What do you do at LSC?
I am currently the Program Manager for our Baylor Scott and White (BSW) endeavors. I ensure the effective alignment, integration, and control of the program’s projects to produce enterprise-wide, long-term, strategic outcomes from inception to completion. This includes the coordination of internal departments such as Sales, Engineering, Operations, IT, Customer Experience, and Service. I work with the customer’s respective departments to ensure all components of the program are delivered.
Essentially, my role is to ensure the strategy is in place from Lone Star Communications’ perspective so that BSW’s long term goals are met.
What positions have you had at LSC?
My first position at Lone Star Communications was in the field during the summer between my Freshman and Sophomore year in High School (the labor laws were a little different then). My first day was working for Roland Sotello installing TV plates (thanks for putting up with me Roland). I couldn’t carry a 6’ ladder at the time, so it was a while before I graduated to ‘real’ cabling and speaker installation. I worked summers throughout High School in both the Communications and Fire Alarm divisions.
Next, I moved into the fabrication shop (now known as PITCO). This was an excellent learning experience for me as I learned the topology of systems from the perspective of the head ends and concepts such as troubleshooting and signal flow as well as the standards of LSC’s systems. In hindsight, I’ve realized my time in PITCO turned out to be a defining moment in that it stimulated my love for the technical and electronics. It is what ultimately led me to the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) for Electrical Engineering. During my time in PITCO, I learned from many of those around and also cultivated my love for audio. LSC was doing quite of bit of audio and A/V systems, and I began working with them, ultimately learning how to commission and train them.
After graduating from UTA, I moved into the Engineering Department at Lone Star Communications Grand Prairie (LSGP). I estimated small projects, did system design and layout, provided field support, and helped with the development of our RAPID and InteropWizard products.
An opportunity presented itself with Baylor Scott and White where a need was identified. I assumed my current role of Program Manager.
What accomplishments are you most proud of?
Probably the coolest accomplishment is having the police called on us during commissioning of the Highland Park High School football stadium. I cannot think of a better representation of a system well designed, installed, and tuned than having the police show up and tell you to turn it down.
RAPID, RAPID2, and IOW are other big ones. A multi-disciplinary team consisting of Sales and Marketing, Operations, Hardware design, Injection-molding enclosure design, PCB design, and Software design and Service came together to realize the vision of the RAPID line.
My involvement in the lectures and hands-on classes in the LSC TEP (now known as Lone Star University) gives me a great deal of pride. I love nothing more than helping people understand audio and electronics as it pertains to our industry.
All accomplishments listed above are much larger than myself. Everything takes a great deal of teamwork, and that is itself an accomplishment I am proud of. I appreciate everyone’s help involved in accomplishing the items above.
Tell me something we do not know about you that you feel comfortable sharing.
I spend the evenings modeling; 3D modeling for printing on the 3D printer. Also, I REALLY like music and have played drums in a few bands and mix records. I fall asleep to documentaries about space. My favorite things are baseball, dinosaurs, and my pens.
What do you do for fun?
Currently mountain biking and golf are the two main things. When I was in shape I played hardball in an adult baseball league (yes, it is every bit as awesome as it sounds) and softball on the Lone Star team. I still mix records from time to time. I enjoy working on cars, but I haven’t had the time for it lately. When baseball comes back, going to Rangers games will be a big slice of the pie chart. Lately I’ve been developing an interest in darts.
I also love smoking, grilling, or baking on the Big Green Egg.
A couple of good friends and I are working on a race car for the 24 hours of Lemons. It’s the 24 hour race with a car that costs less than $500. Sounds super safe right?
What is your most memorable vacation?
We had a family reunion in 2018 in Alaska and it was awesome! We did many cool things; played some golf, went to the famous market in downtown Anchorage, went to an independent league baseball game (the Anchorage Glacier pilots) and took a trip out to Seward and even saw a whale! It was during the summer and I got to pull an all-nighter with my family that night. It never gets dark. It is amazing how light it is at 3 a.m.
Do you have a story reflecting One Team, Purpose, Family?
I see it every day from everyone involved with Baylor Scott and White. When issues arise, people always offer to jump in and help ensure the customer’s needs are met. When vacations are coming, they are happy to fill in for each other. When a question is asked it seems to be a race as to who can answer it first. When support is required and rooms or devices are down, service technicians are not just interested in completing the task; they truly care about making sure the patients are safe and the staff has everything they need to care for them. It is extremely inspiring!
Interviewer, Include any events or stories you have about this person.
It was the summer of 1992, Rockwall HS. The finishing touches were being completed on our first working media retrieval system. Justin was the bulletin board programmer on an Amiga computer running Scala software. Justin was about to start the fifth grade.
Operating system: AmigaOS on Kickstart
Release date: July 23, 1985; 34 years ago (Amiga 1000)
CPU: Motorola 680x0 @ ≈7 MHz & higher
Date introduced: 1985
Manufacturer: Commodore International
Memory: 256 kilobytes and higher, expandable
What about this person is outstanding.
Justin is one of the positive people. He always has a smile to share. Justin can see what needs to be done and happily jumps in to contribute. Rarely does he take the credit. What makes Justin outstanding is his passion to do the right thing every time.