Joshua Tarbutton, smiling, in a wide-brimmed hat

Joshua Tarbutton

Ph.D., PE

Soldier, engineer, professor, founder. Much of it at once.

Email
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/joshua-tarbutton, opens in a new tab

This site takes no investment or fundraising inquiries.

Role
Founder and Chairman, Bravo Team, opens in a new tab
Service
U.S. Army Veteran
Community
EO Charlotte, member since 2022
Family
Father of four. Married 24 years.
Licensed
Professional Engineer, North Carolina

Record

58papers4issued U.S. patents9years as an engineering professor

Education

  • 2011Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering · Clemson University
  • 2007M.S., Mechanical Engineering · Clemson University
  • 2005B.S., Mechanical Engineering · Georgia Institute of Technology

Experience

Georgia Tech and the Army Reserve started eighteen days apart in January 1999. His Iraq deployment fell inside his Georgia Tech years. Bravo Team started while he taught full time at UNC Charlotte.

200020052010201520202025
Married
Army Reserve
Georgia Tech
Clemson
Early jobs
InSituTec
South Carolina
UNC Charlotte
Mammoth
Bravo Team
CEO
PE, North CarolinaPE, N.C.
Talks
serviceschool and facultycompaniesa talk or panela child born 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009entered college 2022, 2024, 2026
  • Married, 2002 to now; four children born 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009; three entered college 2022, 2024, 2026.
  • U.S. Army Reserve, 1999 to 2007; Iraq 2003 to 2004.
  • Georgia Tech, 1999 to 2005.
  • Clemson, 2006 to 2011.
  • Early industry jobs: Georgia Tech Economic Development Center 2005, Southern States LLC 2005, The Timken Company 2006, Tucker Innovations 2010.
  • InSituTec, 2011 to 2012.
  • South Carolina, 2012 to 2016.
  • UNC Charlotte, 2016 to 2021; tenured 2020 to 2021.
  • Mammoth, 2017 to 2018.
  • Bravo Team, 2018 to now; CEO 2018 to 2025; Chairman 2025 to now.
  • Licensed PE, North Carolina, 2020 to now.
  • Talks and panels: 17 in all, two of them the Early Career Forum at MSEC, 2014 and 2025. 2012 (2), 2013 (2), 2014 (2), 2015 (3), 2016 (2), 2019, 2021, 2025 (4).
  • 2025 to nowFounder and Chairman · Bravo Team
  • 2018 to 2025Founder and CEO · Bravo Team, founded January 2018
  • 2020 to 2021Associate Professor, tenured · University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • 2016 to 2020Assistant Professor · University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • 2017 to 2018Co-founder and CEO · Mammoth Machine and Design
  • 2012 to 2016Assistant Professor · University of South Carolina
  • 2011 to 2012NSF/ASEE Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow · InSituTec, Inc.
  • 2010Software Developer · Tucker Innovations
  • 2006 to 2011Research Assistant and Teaching Fellow · Clemson University
  • 2006Mechanical Engineering Intern, system identification · The Timken Company
  • 2005Mechanical Engineer, high-voltage switch test and fabrication · Southern States LLC
  • 2005Mechanical Engineer, energy audits · Georgia Tech Economic Development Center
  • 1999 to 2007Platoon Sergeant, Staff Sergeant (E-6) · U.S. Army Reserve

Army service

U.S. Army Reserve, 1999 to 2007. Staff Sergeant. Combat Action Badge. Platoon sergeant responsible for 22 soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait, April 2003 to April 2004.

  • 2003 to 2004Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom · Platoon Sergeant, responsible for 22 soldiers
  • Combat Action Badge
  • Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal (2)
  • Honorable Discharge

Papers

Fifty-eight papers, 2008 to 2021, most of them peer reviewed.

Google Scholar ↗, as of October 5, 2026: 64 works listed, 1,280 citations, h-index 21, i10-index 27.

Scholar counts every listing, so its total runs higher than the 58 papers listed here.

