David Menna spent most of his teen years sanding bottoms, changing oil, and fixing (okay, sometimes breaking) boats in various marinas along the shores of Lake St. Clair, Michigan. Upon graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Naval Architecture program at the University of Michigan with the thought that any job involving boats was going to be something worth doing. While trained in traditional naval architecture, he spent a significant portion of his formal education mastering modern engineering, manufacturing, and lean production techniques. Focusing on these sciences allowed him to secure his first position as a production liaison/scheduler at Atlantic Marine in Jacksonville, FL. It wasn’t long after that he took a position as naval architect for Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Here he spent several years designing and retrofitting US Navy aircraft carriers and submarines amongst other hard to explain but fun to remember special projects. In order to expand his horizons and stay on the leading edge of marine technology, he next cold-called Donald Blount and asked him if his firm might be looking for a new employee to add to their staff. As luck would have it, David’s combined engineering, production, and CAD design skills were what the company was lacking and Blount decided to hire him that same day. The next 15 years at Blount were spent as production and naval architecture lead on design teams managing the successful execution of over 250 unique projects. Designs have ranged from 16-foot unmanned solar powered research vessels to 300-foot turbine driven planing craft with most everything in between. Today, David enjoys his time specializing in private yacht refit and new construction but he still keeps one foot in the commercial and military markets. David’s passion for his craft has not waned in over two decades of practice. If a sea vessel needs to be built or repaired, he is more than happy to be involved in the details of getting it done right the first time. These core values are at the heart of DFD’s business philosophy and we look forward to exercising our increased capabilities with him on staff.

Phone : (954)800-8900 Ext 7
Email : David@dfdinc.net