Animax Designs has started 2019 with a new Vice President of Operations. Steve Andersen brings almost 30 years of experience to the role at the rapidly growing animatronic character company.
Most recently, Andersen served as Director of Product Engineering and Development at Kimber Manufacturing. With a Master of Mechanical Engineering degree from the University of Delaware, he began his career as a composites engineer at Anholt Technologies.
Later at Kenetech Windpower, he designed and built composite components and structures for commercial, medical, aerospace and alternative energy applications. Andersen has also acted as the Assistant Director of military programs at the University of Delaware’s Center for Composite Materials.
World-class animatronics
Over the past three years, Animax Designs has grown from 35 to over 130 employees. In the process, it has moved to a new 80,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility in Nashville, Tennessee. Here the company continues to design and manufacture world-class animatronic characters. Last year, Animax launched an Innovation Lab to foster new ideas and act as a springboard for the development of new technology.
“As we have rapidly evolved from a much smaller puppet focused shop to a highly sophisticated, industry leading animatronic and interactive character company, Steve is poised to inject a more advanced approach to our operations,” says Animax CEO, Chuck Fawcett.
Steve Andersen will oversee all of Animax’s operations across the firm. Other responsibilities include, revamping its approach to project management and facilitating greater integration between creative design with mechanical/electrical/controls design and engineering.
“I am looking forward to developing our operational practices and systems to improve efficiency, foster cross-functional collaboration, and maintain our high standards of product quality,” says Andersen. “I am honoured to help in leading the Animax team to a bright future.”
