But when NASA needs to build a booster rocket using the right types of metal, or when a group of college students needs an advisor to help them create a solar car that can ride for 2000 miles on nothing but sunlight, or when a factory machine breaks down due to insufficient materials, metallurgy consultant Wayne Reitz has the expertise to make things work. Reitz is an independent contractor for his business, Reitz Metallurgy.  The company offers several services to its clients, including metallurgy training, failure analysis, software modeling, and corrosion investigation.

The Suit wanted to know what motivated Reitz to work with metal in the first place; he told us that in fact, he had originally studied nuclear engineering. But he realized that a career in the field was not ideal for him. “I did a job interview when I was still getting my bachelor’s degree,” he recalls. But once he learned more about the position, a frightening realization made him change his mind. “I found out that I could end up like Homer Simpson, sitting at the control panels all day,” he joked. Instead, Reitz finished his studies and then embarked on a journey with his wife. “I went into the Peace Corps for two years, and after being in the desert for so long, I didn’t consider myself a nuclear engineer anymore!” he said.

Reitz decided to go back to school with a different focus. “I had to think about what interests I had,” he said. “I thought long and hard, and there was one undergraduate course I had taken on corrosion, and I remember thinking how remarkable and interesting it was.”
Reitz earned a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering and went into the metal industry; today, his independent company has been in business for 10 years. Based in Fargo, N.D., Reitz Metallurgy has worked with clients all over the country, from Florida to Washington. The recession has resulted in some loss of income for the small business, but Reitz has taken advantage of the downtime to focus on marketing. He’s created and improved a website to make his services available to a wider audience, on top of existing ads in magazines and on the radio. He has also invested in Google adware, and he continues to gain customers through word-of-mouth as satisfied clients tell others about his services.

Most of Reitz’s work has been in failure analysis. When big machines fall apart—often costing manufacturers millions of dollars—Reitz can provide the expertise to make sure the problem is resolved. He explained that many companies tend to cut corners when purchasing their material, focusing more on price than quality and attempting to fix equipment on their own. In a weakening economy, that mistake becomes more common, and things break down. The end result is mechanical failure and even lawsuits; in those situations, Reitz can assist in proving claims against insurance companies. He has also done work for NASA; they needed to build some components of a booster rocket using non-spark coding. That means it was up to Reitz to determine which types of metals would fit the design without creating dangerous sparks.

Metallurgy is a niche field with a narrow focus, but Reitz has seen its importance firsthand. For every 250,000 mechanical engineers, there are only 1000 metallurgists who understand that the compounds of metal create a whole world of a difference in productivity. Mechanical engineers can only go so far, but Reitz believes that many companies should look for employees who specialize in metallurgy. “I think there would be fewer problems that way,” he said. “You’d have to pay somebody a salary and benefits, and sometimes companies look at the short-term investment as non-productive, but the return on that investment I think would be quite large because you’d have somebody on staff to deal with these problems. They come up routinely.” If someone within each company had some expertise regarding the mechanics of metal, many costly breakdowns could be prevented.

To that end, Reitz makes an effort to spread the knowledge he has gained over the years by working part-time as a college faculty member. His courses in Mechanical Engineering at North Dakota State University keep him in touch with the next generation of engineers.  Through the university, Reitz was involved in an exciting engineering project; he served as a faculty advisor for a team of students competing in the American Solar Challenge. The race requires competitors to design and build a solar-powered car, and its course runs through several cities along Route 66. Reitz worked with a group of industrious undergraduates. “I told the students it was their car, their race, and this was the only time they were allowed to tell me what to do.” The team accomplished their goal—a 2000-mile journey in under 10 days—with limited resources. “Our car was a low-end car. The rule of thumb is the lightest car wins, but since we were a young team, we had to use donations. So the brakes that we had to use came off a forklift,” he recalls with a laugh. Despite the extra weight, the team’s car made it all the way from Chicago to Los Angeles using a solar panel that generated about the same level of energy as a hair-dryer.
These days, Reitz is working on marketing his business while anticipating an economic recovery. As long as companies across the country are using metal in their manufacturing, Reitz will be on hand for training and consulting. As a specialist, he’s one of few who can deliver the focused advice and analysis that his clients need.