Protoform Design was founded by mechanical engineer Joshua Denney to give companies a more direct way to solve difficult mechanical and manufacturing problems. Clients receive senior-level engineering judgment without navigating layers of sales, account management, and internal handoffs.
Joshua Denney is the founder and principal engineer of Protoform Design, a mechanical engineering consultancy specializing in custom equipment, precision tooling, product development, and manufacturing solutions. With more than a decade of professional engineering experience, he has helped clients transform challenging concepts into reliable, manufacturable products used in advanced manufacturing, research, and production environments.
Prior to founding Protoform Design, Joshua worked as a Mechanical/Product Design Engineer in Silicon Valley, developing custom fixtures, tooling, automation equipment, and production hardware for organizations including Applied Materials, Lam Research, Apple, and Google. He later served as an independent mechanical engineer supporting Applied Materials' Advanced R&D organization, contributing to next-generation manufacturing technologies and patent-pending innovations for micro-LED display systems.
Joshua enjoys solving engineering problems that don't have obvious solutions. Many clients come to Protoform Design with an idea to develop, a process to improve, or a technical challenge that requires a practical, creative approach. Working closely with each client, he guides projects from concept through design, prototyping, manufacturing, and implementation, with a focus on delivering solutions that are not only technically sound, but practical to build, reliable to operate, and designed with long-term success in mind.
Director, Mechanical Engineering, DMTS, Applied Materials, Inc.
I’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Josh and can confidently say he is an exceptional mechanical engineer with a rare combination of technical depth, creativity, and execution discipline. Josh consistently translates complex, high‑level requirements into well‑thought‑out mechanical designs, working seamlessly with cross‑functional teams to deliver robust, production‑ready solutions.
Electrical Engineer
I had the opportunity to work with Josh on multiple projects and consistently found him to be a dedicated and highly capable engineer. He brings a meticulous attention to detail to his work, ensuring that every aspect of a project is carefully considered and well executed.
Senior Systems Engineer, Project Management
While leading complex system initiatives in semiconductor and display technologies, I saw Joshua repeatedly take on the toughest mechanical challenges — ambiguous requirements, high-vacuum and chemical-process integration, custom automation tooling, and aggressive schedules — and deliver fully production-ready solutions as lead or sole designer.
Systems Engineer at Applied Materials
I had the pleasure of working closely with Josh over multiple years on a program to develop an innovative technology... Josh’s designs stood out for their elegance, robustness, and forward-looking approach, with careful consideration of future continuous improvement (CIP). Despite tight timelines, he consistently delivered high-quality tools on schedule, enabling the project to meet critical milestones.
Laser Engineer at Applied Materials SMTS
Josh is an extremely accomplished mechanical designer, but beyond that, I realized he had identified all of his own suppliers, sourced all the parts and much of the purchasing, built the machines nearly entirely himself and traveled overseas to the customer site to make sure the equipment was setup properly. He is always looking for new problems to solve, simpler approaches and is very cost competitive.
Large engineering firms can bring extensive resources to major programs, but they are not always structured for a focused R&D assignment, specialized fixture, one-off machine, evolving product, or unresolved manufacturing problem. The overhead can quickly become disproportionate to the work, and important technical context may be lost as information moves between salespeople, project managers, and engineering staff.
Protoform Design operates differently. Joshua works directly with you, develops the technical approach, and remains accountable for the continuity of the project. This creates clearer communication, faster decisions, and a stronger connection between your original objective and the final engineering result.