George Rajala of Attleboro, Mass., a CNC Section Leader at Mechanology, prepares to make a precision cut in a metal disc using a computerized milling machine in the company’s plant. Rajala was testing one of the machine’s new cutters.

The Providence Journal / Bill Murphy

When engineers at Mechanology Inc. in Attleboro, Mass., set out to design a more efficient steam turbine to market worldwide, they discovered that a small competitor just 50 miles away had beaten them to it.

Instead of challenging the New England Steam Turbine Corp., Mechanology offered a partnership — in return for an exclusive licensing agreement, it would build and market NETSCO’s invention.

This month, the two companies finalized the arrangement, the first of its kind for Mechanology, a privately held company founded 18 years ago.

“The technologies they had developed were really state of the art,” Daniel E. Bullock, Mechanology’s vice president for business development, said in an interview yesterday. “It was an opportunity to benefit the two businesses.”

NETSCO’s single-stage steam turbine is already being sold to power and processing plants that use steam to run industrial equipment.

But Mechanology says its manufacturing capability and promotional muscle are considerably more robust.

Next month, the company is planning a large “coming-out party” for the turbine in Texas, at the Turbomachinery Symposium.

By October, Mechanology says it hopes to be building the equipment in Massachusetts.

“It’s proven and ready to go,” Bullock said. “They designed this from the ground up. This is a clean sheet, new design, probably the first in several decades.”

The licensing arrangement is a departure from Mechanology’s business strategy, which has centered on inventing and manufacturing so-called power-recovery products.

Mechanology equipment helps use “waste heat” to generate electricity, and increases the efficiency of fossil-fuel burning power-generating equipment.

The company was created in 1989 to develop and sell the Toroidal Intersecting Vane Machine, invented by Steve Chomyszak while he was studying at Stanford University.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Energy provided $2.7 million to promote research into Chomyszak’s fuel cell technology.

The U.S. Army has also supported Mechanology, contributing funds toward research into more efficient compressor and expander technologies for diesel engines and generators.

Last year, Mechanology created a subsidiary, General Compression Inc., to focus on wind energy technology that would capture and store wind power as compressed air. The compressed air would be available later for creating energy on demand, according to the company.

The partnership with NETSCO could result in a second subsidiary, helping establish Mechanology in the steam turbine industry, Bullock said.

“It gives us a foothold in the marketplace,” Bullock said, “and provides us with a launch pad to bring newer technologies over the next couple of years.”

Mechanology would not disclose the financial details of the partnership. It also declined to release its sales data, saying only that it generates between $1 million and $5 million annually.

The NETSCO partnership has already powered a rapid expansion at Mechanology.

This month, the company added 12,000 square feet of manufacturing space, signing a lease at a building in the Attleboro Industrial Park. Mechanology’s existing facility, on Water Street, is about 7,000 square feet.

To staff the new plant, Mechanology said it plans to hire as many as 15 new employees, more than doubling its manufacturing staff and bringing its total workforce to 36.

“We’re focused on expanding and growing,” Bullock said.

bgedan@projo.com