Tom Caldwell
President, Co-Founder

Tom Caldwell relates running a successful business to coaching a team.

You take a group of people figure out their strength and weaknesses, then reinforce their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Take those people put them in the right position and with proper leadership you will have a successful team. He was quickly rising the corporate ladder when he had a wake up call – the birth of his first son.

“I saw so many people with kids who said ‘I can’t do this’, ‘I can’t do that’, not because those things were all that valuable but because someone above them in the organization considered them a priority,” he says. “My greatest commitment in life is being a dad and I made a decision to find a way that I could succeed in the business world while being a very present and active father.”

Right now that means coaching their sports teams and supporting their activities. In fact on most evening and weekend afternoons you will find Tom on the field or on the court coaching one of his son's teams.

He has a broad background in application engineering, product support, sales, logistics, project and business management.  Prior to co-founding TDI Products in March, 2000, he spent three years establishing and managing the U.S. office for Autofill AB, a Swedish company that has developed the first automated refueling robot for automobiles. His duties included all technical, operations and customer support staffing, organization development, project planning and budgeting. He was also responsible for obtaining regulatory approvals, completing the first installations in the U.S. and establishing service, maintenance and spare parts requirements.

Prior to Autofill, Caldwell was the Aftermarket Programs Manager for Unison Industries.  In this position, he was responsible for all Aftermarket programs to the U.S. airlines, military and general aviation customers.  He developed new products and programs to address specific industry applications and field problems.  He grew the aftermarket sales program from $5 million to $12 million in three years.

He started his career with GE Aircraft Engines.  While at GE he was a Flight Test Engineer responsible for initial and follow on flight-testing of GE turbine engines. He worked on programs such as the ATF, F-16, B-2 and F-14. 

Caldwell holds a MS in Resource Management from Chapman University in Orange, CA, a BS in Aircraft Maintenance Management from Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL and an AS in Aviation Technology from Embry Riddle.  He has been married to his first and only wife for 18 years and is the father of two son Matthew and Mark.

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