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Joshua Tarbutton spent eight years as an active Platoon Sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, directly leading soldiers and managing multi-million-dollar equipment operations in deployment environments . Transitioning to academia, he earned his PhD from Clemson, and went on to teach engineering at South Carolina and UNC Charlotte for nine years before founding Bravo Team in 2018. His aim: combine strategic leadership and deep technical know-how to “restore the dignity of the engineer’s experience.”

At Bravo Team, Joshua built a design-to-manufacture “one‑stop” shop for product development—empowering clients from ideation to prototyping and production. Their team works with industry leaders like Siemens, Curtiss‑Wright, and Stanley Black & Decker . Notably, he encourages his engineers with rapid iteration, ease of access to tools (like CNC, 3D printing, electronics), and a culture that nurtures experimentation.

Joshua’s leadership has fueled rapid company growth: Bravo Team was named No. 2 in Charlotte Business Journal’s Fast 50 (Top‑Growing Companies), and recognized as #489 on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list with 904% three‑year growth. The firm remains veteran‑owned and is moving toward employee‑ownership. Their work includes invention—like the Bravo Walk dog collar—and meaningful partnerships, such as fabricating medical shields during the 2020 pandemic.

Under Joshua’s leadership, Bravo Team hosts community-building events (like Charlotte’s first Hardware Meetup) and invests in team development through EOS, Lunch & Learns, and active participation in EO Charlotte. Joshua is also a licensed Professional Engineer, certified ScrumMaster, and a mentor in entrepreneurial ecosystems.

LINKS:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-tarbutton/

https://www.bravoteam.tech/

Aaron Moncur, host

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About Being An Engineer

The Being An Engineer podcast is a repository for industry knowledge and a tool through which engineers learn about and connect with relevant companies, technologies, people resources, and opportunities. We feature successful mechanical engineers and interview engineers who are passionate about their work and who made a great impact on the engineering community.

The Being An Engineer podcast is brought to you by Pipeline Design & Engineering. Pipeline partners with medical & other device engineering teams who need turnkey equipment such as cycle test machines, custom test fixtures, automation equipment, assembly jigs, inspection stations and more. You can find us on the web at www.teampipeline.us