Get to Know Jason Dunbar
Jason is General Manager and oversees all Austin Reliability Labs’ essential business functions and processes, ensuring ARL efficiently operates at a high capacity while guaranteeing the best testing results for ARL’s customers. What does it take to run the best-known reliability lab in Austin, TX? Let’s find out together as we Get to Know, Jason Dunbar!
Hello Jason! Tell us more about yourself – where do you come from? Where have you worked previously?
I’m a 7th generation Texan, originally born in Houston but have lived in Austin for the last 25 years. My family’s lineage can be traced all the way back to Texas’ formation. In fact, I’m related to one of the three Texas Army soldiers who captured Mexican Army General Santa Anna in 1836.
After graduating from Texas State University, I entered the semiconductor industry where I specialized in project management. Later, I directed my expertise into tech and managed computers for Dell.
You’ve been with the TyRex Family for over 16 years and joined around the time ARL was established. When did you join the ARL team and how long have you been managing the lab’s day-to-day? Are there any highlights that stand out?
That’s right, I’ve been managing ARL since Day 1! I helped write the original Quality Manual that guides all our testing and operations throughout the lab and have continuously drafted updates to the manual to ensure our quality management systems never stop improving.
It’s always exciting when we get to welcome new products into our facility. Seeing the very first iteration of a prototype morph into a fully finished product is my favorite aspect of the running the lab. It’s also fun getting to know the engineers behind these products and hearing about their project’s unique design journey.
Managing and keeping track of all the ongoing processes and customer test projects coming in and out of the door must require a high-level set of skills. Can you share some of these special skills and talents that you possess and use on a daily basis to make it all work?
The secret to my success is staying organized! I graduated with a business and accounting degree so that primed my thinking to be analytical and task-oriented. I developed my own project management technique to effectively oversee all operations associated with the reliability lab. This regularly includes assigning lab managers to compatible projects, allocating testing equipment and other resources to shift lab priorities and remain dynamic in nature, keeping track of a loaded test schedule and exploring potential avenues for making the lab more efficient as well as generating new business.
(Speaking of new business,) What are your major areas of focus in the lab and what are you looking to expand on in the lab as well as the TyRex Family more broadly?
Highly Accelerated Life Testing (HALT) and Highly Accelerated Stress Screening (HASS) testing have mostly always been our “bread and butter.” Battery, fan and environmental testing are favorites amongst electronics designers. A lot of engineers like to see how long their product can operate before it fails, and our testing chambers reliably give them that scope in a short span of time.
I, along with many Texans, have paid close attention as Austin and Texas are more broadly becoming hubs for Semiconductor manufacturing. Between the CHIPS Act and the rise of AI technologies, fabs need to develop more sophisticated products. To address potential needs in semiconductor testing, our lab is already stocked with the right equipment and have developed custom devices to meet high demands.
Not everyone is an expert in product testing, prototyping, engineering, or manufacturing in general. As an industry leader, what is one thing the average person ought to know about product reliability?
It’s important; it shows the design team what’s broken before the customer does! Like they say, “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”, the same is true about reliability testing: “a product is only as reliable as its weakest component.” Identifying those weak points in the design allows the engineers to go back, redesign, test and repeat until their product is ready to hit the market.
Throughout its history, ARL has worked with a great number of clients and has conducted reliability testing on plenty of cutting-edge devices, equipment and products. Without giving too much away, what kind of product or technology has stood out to you, and do you have any indication on what the products of tomorrow might look like?
I’ve always had a special place in my heart for aerospace products. They come in all shapes and sizes and it’s neat to watch those designs grow here and eventually get launched into space!
Sometimes, we aren’t allowed to know exactly what’s being tested. For these customers, we provide expert support and total confidentiality.
Looking ahead, I think the future lies in systems and components products that support emerging technologies like energy and AI.
At TyRex, we like to say: “We work hard and we play hard, and we continuously foster a caring culture for our employees.” So, when you’re not problem-solving and caring for our customers’ products here, what hobby do you most enjoy outside of the lab?
I’m a big fishing guy! I’ve been fishing for as long as I could remember. I used to fish professionally in tournaments and helped manage the largest fishing tournament in Central TX. Now, I coach a local high school fishing team.
Before we wrap up, you must answer our question of tradition – what is the ONE tool that you can’t live without?
That’d be a vibration controller. In order to accurately measure vibrations coming off the product during vibration testing, a reliable vibration controller must be used.
Note from the editor:
For all the fishing enthusiasts wondering, Jason’s largest catch was a 9lb. bass that won him Capital Bass Club’s Biggest Bass of the Year in 2006.