APE founder, Daniel Hester, has always searched for a better way to do work. Growing up as a carpenter by trade,  he came to appreciate the tools that made his work easier. Once he became an engineer, he was drawn to designing products to enhance productivity, efficiency, and safety.

While working as a field engineer building bridges (including the Bay St. Louis Bridge in Mississippi and the San Francisco Bay Bridge in California), he designed many material lifting, handling, and access solutions. He even built prototypes in his own garage late into the night.

Building on his skills and experience as a bridge builder, Daniel founded and led Hester Fabrication in Silicon Valley, a company that designs and builds components for industry leaders in Tech, Automotive, Energy, Aerospace, and Defense, including companies like Google, Apple, and Tesla.

In order to live in a better place for both business and family, Daniel sold Hester Fabrication and moved to Texas to found American Precision Engineering and build a company that focuses on complex design and fabrication for visionary companies.
​
Daniel’s broad experience of building things gives APE a wide lens to view solutions to challenging problems. His passion for quality, productivity, and customer satisfaction are founding principles that make up the culture of the business today.