Josh Tarbutton's lab built precise instruments from cheaper parts and tested them on real machines. The lab printed a plastic stage and steered the stage to within 25 nanometers, under a thousandth the width of a hair. He and his students found a new way to 3D print working piezoelectric sensors. The sensors turn a squeeze into voltage. Flick a patch about the size of a postage stamp and up to 130 volts, peak to peak, come out. In his doctoral work he moved tool-path math onto graphics chips and planned cuts free of gouges. On the Army-funded Apache research at USC, he and his colleagues pulled one number from vibration, and the number caught a leaking gearbox seal better than the standard indicators. His name comes first on six of the fifty-eight. On twenty-seven, a student or postdoc he trained comes first.

Sponsors, as PI or co-PI: National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, U.S. Army.

Research threads

Outside the threads (three papers): a robotic additive-subtractive composites framework, and from his Clemson years a radar rig which watched water soak into sand, and its journal follow-up, which reported where the radar ran low.

Research roles

  • NSF/ASEE Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow at InSituTec, 2011 to 2012, working on contact metrology for MEMS.
  • Core faculty on the North Carolina Consortium for Self-Aware Machining and Metrology at UNC Charlotte, 2018 to 2022.

Journal articles

Conference papers

(30)
  • 2019Measurement uncertainty evaluation of cosine error-free surface profile measuring systemGuo, X., J. Han, C. Lee, and J. Tarbutton. 34th ASPE Annual Meeting, 2019, p. 380.
  • 2018An investigation of cosine error for scanning probe measurements of freeform surfacesBetters, E., R. Copenhaver, J. Tarbutton, T. L. Schmitz, and C. Lee. 33rd ASPE Annual Meeting, 2018, p. 466.
  • 2017A linear positioning stage using a thermal actuatorFan, C., S. T. Smith, and J. Tarbutton. 32nd ASPE Annual Meeting, 2017, pp. 451-455.
  • 2016Characterization of 3D printed piezoelectric sensors: determination of d33 piezoelectric coefficient for 3D printed polyvinylidene fluoride sensors ↗Kirkpatrick, Max B., Joshua A. Tarbutton, Tue Le, and ChaBum Lee. IEEE SENSORS 2016, pp. 1-3.
  • 2016Live demonstration: characterization of 3D printed piezoelectric sensors ↗Lee, ChaBum, Max B. Kirkpatrick, Joshua A. Tarbutton, and Tue Le. IEEE SENSORS 2016, p. 1.
  • 2016A framework for automated additive-subtractive manufacturing of multi-material compositesDe Backer, W., R. Harik, M. van Tooren, J. Tarbutton, and Z. Gurdal. 11th International Symposium on Tools and Methods of Competitive Engineering (TMCE 2016).
  • 2016Automated reconstruction of continuous robotic motion from g-code patterns ↗De Backer, W., M. B. Kirkpatrick, R. Harik, and J. A. Tarbutton. CAD'16, 2016, pp. 316-321. Extended abstract.
  • 2015Long-term positioning effectiveness of additive manufactured monolithic double compound notch type flexure stageLee, ChaBum, Sun-Kyu Lee, and J. A. Tarbutton. ASPE 2015 Spring Topical Meeting, pp. 26-29.
  • 2015On-machine measurement of cutting tool damage based on optical knife-edge diffractionLee, ChaBum, Hwan-Sik Yoon, Kwun-Lon Ting, Joshua A. Tarbutton, Jonathan D. Ellis, and Sun-Kyu Lee. 15th Annual Early Career Conference, November 7-8, 2015.
  • 2015Novel displacement sensing technique utilizing knife edge diffractionLee, ChaBum, Sun-Kyu Lee, and Joshua A. Tarbutton. ASPE Annual Meeting, November 1-6, 2015.
  • 2015Improvement of a periodic error compensation algorithm based on the continuous wavelet transformLu, C., J. A. Tarbutton, C. Lee, J. D. Ellis, and T. L. Schmitz. ASPE Annual Meeting, November 1-6, 2015.
  • 2015Dimensional metrology of complex geometries built by additive manufacturingVillarraga, Herminso, ChaBum Lee, Steven P. Charney, Joshua A. Tarbutton, and Stuart T. Smith. ASPE Topical Meeting, April 26-29, 2015.
