Where Innovation Meets Purpose
Design • Fabricate • Create • Empower
RAD Design & Fabrication is a Davenport, Iowa-based design, prototyping, and small-scale manufacturing business dedicated to transforming ideas, challenges, and everyday problems into practical solutions.
We combine modern manufacturing technology with traditional craftsmanship to develop custom products, replacement components, functional prototypes, and creative solutions for individuals, businesses, educators, and communities.
But RAD Design & Fabrication is more than a manufacturing business.
Our mission is to remove barriers to create experiences.
That commitment influences what we design, how we approach challenges, and the people we hope to serve.
What We Do
Our capabilities bring several fabrication disciplines together under one business.
- 3D Printing and Product Development: Functional products, prototypes, customized components, and practical solutions.
- 3D Scanning and Reverse Engineering: Digitizing existing objects to support redesign, product development, and the reproduction of hard-to-find components.
- CNC Routing and Woodworking: Custom signs, decorative products, precision-routed components, and personalized wood creations.
- Laser Engraving: Customized gifts, signage, identification products, and engraved designs.
- Metal Fabrication: Custom metal components, decorative products, and practical fabrication projects.
- Powder Coating: Protective and decorative finishes for suitable metal products.
- Replacement Parts and Custom Solutions: Designing alternatives when existing parts are unavailable, discontinued, or difficult to obtain.
- Home and Outdoor Products: Functional and decorative products designed for everyday living and outdoor spaces.
Our approach is straightforward: understand the problem, explore possible solutions, develop a design, create a prototype when appropriate, and refine the finished product.
We believe that some of the most valuable innovations begin with a simple question:
“Why doesn’t somebody make something for that?”
Accessibility Is at the Heart of Our Mission
Accessibility is not an afterthought at RAD Design & Fabrication. It is one of the reasons our business exists.
Our founder, David Hereid Jr., is visually impaired and understands firsthand how everyday products, technologies, and environments can create unnecessary barriers.
That lived experience helps shape our approach to product development and encourages us to consider accessibility from the earliest stages of design.
We believe people with disabilities should have meaningful opportunities to participate in activities that others may take for granted, including education, recreation, independent living, and hands-on learning.
Our accessibility-focused work includes tactile products, adaptive concepts, accessible labeling solutions, educational models, and other practical tools designed to support greater independence and participation.
We recognize that accessibility is not one-size-fits-all. Effective solutions begin by understanding the needs and experiences of the people who will use them.
Our goal is not simply to manufacture products. It is to create opportunities.
RAD Multisensory Learning
One of our developing initiatives is RAD Multisensory Learning, an approach to educational product design that brings together accessibility, hands-on exploration, and multiple ways of experiencing information.
Traditional educational materials often rely heavily on visual presentation. We believe learning opportunities should extend beyond what someone can see.
Through tactile models, raised features, interactive components, audio-supported resources, and other accessible technologies, RAD Multisensory Learning aims to make complex subjects more understandable and engaging for learners with diverse abilities.
Our long-term vision includes resources for schools, educators, conservation organizations, families, and community programs.
The objective is to create learning experiences that encourage exploration, curiosity, and participation.
Conservation and Environmental Education
We believe that experiencing and understanding the natural world should be possible for everyone.
Our conservation and environmental education interests include wildlife, habitat preservation, watersheds, aquatic ecosystems, and outdoor learning.
Through RAD Multisensory Learning, we are exploring accessible educational resources such as tactile watershed models, wildlife and habitat models, interactive displays, and hands-on teaching materials.
We are currently developing accessible supplemental learning resources connected with Fish Iowa, Project WILD, and Project Aquatic WILD, with an emphasis on hands-on, tactile, and multisensory approaches. These are independent development efforts and do not imply official endorsement by those programs.
In addition to educational resources, our fabrication capabilities support the development of outdoor products such as birdhouses, wildlife habitat structures, and other conservation-related creations.
By combining fabrication technology with accessibility-minded educational design, we hope to help more people connect with nature and develop a deeper appreciation for conservation.
Custom Manufacturing With a Personal Approach
We understand that not every project fits neatly into a standard product catalog.
Sometimes a customer needs a discontinued replacement part. Sometimes an educator has an idea for a hands-on teaching tool. Sometimes a person needs a product adapted to make an everyday activity easier.
And sometimes someone simply wants to bring a creative idea to life.
At RAD Design & Fabrication, we welcome those conversations.
We believe practical innovation comes from listening, asking questions, testing ideas, and being willing to approach a problem differently.
Our work is guided by functionality, thoughtful design, appropriate materials, and a commitment to continuous improvement.
Our Vision for the Future
Our vision is to grow RAD Design & Fabrication into a business where manufacturing, accessibility, education, and conservation work together.
We want to develop useful products, support creative problem-solving, expand opportunities for accessible learning, and contribute to projects that make a meaningful difference.
We are building that future one design, one prototype, and one solution at a time.
More Than Products. A Purpose.
At RAD Design & Fabrication, we believe innovation should be measured not only by what we create, but also by what our creations make possible.
Whether we are producing a custom component, developing an accessible educational model, or exploring a new conservation-related product, our purpose remains the same.
Removing Barriers to Create Experiences.
RAD Design & Fabrication
Design • Fabricate • Create • Empower
