Long before the Will It Blend? series exploded on YouTube, Tom Dickson was blending 2x2s with his blenders to determine their capability. Not surprising for this engineer and inventor, who grew up putting big engines in little things.

Back in 1975, Tom’s curiosity was piqued when he used a vacuum to clean up some spilled wheat kernels. His innate inquisitiveness drove him to revolutionize the home wheat milling industry, taking it from stone grinding to his patented stainless steel milling heads. Like most inventors, Tom didn’t stop there. He envisioned the perfect mixer using the freshly milled flour from his mill to make wholesome bread in minutes. When back in the lab, Tom developed an autoknead feature, enabling the mixer to knead the dough, develop the gluten and turn off automatically when finished. Tom continued to improve the mixer and decided to add a blender with a square jar, rather than the conventional round jar. As Tom expanded his mill and mixer business, new ideas developed. He enhanced the blender and began developing commercial blending machines just as the smoothie era began.

Fast forward a few decades to the present: Tom is still inventing and the company is still growing! Walking into the world of Blendtec, you’ll find the innovative engineering team and their “torture chamber,” you’ll see the international team preparing for where their travels will take them next, and you’ll glimpse Tom scooting off to blend up his next invention.

Today, people all around the world use Blendtec blenders in their homes, restaurants, smoothie shops, coffee shops and more. We continue to keep dreaming of new and better ways to build machines that improve the lives of others. It all began with one man and his curiosity. He has shared that vision with others, and with his team, the dream continues to unfold.