Hector Garza

Greensboro, NC · hectorg@smartxchain.com
smartxchain.com · cognitivefactory.ai

Summary

Process engineer with 25+ years in aerospace chemical processing — plating, anodizing, etching, paint, coat stripping — now building AI-powered manufacturing intelligence: SPC dashboards, data pipelines, and NCA/RCCA automation. NADCAP / AS9100 fluent; led audits across multiple OEMs. Ships internal tools with Claude Code, Codex, and Gemini.

Core Capabilities

Process & Manufacturing — Plating · Anodizing · Etching · Coat Stripping · Aerospace Paint · NADCAP · AS9100 · NCA / RCCA · Tank Chemistry · New-Process Qualification · Customer Audits

Data & AI Engineering — SPC / Statistical Process Control · ETL Pipelines · LLM Tooling (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini) · Internal Web Apps · Dashboards · Process Data Unification

Experience

TAT Technologies — Process Engineer Greensboro, NC · 2024 – Present
Machine Specialties Inc. — Process Engineer Whitsett, NC · 2019 – 2024
Senior SSP Aerospace — Quality Assurance Specialist Burbank, CA · 2018 – Oct 2019
Moog Inc. — Materials & Process Chemist Torrance, CA · 2012 – 2018
Danaher — Research Associate Orange, CA · 2000 – 2012

Independent Ventures

Founder — SmartXChain & Cognitive Factory 2021 – Present

smartxchain.com — analysis and news on frontier technology in blockchain and AI.

cognitivefactory.ai — setting up companies for the cognitive revolution; AI-native operating models for industrial and knowledge work.

Education

B.S., Chemistry — University of Michigan, 1996

Tools & Stack

Docker · Django · PostgreSQL · Git · Linux · Claude Code · Codex · Gemini · CAD (AutoDesk, SolidWorks)