We Build Things That Help Keep Kids Safe

A Classmate's Arm and a Saw

Joel was a student at Central High when a classmate suffered a serious arm injury from a saw in the school's shop. It was the kind of incident that stays with you — the kind that makes you look at every unguarded machine differently.

"If a system like ours existed back then," Joel says, "that very likely wouldn't have happened."

At the time, there was nothing he could do about it. The technology didn't exist. The conversation about electronic access control for workshop equipment hadn't started yet. So the memory sat there — unresolved — for years.

The Jointer in the Garage

Years later, Joel's young son turned on a jointer in his garage.

A jointer's cutterhead spins at 6,000+ RPM with exposed blades. There's no SawStop equivalent, no flesh detection, no automatic braking. It's one of the most dangerous tools in any shop — and a child had just powered it on with no training, no authorization, and no one standing next to him.

That was the tipping point. The saw accident had been someone else's failure to prevent. The jointer was his own. And unlike a decade earlier, he was now in a position to build the thing that should have existed all along.

Building the Solution

Joel and Marco co-founded GRIT Automation to solve the problem at the machine level. Not a better guard. Not a better sign. A system that prevents unauthorized users from powering on dangerous equipment in the first place.

GRIT's access control works like this: every machine gets a Trigger module that controls power. Users authenticate at a SignOn kiosk — tap a badge, scan a phone, enter a code. The system checks their credentials and training certifications. Authorized? The machine unlocks. Not authorized? It stays off. No exceptions, no workarounds, no relying on someone to remember.

Every access attempt — granted or denied — is logged with a timestamp and user ID. When an administrator or insurer asks "who was on that machine and when?" you have the answer.

$41,000 and 100 Hours Back to Central High

Two years ago, Joel and Marco brought the system back to where the problem started. They donated and installed a full GRIT safety system in Central High School's wood and automotive shops — a $41,000 installation, with more than 100 hours of their own labor.

The shop where Joel's classmate was injured now runs GRIT access control on every machine. Students authenticate before equipment powers on. Training certifications are enforced electronically. Every session is logged.

It's not lost on either of them what this means. The school that shaped them now has the system they wish had existed when they were students there.

The Shop Student Who Came Back

Marco took shop class at Central High. He wasn't planning to co-found a technology company at the time — he was a kid figuring things out.

That curiosity led him from the Central High shop to co-founding a company that builds the safety systems protecting the students who sit where he sat. The donation wasn't charity. It was personal.

From One School to Three Countries

The Central High installation wasn't a one-off. GRIT systems now run in universities and makerspaces across the United States, Canada, and Australia. Schools like the University of Tennessee's Kao Innovation Lab use GRIT to manage student access across CNC routers, laser cutters, and woodworking equipment.

The education mission that started with a donated system at an alma mater has become a core part of what GRIT does. If you run a school shop, makerspace, or CTE lab, we built this for exactly your situation. Learn more on our education solutions page, or read our deeper dive on how access control works in school shops.

The News-Gazette covered the award and the story behind it. You can read the full articles here:

• CUSF honorees 'build things that help keep kids safe'
• Meet the headliners of the CU Schools Foundation's awards Class of '26

"We build things that help keep kids safe."