On August 31st, 2001, I landed in Sarajevo. The Army was a much different place before 9/11. We were still on that post cold war high, where the US was on top of the world. Our tactics were still based around the Soviet threat, mostly as a default. We knew that wasn't what the next war would look like, we knew someday there would be another one, but nobody could guess what it would look like. Bosnia was the hottest thing the Army had going on in 2001. By then it was calm ge

It's hard to believe it, but it's been a year since I started this crazy journey! I nearly missed it, as things have really begun picking up steam. A strong network One of the biggest sources of uncertainty coming into this was my network, or lack thereof. The bad thing about the corporate world is that most of your network is in your Outlook directory. The Nuclear Security Enterprise is a fairly closed ecosystem, and due to security concerns most folks are not very active

I've recently had the opportunity to support Apex's AS9100 Internal Auditor training. It was a huge honor, we had a great group of students and it's always so rewarding sharing this knowledge that is critical to keeping the aerospace industry safe. As always Apex has been great to work with, and I'm looking forward to a bright future of continued partnerships. In addition to AS9100 Internal Auditor Training, I have also been teaching their Geometric Dimensioning and Tolera

Check out Big W's new ISO 9001 Lead Implementer certification!

February 23-25 2026, Big W Engineering Solutions partnered with T&O Group, Tessere, J.E. Dunn, Platinum Roofing and Larsen Consulting to exhibit in booths 88-89 at the Missouri Association of Manufacturers (MAM) Midwest Manufacturer's Trade Show and Conference in Branson.

It's only been a few weeks since we completed the Apex QA AS9100 & ISO 9001 Lead Auditor course, and now we have completed the AS9100 third party lead auditor course. While the Lead Auditor course focused on the fundamentals of being a lead auditor in an AS9100 or ISO 9001 environment, the 3rd Party Lead Auditor course focuses on preparing to become an auditor on behalf of certification bodies. Becoming an authenticated 3rd party auditor means we could conduct certification

As we officially close out 2025, I’m yet again thankful for all the connections I’ve been able to make over the last 3 months, and very optimistic about 2026. Big W is now AS9100 & ISO 9001 Lead Auditor certified One of the first things we learned in our networking is that there is a need for ISO 9001 support, both locally and nationally. As such I’ve decided that our best value proposition is to share our extensive quality engineering experience within these management sys

We are excited to say that we have just completed Apex Quality Assurance's 5-day AS9100 & ISO 9001 Lead Auditor training! With this certification we're looking forward to providing any AS9100 or ISO 9001 audit needs, while also being able to provide an auditor perspective to any other QMS implementation or support work. We are also planning to complete ISO 9001 Lead Implementer training to demonstrate mastery in QMS creation and implementation, as well as AS9100 Third Party

With Thanksgiving upon us I’m reminded that 2025 is quickly coming to a close. As you look ahead to 2026 I hope you consider Big W Engineering Solutions to help you scale up, expand your capabilities, or overcome tough challenges. Coming soon: ISO 9001 & AS9100 support After spending some time getting to know the local industry, I’ve come to the conclusion that offering certification support up to AS9100 is where I can provide my greatest value. I have over a decade in qu