KVA Stainless - About Us

Located in southern California, KVA Stainless is a growing R&D venture focused on developing and promoting uses for lightweight, ultra high-strength, low cost alloys. KVA Stainless' technical staff, with a combined 60 years experience in thermal processing, metallurgy, automated welding, brazing and mechanical design, have developed numerous proprietary and patent-pending processing and manufacturing methods to enable the use of lightweight, corrosion-resistant, hardened stainless steel components throughout industry.

KVA Stainless' president, Mr. Ed McCrink, founded Hi-Temp, Inc. in 1953 and grew the company to become one of the largest processors of martensitic stainless steels in North America. Since successfully selling the Hi-Temp, Inc. plants in the 1970’s, he has continuously pursued his vision of utilizing commonly available martensitic stainless steels to reduce weight and increase strength in structures.

"KVA Stainless technology....performance of titanium at a fraction of the cost!"

KVA Stainless - Mission

The mission of KVA Stainless is to provide innovative, low-cost advanced high-strength martensitic stainless steel processing technology and solutions to our industrial customer base.

KVA Stainless specializes in first-rate research and development, high quality manufacturing standards, and uncompromising customer service.

Our aim is to assist our customers achieve a distinct competitive advantage in the design, manufacturing and marketing of their products and services.

"KVA Stainless technology....performance of titanium at a fraction of the cost!"

KVA Stainless - History

In 1953 Mr. Edward McCrink founded Hi-Temp, Inc. and rapidly grew the company to become one of the largest thermal processors of martensitic stainless steels in North America. While running Hi-Temp, he became interested in structural uses of these materials but found that no manufacturer was implementing this technology. This led to Mr. McCrink's founding of KVA Stainless, whose aim is to promote his vision of new applications utilizing these materials.

As a result, KVA Stainless' technical staff with a combined 60 years experience in production thermal processing, metallurgy and mechanical design, has developed numerous proprietary and patent-pending processing, joining, and manufacturing methods concerning the use of martensitic stainless steels. These novel developments enable the use of high-strength, lightweight, corrosion-resistant, high-speed seam-welded, hardened stainless steel components throughout industry.

Our initial efforts have been concentrated on reducing weight--typically achieving a 30-45% mass reduction while maintaining or exceeding current strength levels--in automotive structural applications. KVA Stainless' technology has been very well received by all major auto manufacturers and we have completed several successful component development and testing trials with better-than-expected mechanical, environmental and cost performance.

"KVA Stainless technology....performance of titanium at a fraction of the cost!"

KVA Stainless - Team

Ed McCrink - President

The man with a vision (and proven 'golden touch'), Ed began his metallurgical career in the early 1950's. In 1953, Ed founded Hi-Temp, Inc. in Chicago, Il, specializing in copper brazing and bright annealing of stainless steel. Mr. McCrink saw the great potential in production thermal processing and subsequently founded Tru-Temp, Inc., which specialized in conventional heat treating of medium to high carbon steels and alloyed steels using very large controlled atmosphere furnaces. Tru-Temp heat treated for the major US construction earth-moving industry as well as for many foundry and forging companies. Tru-Temp grew to become one of the largest commercial heat treating companies in the Midwest. In the early 1960’s, Mr. McCrink went on to found Steel Treating, Inc., which focused on continuous bright annealing. After successfuly selling the thermal processing plants, Ed had various other business successes, including domestic and international high-volume smoke detector manufacturing and real estate investing. The technology behind KVA Stainless continues to be the focus of Ed's lifelong ambition.

Laurel McCrink - Vice President

Laurel joins KVA Stainless with nearly two decades managerial experience working on complex land investment projects in San Diego County. Using her skills developed overseeing a critical team of consultants in the land projects, Laurel directs and controls the many business actvities inherent in new technology development and transfer for KVA Stainless. Laurel attended St. Norbert College in Wisconsin with majors in business and foreign languages.

Email:
Phone: 760-489-5821 x 12

Douglas Gore - VP Sales/Business Development

Douglas Gore has over 20 years of sales and marketing experience developing new and innovative ways to market, sell, and promote products. Doug has the expertise in driving all phases of new product development, manufacturing and packaging, along with formulating product plans, guiding the product life cycle from concept phases through market introduction, and defining and implementing product enhancement plans for commercialization. Prior to joining KVA Stainless, Doug has successfully launched and manufactured several consumer products: stainless steel scratch remover and polish, supplements, fertilizers, LED pour spouts, solar optics, clothes and kitchen items.

Email:
Phone: 760-489-5821 x 11

Danny Codd - Principal Mechanical Engineer

Responsible for realizing KVA Stainless' R&D efforts, Danny oversees technology and new application development. Prior to joining KVA Stainless, Danny worked in positions of increasing responsibility designing high-volume consumer products, industrial equipment and medical devices. Danny received his BSME, summa cum laude, from the University of California, San Diego and his MSME from Stanford University, and is currently a doctoral candidate in the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT. He holds his Professional Engineer's License in the state of California.

Email:
Phone: 760-489-5821

Joe McCrink - Production Manager

Joe facilitates KVA Stainless' in-house prototype & production builds, managing the shop's machinery, specialized tooling and resources. Skilled at welding, brazing and machining, tube mill operation and sheet metal fabrication, he enjoys bringing the KVA Stainless technology to life in real-world applications.

Email:
Phone: 760-489-5821 x 10

"KVA Stainless technology....performance of titanium at a fraction of the cost!"

KVA Stainless - R&D Facility

KVA Stainless' research, engineering and testing center serves as the main incubator for all new applications and concepts. Our 5,500 sq.ft. prototype shop includes the following fabrication equipment:

• Multiple stainless tube mill rollforming lines
• In-line solid state induction heat-treating equipment
• Conventional heat-treatment furnace
• Semi-automatic welding lines
• Kawasaki FS-06L arc welding robot
• Computer-controlled plasma tubing notcher
• CNC & conventional mills
• 75KVA spot welder

Our in-house testing and metrology equipment includes:

• 60,000 lb servo-hydraulic universal testing machine
• 5,000 lb electromechanical proof tensile testing machine
• Rockwell & Superficial hardness testers
• Surface plates and inspection equipment

Our engineering capablities include:

• CAD design CAE structural and thermal modeling
• Design for manufacturability
• Extensive metallurgical expertise
• On-site technology training and support

Additionally, our strategic parterships with production fabricators, production thermal processors, tube mills, finishing/coating houses and metrology services allows for KVA Stainless to coordinate larger prototype and production runs efficiently and cost-effectively.

"KVA Stainless technology....performance of titanium at a fraction of the cost!"