  • 2015Preliminary study of corona-assisted additive manufacturing process of piezoelectric thermoplasticLee, ChaBum, Rajib Mahamud, Tanvir Farouk, and Joshua A. Tarbutton. ASPE Topical Meeting, April 26-29, 2015.
  • 2015Assessing additive manufacturing processes with X-ray metrologyVillarraga, Herminso, ChaBum Lee, Taylor Corbett, Joshua A. Tarbutton, and Stuart T. Smith. ASPE Topical Meeting, April 26-29, 2015.
  • 2014Periodic error compensation using frequency measurement with continuous wavelet transformLu, C., J. Tarbutton, J. Troutman, T. L. Schmitz, and J. D. Ellis. ASPE 2014 Annual Meeting, November 9-14, 2014.
  • 2014Fatigue property development and optimization of additive manufactured acrylonitrile butadiene styrene partsCorbett, Taylor, ChaBum Lee, and Joshua A. Tarbutton. RAPID 2014, June 9-12, 2014.
  • 2014Identification of mechanical and fatigue characteristics of polymers fabricated by additive manufacturing processCorbett, Taylor, ChaBum Lee, and Joshua A. Tarbutton. ASPE Summer Topical Meeting, April 13-16, 2014.
  • 2014Nanolubricant oil additives for performance improvement of the intermediate gearbox in the AH-64D helicopter ↗Gouda, Kareem, Joshua Tarbutton, Jake McVay, and Abdel Bayoumi. AHS 70th Annual Forum, May 20-22, 2014.
  • 2013Application of wavelet analysis in heterodyne interferometryLu, C., S. G. Gillmer, J. D. Ellis, T. L. Schmitz, and J. A. Tarbutton. 28th ASPE Annual Meeting, October 20-25, 2013.
  • 2013GPGPU accelerated 3-axis CNC machining simulation ↗Konobrytskyi, D., T. R. Kurfess, J. A. Tarbutton, and T. Tucker. MSEC 2013, June 10-14, 2013.
  • 2013AH-64D swashplate test stands: improving understanding of component behavior in rotorcraft swashplates through external sensors ↗Edwards, Travis, Thomas Hartmann, Andrew Patterson, Samuel Bernstel, Joshua Tarbutton, Abdel Bayoumi, Damian Carr, and Lester Eisner. AHS Airworthiness, CBM, and HUMS Specialists' Meeting, February 2013.
  • 2013A study of nanoparticle additives on the performance of the AH-64 intermediate gearbox lubricant to achieve CBM objectives ↗Gouda, Kareem, Mohsen Nikhoo, Steve Marcous, Abdel Bayoumi, Joshua Tarbutton, Kenneth Eberts, Ganesh Skandan, Damian Carr, and Lester Eisner. AHS Airworthiness, CBM, and HUMS Specialists' Meeting, February 11 to 13, 2013.
  • 2013Nonlinear vibration-interaction metric for health assessment of helicopter drivetrain systems ↗Hassan, Mohammed A., Yong June-Shin, Abdel E. Bayoumi, Joshua Tarbutton, Lester Eisner, and Jerry Higman. AHS Airworthiness, CBM, and HUMS Specialists' Meeting, February 2013.
  • 2013Component testing for the smart predictive system ↗Cao, Alex, Joshua Tarbutton, Rhea McCaslin, Erin Ballentine, Lester Eisner, and Abdel-Moez Bayoumi. AHS 69th Annual Forum, 2013.
  • 2013Condition-based maintenance at the University of South Carolina: a smart predictive system ↗Cao, A., A. Bayoumi, J. Tarbutton, and L. Eisner. AHS 69th Annual Forum, 2013, pp. 1-7.
  • 2012Fiber-coupled 3-DOF interferometer for EUV lithography stage metrologyEllis, J. D., S. G. Gillmer, C. Wang, R. Smith, S. C. Woody, and J. A. Tarbutton. ASPE Summer Topical Meeting, Precision Engineering and Mechatronics Supporting the Semiconductor Industry, June 24-26, 2012.
  • 2012Miniature, fiber-coupled 3-DOF interferometer for precision micromotion stage metrologyGillmer, S. R., R. C. G. Smith, S. C. Woody, J. Tarbutton, and J. D. Ellis. 27th ASPE Annual Meeting, 2012, pp. 77-80.
  • 2010Automated multi-offset ground penetrating radar data collection for monitoring lab-scale infiltration experiments ↗Mangel, A. R., S. M. Moysey, J. C. Ryan, and J. A. Tarbutton. SEG Expanded Abstracts 29 (2010): 3774.
  • 2010Machining by ray casting into voxel modelsTarbutton, J., T. R. Kurfess, and T. M. Tucker. 2010 International Symposium on Flexible Automation, July 12-14, 2010, UPL-2503.
  • 2009Feedback delays for vibration mitigation and external disturbance rejection at the microscale ↗Qaroush, Y., M. F. Daqaq, R. Saeidpourazar, J. Tarbutton, and N. Jalili. 50th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, May 4-8, 2009.

