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IPANEL SYSTEMS (IPS), INC.
Article by Sean Buur Photos Contributed by IPS
DESIGNING / MANUFACTURING SIMULATOR AND FLIGHT WORTHY AVIONICS
Luan Nguyen is president, owner, floor sweeper, and design engineer of IPanel Systems (IPS) and considers himself to be very lucky. His business
has come a long way since the early days working his day job and starting IPS from his Granada Hills garage in 2009.
Luan’s career began in the late 90’s working as a drafter designer before being promoted to design engineer. In 2007 he took a position at a company in Valencia, CA. that designs and manufactures avionics instrumentation. “I was engineering pretty much the same thing then as I
am now,” explains Luan. “Here at IPS we design and build avionic display components (panels/bezels/keyboards) for commercial and military aircraft and simulators. I helped my old company develop their own production line and realized if I can do it for them, then I can do it for myself. Slowly I began adding equipment to my garage workspace. I purchased laser marking, dark room equipment and a spectral radiometer to measure the light. It took about a year before I quit my job and worked 100% for myself. Fortunately, my old employer supported my decision and fed me jobs. They are still one of my main customers.”
Once the business outgrew Luan’s garage, IPS added inhouse CNC manufacturing. “The best way at the time to implement CNC machining capabilities was to partner with someone else and share a building,” details Luan. “My partner had a couple older machines that did the trick. We had two units and I was on one side with the design, engineering, laser and painting and he was on the other with all the manufacturing. It lasted about a year before we went our separate ways. He still handled the machine work for me, but it wasn’t working out. So, in 2012 I bought my first Haas CNC machining center. A couple friends helped me get started with programming and work holding.” Eight years later IPS has a shop floor filled with CNC mills and a single CNC lathe.
IPS is full of inhouse services such as laser marking and inhouse painting.
40 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST June/July 2020