2016 marks Barber-Nichols’ 50th anniversary and the company pulled out all the stops on May 20th to celebrate! The event included live music, food and refreshments, talks by company founders Bob Barber and Ken Nichols, and the world recording setting steam-powered car built by the company in 1985 made a one-day appearance for the event.
Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) prides itself on being a company that designs and manufactures cutting edge turbomachinery that’s changing the world. BNI’s first project was the testing of a low-speed, two-stage steam turbine for the U.S. Navy’s Applied Research Laboratory and to this day, turbine development continues to be a Barber-Nichols specialty. Currently, the company is building cryogenic pumps that are used in particle accelerator laboratories working to understand the fundamental building blocks of the universe, rocket engine turbopumps that are used by the commercial space launch industry, and a variety of equipment that is used by the United States Navy.
Barber-Nichols is a company where employees get to work on fun challenging projects and are encouraged to grow professionally and maintain a healthy work/life balance. BNI seeks top talent and values its employees because people are the company’s greatest asset. Additionally, BNI believes in being a good corporate citizen and has a history of giving to both charitable and educational institutions. Charitable giving has included multiple years of contributions to the Jeffco Action Center, the Arvada Food Bank, and the Denver Rescue Mission. We have been extremely fortunate at BNI and feel it is important to share our blessings with those less fortunate. On the educational front, BNI supports the Jefferson County High School Art Show, contributes time for CU Engineering School Senior Projects, and has established endowed engineering scholarships at both CU and CSU. BNI also funded a general education endowed scholarship at Red Rocks Community College where a portion of the scholarships is directed to the Precision Machining Program. We believe it’s vital to develop a steady stream of new, well-educated business, engineering, and machining graduates that can help Colorado maintain its reputation as a top technical business center. To date, these educational contributions have provided 54 scholarships for general, business, engineering, and machining students.
We have a feeling of gratitude as we look back over the last 50 years and excitement as we look forward to the next 50 years!
Barber-Nichols specializes in the design and production of turbomachinery; products include compressors, fans, pumps, turbines, generators, motors, and controllers for aerospace, cryogenic, defense, and energy applications. In addition to specialty hardware, BNI also provides engineering and precision manufacturing services.
