The DTB Family is Growing – Congratulations to the May Family!!!
But a Windblast Gender Reveal?
How the idea was hatched...
Late one night, Matt gave Steve Marini, Senior Vice President, Engineering & Test Division, the good news that Katherine was expecting their second child. After congratulating the father to be, Steve mentioned the possibility of using DTB’s unique capabilities to announce the news via a gender reveal. Matt and Katherine were immediately on board and excited about the idea. From there, it was just a matter of coordinating the gender paperwork transfer from the doctor to the DTB team, foregoing Matt and Katherine of course, and then keeping the results top secret which proved to be the most difficult part. Once the test team was assembled, led by Warren Halbig, Engineering Manager at DTB, the engineers, doing what they do best, were left to figure out how to make it happen.
The Team Planned...
The windblast team put their heads together to create the ultimate gender reveal. Keeping the windblast equipment and sensors clean was paramount. To accomplish this, pipes were mounted to each side of the aircraft seat and filled with 10 pounds of corn starch for the trial run and to assess the testing approach. All pipe ends were covered with tissue paper which then ruptures during the air blast sending the corn starch everywhere. For reveal day, the team used blue powder sourced from a vendor, taking great care to ensure no signs of the colored powder was revealed prior to the actual test.
Reveal Day
When reveal day arrived, Matt and Katherine were excited and eager for the result since they had postponed buying baby things or painting the nursery until they knew the outcome. Matt predicted a boy and became convinced that everyone in the plant was wearing blue that day while Katherine was steadfast in her belief that it would be another girl. At the appointed time, Matt, Katherine and their daughter gathered by the windblast test facility with several DTB employees for the big moment. With Steve Marini conducting a Zoom meeting so employees at other facilities and family members could participate, the countdown began. The results were received to happy applause and a surprised May family. Their daughter was especially pleased with the blue smoke and news of a baby brother on the way and thinks she should come back to work and do it all again! Afterwards, employees gathered for blue cake in Memorial Hall and celebrated the May family news. Please join as we congratulate and celebrate this special moment in the May family’s life.
DTB keeps growing!The DTB family continues to grow – we've added 68 new employees in the past year! We have also experienced some organic growth and want to share with you how the May family announced their newest member. Matt, our Dynamics & Environmental Department Manager, and Katherine, a Metallurgist, were the guests of honor at a gender reveal party hosted by their work team and carried out as only test engineers could – using windblast testing.
About Dayton T. Brown, Inc.
For over 70 years, Dayton T. Brown, Inc. (DTB) has been synonymous with excellence and exceptional customer service. As a leading organization in testing, engineering, logistics, technical publications, and military mission system, DTB has earned national respect and recognition.
Established in 1950 and headquartered in Bohemia, NY, the company has evolved into three divisions: Engineering & Test, Technical Services, and Mission Systems, each with diverse yet complementary operations. Within the Mission Systems Division, situated in PAX River, MD, DTB offers mobile SCIF trailers and a comprehensive range of aircraft modifications capabilities to support vital missions.
With a wealth of engineering expertise, DTB possesses the necessary breadth and depth to comprehend system requirements, encompassing design, prototyping, production, and mission support. We are dedicated to delivering the optimal solution for your mission-critical program.