Federal technical report

Patents

Named inventor on four issued U.S. patents. One reads nanometer motion from light bending past a knife edge. Two cover a robotic printer which wraps continuous fiber in plastic, for parts strong enough for aircraft ducting. One is a collar which teaches a dog to stop pulling on the lead.

Named inventor

  • 2024Integrated robotic 3D printing system for printing of fiber reinforced parts (continuation of 10,814,607) · U.S. Patent 12,070,895 ↗ · with Van Tooren, Gurdal and Harik · Granted August 27, 2024
  • 2022Lead training devices and methods · U.S. Patent 11,445,707 ↗ · with Orlovsky and Burch · Granted September 20, 2022
  • 2020Integrated robotic 3D printing system for printing of fiber reinforced parts · U.S. Patent 10,814,607 ↗ · with Van Tooren, Gurdal and Harik · Granted October 27, 2020
  • 2017Optical displacement sensing system utilizing edge diffraction · U.S. Patent 9,746,321 ↗ · with Lee · Granted August 29, 2017

As Google Patents printed them, October 1, 2026.

Teaching and talks

Nine years on the faculty at the University of South Carolina and UNC Charlotte, with tenure in 2020 and two teaching awards. His lab trained six doctoral students, two of whom finished during his faculty years, along with three master's students, a postdoctoral researcher, ten undergraduates and five high school students. Seventeen talks and panels, 2012 to 2025. He sat on the Early Career Forum panel at MSEC in 2014 as an assistant professor and in 2025 as a company founder.

Courses developed and taught

University of South Carolina

2012 to 2016

  • EMCH 201 Numerical Methods
  • EMCH 220 Fundamentals of Mechanical Engineering for Non-majors
  • EMCH 260 Introduction to Mechanics of Materials
  • EMCH 516 Control Theory in Mechanical Engineering
  • EMCH 561/792 Dynamical Systems and Signal Processing
  • EMCH 764 Signal Processing for Mechanical Engineers

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2016 to 2021

  • MEGR 3090 The Art of Controlling Machines
  • MEGR 3221 Machine Analysis and Design
  • MEGR 3255 Senior Design I
  • MEGR 3256 Senior Design II
  • MEGR 7090 Graduate Design

Invited talks, panels and workshops

  • 2025Industry discussion, Production Control class and the Manufacturing Club and lab, University of Georgia College of Engineering, November 6, 2025 (tour of the Innovation Factory and the Delta Innovation Hub).
  • 2025Panelist, NSF Early Career Forum, MSEC/NAMRC 2025, June 25, 2025.
  • 2025"Anyone Can Be a Hero," talk and Q&A, Sigma Eta Pi, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, March 6, 2025.
  • 2025"Anyone Can Be a Hero," talk and Q&A, Pi Sigma Epsilon, Appalachian State University, February 18, 2025.
  • 2021Tutorial, "Scrum for Hardware Design," ASPE 36th Annual Meeting, October 28, 2021 (co-taught with David G. Ullman).
  • 2019Workshop, "Scrum for Hardware Design," ASME IDETC/CIE 2019 (co-developed and co-taught). my picks
  • 2016"Revisiting Subtractive Manufacturing and Exploiting Additive Manufacturing to Create Sensors and Actuators," University of North Carolina at Charlotte, April 7, 2016.
  • 2016"Revisiting Subtractive Manufacturing and Exploiting Additive Manufacturing to Create Sensors and Actuators," Washington State University, April 14, 2016. my picks
  • 2015Tutorial, "System Identification," ASPE Annual Meeting, 2015 (developed and taught). my picks
  • 2015"Precision Additive Manufacturing of Smart Materials and Devices," Clemson University, March 6, 2015.
  • 2015Panelist, "Academic Career Pursuit," March 6, 2015.
  • 2014Invited talk, "Overview of Additive Manufacturing," Aerospace Industry Day, August 19, 2014.
  • 2014Panelist, Early Career Forum, MSEC 2014.
  • 2013Invited talk, Pi Tau Sigma, "The Engineering Journey and Productivity," 2013. Given again to other audiences and in most of his courses.
  • 2013"Automated Digital Machining for Parallel Processors," University of South Carolina A-wing seminar series, August 2013.
  • 2012"Voxel Based Machining for Parallel Processors," University of South Carolina CSCE 791 Seminar on Advances in Computing, fall 2012.
  • 2012Panelist, "The Role of Communication in Engineering," Dr. Xiaoli Li's class, University of Dayton, September 2012.

