Brian Ipema is the Operations Director for the Knowledge Enterprise Development Instrument Design and Fabrication Core Facility. The IDF facility supports electrical and mechanical design along with custom manufacturing for the extensive and ever growing research conducted by ASU researchers along with peer institutions and industry. Brian is responsible for overseeing and working with the expert staff within the IDF Core facilities Electronics, Glassblowing, Instrument Design Machine Shop and the Student Self-Service Shop.
In a collaborative venture with the Entrepreneurship + Innovation group and the IDF Core facilities, he oversees the ASU Chandler Innovation Center Makerspace. The ASU Chandler Innovation Center and the Core Facility work with the community members allowing ASU Faculty, Staff and Students to work together with community users in the same facility utilizing the same equipment and processes.
Brian entered the engineering profession in 1987 utilizing design and manufacturing along with the material analysis and the interaction between materials for structural integrity, how they perform or fail. Brian continued to serve in the prototype, research and development throughout his career, working on research and development projects and components of several aircraft including the Apache, Chinook and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters along with the F-22, F-35 and the V-22 Osprey for the DOD. He spent years working with local fire and police to design and maintain safety systems along with several major corporations such as Medtronic on heart pacemakers and back pain electro-stimulators, Intel, Seagate and Western Digital creating hard drive components and silicon wafer handling systems for 25-300mm silicon wafers, TRW safety systems working on airbag systems along with several major automotive manufacturers such as GM, Ford, Honda and Mazda assisting in future concept automotive designs, powertrain and safety systems.