Here at MATRICS, we believe machining services are the de facto cornerstone to progress. Before opening for business, Richard Mauge experienced first hand how crucial access to quick, accurate and affordable manufacturing services is to developing startups. After struggling to find local machine shops willing to fulfil his requests, Richard and his twin brother Robert set out to create their own service geared for fulfilling this unmet need.

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Twin brothers Richard and Robert Mauge graduated as mechanical engineers from UIUC. While in college, the two of them joined a car team which Richard would later take on the role of composite lead for. In order to make the foam molds for his carbon fiber car designs, Richard needed access to a CNC machine capable of large-scale machining. However, there was a problem. After much searching, there were no options on campus capable of meeting his needs, and the team did not have the money to afford other machining services.

Instead of calling it quits on his car design, Richard set out to make his very own CNC machine. During the summer of 2018, he did exactly that. After successfully manufacturing the new set of molds, Richard later sold his machine (pictured left) to UIUC for all car teams and other RSOs to use.

After college, Richard joined a startup where he handled design and manufacturing for his projects. After struggling to find financially sustainable results from outsourced manufacturing services, Richard convinced the startup to purchase an industry-standard CNC machine. As Richard honed his skills on the machine, it became clear there were market needs not being met for independent creators and small companies with regard to manufacturing. After discussing this dilemma with Robert, the two set out to pursue and meet that need. Today, MATRICS offers the manufacturing and consulting services Richard wished he had access to in the past.