A Peek into SparkFun's Quality Control Team

Meet the newest member of QC!

Hello! I'm the newest member of the Quality Control team. I have been with SparkFun for five years, and in my current position for almost a year. I started out in our Kitting department then was hired as an Assembly Tech (both are within the Production department), and now I work in Engineering.

There are three members of the QC team, and our specific title is Test Developer. Duties require that we work closely with the engineers here at SparkFun to develop testing equipment and testing procedures. We test all the boards designed and manufactured in house.

On a daily basis we are challenged with new products, to make sure each one functions properly and is ready for you to implement into your project. Whether it is a breakout board, a sensor or microcontroller, figuring out how to make a product fail and covering all scenarios to ensure it works has proven to be interesting, to say the least.

I’ve worked in several different lines of work, from Crew Chief for a moving company in Boston to bartending in nightclubs in Vegas, and each job was extremely dynamic. Everything in life requires a plan, and my current position requires planning unlike anything I have done to this point.

I’m not classically trained in electronics, and my previous work required a different approach to decision making - my brain worked in a much different capacity. Here I have time to be more methodical and deliberate in my actions. The service industry was very quick-paced and loud, and moving required Tetris-like decision making while loading a moving truck as boxes and furniture are coming at you. I’ve needed to retrain my brain to be effective in a much calmer environment. I have enjoyed this process and this switch has been welcomed as a new way to “work.”

What is your story? How have you had to adapt in new environments?