Honors and awards

  • 2016Mungo Teaching Award · University of South Carolina
  • 2015Pi Tau Sigma Junior Faculty of the Year · University of South Carolina
  • 2020Tenure · University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • Teaching Fellow · Clemson University

Students

  • 6Doctoral students
  • 2Doctorates completed
  • 3Master's students
  • 1Postdoctoral researcher
  • 10Undergraduate researchers
  • 5High school researchers

Service

The field

Editing, refereeing and committee work for the precision engineering and manufacturing communities.

  • Associate Editor, Precision Engineering · Elsevier · 2015 to 2019
  • Mechatronics and Controls Technical Leadership Committee · ASPE
  • Reviewer for the National Science Foundation and for journals, conferences and societies
    • National Science Foundation, CMMI division
    • Computer-Aided Design
    • Machining Science and Technology
    • Computer-Aided Design and Applications
    • Journal of Vibration and Control
    • Advances in Mechanical Engineering
    • SME NAMRC and ASME MSEC
    • American Society for Precision Engineering
  • Member or past member of ASPE, ASME, ASEE, IEEE, SME and AHS

The university

  • Committees and coordinator roles · UNC Charlotte · 2016 to 2021
    • Graduate Mentor Award Selection Committee (2020 to 2021)
    • Controls Position Search Committee (2019 to 2021)
    • Senior Design Committee, Mechanical Engineering representative (2016 to 2019)
    • Graduate Design Team Coordinator (2017 to 2021)
  • Faculty Senator · University of South Carolina · 2013 to 2015
  • Committees · University of South Carolina
    • Academic Integrity Committee
    • Departmental Website Committee
    • Academic Aerospace Committee
    • Search Committee (2014)
    • Mechanical Engineering Design FAIT Committee

Community

  • Member, Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO) Charlotte · since 2022
  • Volunteer coach, EO Charlotte Accelerator · 2023 to 2024
  • Participant, EO Charlotte Accelerator · 2019 to 2022
  • Carolina Scholars Mentor · 2012 to 2016
  • Big Fridays faculty tours and First Year Reading Experience · University of South Carolina · 2012 to 2016
  • Carolina Master Scholars Adventure Series, Vex Robotics · 2012 to 2014
  • Mentor, TMINUS6 accelerator · USC · 2014
  • Adventures in Engineering, the most popular Carolina Master Scholars class to that date · 2013
  • E-Week 3D printing demonstrations · annual

Bravo Team

He founded Bravo Team in January 2018 in Cornelius, North Carolina, while he taught full time at UNC Charlotte.

Founder and CEO, 2018 to May 2025. Founder and Chairman, May 2025 to now.

  • Inc. 5000: No. 1,558 (2023), No. 489 (2024), No. 301 (2025).
  • Charlotte Business Journal Fast 50: No. 2 (2024), No. 5 (2025).
  • Named one of the 100 fastest-growing veteran-owned businesses in America, 2025 and 2026.

Ranks appear as Inc., the Charlotte Business Journal and the IVMF printed them.

For the company itself, go to bravoteam.tech ↗.

Facts as of October 4, 2026.