MME’s Origin Story
In the mid-1980s, Steve McEvoy, Rob Campbell, and Ray Mah met at the University of Alberta (U of A) where they were studying Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, they continued into post graduate studies; Steve and Ray worked in the field of biomechanics for their Master’s degrees, and Rob went on to get his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford.
After graduation, Ray worked as an Environmental Engineer conducting toxic landfill cleanup and industrial automation. Rob ended up at GE Research & Development in upstate New York.
Steve pursued biomechanical research on the human temporomandibular joint (TMJ) as part of his Masters in Mechanical Engineering program. This brought Steve into the community of radiologists, orthodontists, oral surgeons, and dentists.
At the time, computers for small business were just becoming mainstream (the Intel 386 processor had just come out), and Steve found he had an aptitude for the technology. When he made suggestions like, “It would be great if the Engineering Department and the CAD Department could share computer files,” he was fortunate enough to have supervisors that said, “Good Idea – Go For It!”. Eventually this led to him working on a team linking 400 employees over 19 nationwide offices together. Now a keen hobbyist and located in the Bay Area, Steve, just for fun, began to do product reviews and write articles for popular computer magazines. Ask him about his first publication in PC World.
Steve’s close ties with Dr. David Hatcher and ddi Imaging Centers kept him in contact with the dental specialist community. Eventually they began calling on Steve to help them integrate computers and emerging dental technologies into their practices. Soon, Steve determined that there was a full time need in this niche market and he quit his day job as an engineer to focus on technology planning and integration for dental specialists. In 1997 McEvoy Mechanical Engineering (MME, a sole proprietorship) was born.
MME worked for anyone and everyone as the business got started. Lawyers, Accountants, Jewelers, Dentists, Orthodontists, Oral Surgeons, and anyone else that needed IT help (and many of those clients are still with us 20+ years later). Soon overwhelmed by the workload, Steve convinced friends from his engineering days at the U of A to partner with him. In 1999 Rob joined bringing along his engineering, IT, and programming skills, and soon they both were working 60 hours a week. In 2000 Ray came on board adding even more IT and industrial automation abilities to the team, and again they were all still working 60 hours a week.
In 2001 Dr. Hatcher met with the boys to reflect on how the business was growing (or doomed to implode) and we got serious about building a business, not just working for customers. In 2001 they created the company we now know as MME Consulting, Inc. The next step was to begin to hire a proper team and MME’s first employee, Matt Harmony. Matt would report for work at Steve’s house every day. Steve and Matt worked side by side in the home office, hardware for clients was staged in the living room, and toddlers were found under foot and peering around doorways. Rob was next door in his house and Ray was in his house in Santa Clara.
After a rewarding career working in microbiology at Genentech, Karen joined the team to help with the accounting side of the business. Val, with many years of human resources management experience in a variety of industries, came on board to help with HR. Karen and Val also earned their degrees from the U of A.
In 2002 MME opened its first office in Sacramento (at the Marina on the Sacramento River). Next came the San Diego office in 2004, followed by the Santa Clara office in 2006. By 2008 we had outgrown the Sacramento Marina office, and we moved into the brand-new HQ building on Duckhorn Drive. We opened the Seattle office in 2015. MME continues to expand its HQ location as we grow.
Our strong connection with the dental specialist community continues to this day. Steve is often invited to speak at conferences, and this continues to be one of the key ways that we grow our business. Next time you stop by Steve’s office and notice the human skulls on the shelf, you will know they are an homage to where it all began.