For 25 years Vista Engineering has been making a difference in materials engineering cases from courtrooms across the country to manufacturing facilities all over the world. In 1998, Dr. Thompson retired from UAB’s School of Engineering to embark on an adventure using his expertise to help the private sector.

Over 500 different businesses have trusted their materials problems and questions to Vista Engineering. These include both plaintiff and defense attorneys in cases that involve complex explosions, product liabilities, and machine failure and safety issues. Industrial producers of steel, pipes, cars, and even rockets come to us when they have production, design, or quality issues they need to get to the bottom of.

We’ve grown from UAB’s original incubator facility OADI (Office for the Advancement of Developing Industries), to Innovation Depot, to our own building and laboratory in Homewood, Alabama. Over these years, we’ve reached that 500 customer milestone, celebrated Dr. Thompson’s award for Birmingham’s Engineer of the year 2013, published and presented research papers for numerous national and international organizations, acquired one of the state’s only privately owned scanning electron microscopes, achieved and maintained ISO 17025 accreditation for quality in laboratories, and has been awarded multiple research and development grants from government agencies.

Many of the team have been here ten or more years. Vista Engineering could not do what we do without each and every person.

Our customers are our motivation to continue to strive for excellence in the quality of our work and the service we provide. As a small business, we know our relationships and communication with the people we work with are as important as the reports and findings we deliver. We want to express our gratitude to and every customer who continues to trust us to find the “simple solutions” our slogan promises.

The team that makes up Vista Engineering is the backbone of our success. Dr. Thompson is our founder and as one of 5 children, he cultivates the atmosphere of a large family here in the office. Many of the team have been here ten or more years. Vista Engineering could not do what we do without each and every person.

As we look to the future, there are many exciting changes coming as we focus more on the challenges of composite materials that are becoming more commonplace in the world of manufacturing. We want people to know that excellent materials engineers are available right here in Alabama, and will continue to serve needs all over the country as well as in our own backyard.