UNOH Grad Makes Impact in Diesel Performance Industry
Posted on Wednesday, April 15, 2020
UNOH Graduate, Owner of D&J Precision, Drew Pumphrey
Written by Communications Specialist Georgia Krebs
From the moment Drew Pumphrey had his own vehicle, he considered himself a gearhead. From playing with horsepower to sled pulling, he knew UNOH was a good fit when he learned about the university during high school.
Drew went to UNOH looking for a foundation in automotive repair and graduated in 2004 with an Automotive and Diesel degree. He took his passion of the diesel performance industry to Enterprise Engine Performance that specialized in high performance diesel engines. During this time, the owner looked to Drew to take lead on machining and running all the different parts for performance diesel engines. Once he acquired the knowledge and capabilities of running the whole facility, Drew started to transition away from Enterprise and took his skillset with him.
Customers didn’t want to lose Drew’s knowledge and expertise, and wanted him to continue working on their engines. Drew started building engines as a hobby with a little CNC Bridegeport Mill and taught himself how to use the machine and expanded his skills even more. He built up his side hustle into diagnosing engine failures and developing new products in house.
Out of those skills, D&J Precision was born and is now established as a high performance diesel engine shop, specializing in the Cummins engine. Drew and his team of employees work with a variety of customers that drag race and sled pull, as well as working on trucks that are simply the customer’s toys.
When an engine is built by D&J Precision, 90% of the parts are created in-house. This ensures quality control to customers and keeps turnaround time short. “UNOH did a really good job of teaching us the fundamentals,” he stated. “A lot of lab-orientated skills did a very good job of teaching the ‘how things work’. When you understand how it works, that’s when you can really fix everything.” This knowledge is how Drew became so successful with his custom builds.
“We had labs where we would take engines completely apart, learn how to measure them and diagnose failures,” Drew explained. “That’s all the techniques that I use to this day in my business. Class didn’t seem like class, it was a lot more hands on and pulling vehicles apart, suspensions, transmissions, everything.”
Drew built upon his knowledge from UNOH to become successful in the high performance diesel industry. Some of his customers are professionals that visit UNOH classes and inspire students such as Fire Punk Diesel and Freedom Racing Engines. True evidence to his success and impact within the industry.
“If that’s what you enjoy and what you’re passionate about, go for it,” Drew said of his time at UNOH. He has lived through his words and proven his hard work and dedication through D&J Precision. Drew knew he did not want a desk job, he wanted to jump into a career and get his hands dirty. In the future, Drew hopes to develop D&J Precision by branching out and offering a wider variety of products.
For information about the Diesel Technology program at UNOH, visit: https://www.unoh.edu/academics/college-of-applied-technologies/diesel-technology.html
Category: Applied Technologies
Keywords: Diesel Performance, Drew Pumphrey
