Helios Gear Products has announced that Dennis Hillary has taken the new leadership position of senior service engineer for the company’s technical service group. In response to growing demand for gear machine tool solutions, this team’s size has doubled over the past two years. Consequently, Hillary now provides team leadership and mentorship in addition to continued technical service for Helios’s North American gear manufacturing customers.

Hillary began his career as a tool maker for a small manufacturer in the Rockford, Illinois area. To grow his career, he moved to Ingersoll Machine Tools after a few years to take a position as a machine assembler. His 15 years’ experience with Ingersoll grew to include general machine building, troubleshooting, and technical service. Before finally joining Koepfer America, he worked for a small machine tool rebuilder and retrofitter in the 1990s where he honed his experience and acumen for mechanical machine tool work.

In 1998, Hillary moved to Koepfer America, LLC to take a position as a dedicated service engineer for the fine-pitch gear manufacturing industry. As Koepfer America evolved its solutions, such as introducing the KFS series gear tool sharpening machines in 1999, he became a critical member of the technical team. Today, Helios Gear Products (formerly Koepfer America) recognizes Hillary as the senior leader for mechanical technical challenges, which include continued production of KFS gear tool sharpening machines, rebuilding and re-controlling of Koepfer models 160 and 200 CNC gear hobbing machines, supporting Helios’s existing North American machine installations, and training the next generation of Helios personnel.

Hillary has always enjoyed the unique technical challenges associated with gear manufacturing. Considered by many as a “master mechanic,” he provides unmatched solutions for customers in the industry. Gear manufacturers know that his mechanical expertise means fast troubleshooting, accurate solutions, and effective training. Said Adam Gimpert, business manager for Helios Gear Products, “Our company’s accolades for gear manufacturing machine tool solutions simply would not be without Dennis’s ongoing mechanical leadership.”