Surface Design Solutions exists to illuminate one of manufacturing’s most persistent and expensive blind spots: surface quality. Surface-related problems cost companies billions of dollars per year in scrap, rework, and lost time, and often require years of research to resolve.
Despite engineers having powerful tools to design and control dimensions, outdated metrics and trial-and-error testing all too often govern surface topography.
Surface Design Solutions changes that.
The new science of surfaces
We began with a question
How can we use the most advanced science of surfaces to ensure high-performing surfaces in manufacturing?
For more than two decades, our founders studied how surface topography governs friction, adhesion, flow, wear, and mechanical contact. Their academic research, supported by more than $9 million in funding and cited over 10,000 times in peer-reviewed literature, revealed a fundamental gap. Manufacturers were measuring surfaces but not systematically optimizing them.
That research became the foundation for a new approach: combining physics, machine learning, and real-world manufacturing data to make surface optimization practical. Through our Surface Designer software, what once required years of trial and error can now be addressed in minutes at a fraction of the cost.
Our Leadership
Tevis Jacobs
President, CEO, Co-Founder
With more than 20 years of experience in surface science and manufacturing, Tevis leads Surface Design Solutions at the intersection of research and real-world production. His work translates decades of scientific discovery into practical tools that help manufacturers reduce downtime, increase yield, and improve performance.
Lars Pastewka
Director of Data Science, Co-Founder
Lars brings over two decades of expertise in surface mechanics and computational modeling to the development of Surface Designer’s physics-informed machine learning engine. His research ensures that every metric is grounded in fundamental physics and built to address real manufacturing challenges.
Luke Thimons, PhD
Director of Customer Success, Co-Founder
Luke combines deep experience in experimental surface measurement with hands-on manufacturing insight. He works closely with customers to apply surface science in production environments, ensuring measurable improvements in quality, consistency, and throughput.
Our Mission
Optimize surface quality to make better products at lower cost.
Surface Design Solutions brings an unparalleled rigor to surface topography in manufacturing. Our physics-informed machine learning platform transforms raw surface measurements into meaningful, performance-driven specifications. The result is measurable improvements in yield, uptime, and production efficiency, not incremental tweaks, but structural gains in how products are designed and built.
What We Believe
Surfaces are critical
Surface finish controls friction, flow, adhesion, wear, and yield. Yet it is often managed with outdated metrics and guesswork. Surfaces deserve the same precision and discipline as dimensional control.
Science drives innovation
Academic research has long understood how surfaces govern performance. Knowledge should not just live in journals but rather, on the shop floor.
AI accelerates manufacturing
Engineers have powerful CAD tools for geometry and simulation tools for mechanics. We believe surface optimization should be just as systematic and accessible.
Better products at a lower cost
Every manufacturing process has surfaces. Few are optimized. Whether you’re troubleshooting persistent downtime or looking to push performance further, our team is ready to partner with you.