with area schools, for one, including doing presentations and even something as simple as coloring with the local students — using space-related themes, of course.

“We want more community engagement,” said Schmaus.

To learn more about Tavis, visit the company’s newly designed website at taviscorp.com/