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Electronics Mfg Legacies Span Generations Continued from page 1
our relationship grow,” he says. For the future, the Gunder-
sons share a vision of the compa- ny that leaves behind a legacy of hard work, serving each cus- tomer to the best of their ability, and constantly keeping up on the latest technology and processes in the industry.
Insituware, developer of the first smart measurement solu- tion for material quality control, is the result of second-generation engineer Chris Frederickson and his son Mike, who has an apti- tude for science and technology. “My dad was the product as-
surance division director at the Naval Weapons Center in China Lake, California, with the solder- ing technology branch in the 70s and early 80s,” says Mike Fredrickson, pointing out that Jim Raby was the branch man- ager during those years. “My dad introduced me to Jim and he be- came a mentor for me.” Mike spent many summers
as a student working for Jim at Soldering Technology and was hired as an engineer after gradu- ating from college. He eventually moved over to the Navy’s new Electronics Manufacturing Pro- ductivity Facility (EMPF) in 1984 and stayed there as director until 2017.
Mike has been able to inno-
vate in developing and executing cooperative research programs
within the Navy’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) that have deliv- ered systems to protect our warfighters and make our coun- try a little safer. Along the way, he was able to develop technolo- gies in electronics manufactur- ing that enable the ability to af- fordably produce high-reliability
start using the skills I had devel- oped in school.” “It’s exciting to see him ex-
pand his interest and knowledge in materials and then come up with really innovative hardware and software solutions,” says Mike. “As a parent it makes you happy to see your children have a passion about the career they chose. Though it really has not changed our relationship, I am very fortunate that I get to spend this much time with my son.”
Chris and Mike Frederickson.
electronics. His son Chris took a different
path, first trying his hand in the culinary world and then pursuing a degree in electronics and com- puter engineering. He went on to study machine learning as a post- graduate, toward the end of which his father began Insituware. “As Insituware was taking
shape, my dad would ask me questions and I was able to pro- vide some valuable insights and guidance for the company,” says Chris. “Near the end of the mas- ter’s program, I was asked to start working at Insituware. I was initially tentative about working for my dad, but it turned out to be just the right timing and the best opportunity for me to continue learning and
Horizon Sales is one of the Mid- west’s most trusted sources for electronics assembly and solder- ing equipment and supplies. For 25+ years, the company has con- tinued to stay a step ahead of the ever-changing technology curve. “As a young man I befriend-
ed a young electrical engineer and he was ‘moonlighting’ doing some outside design engineering and he felt that if he had a sales- person involved in his extracur- ricular activities we could proba- bly find enough projects to start a business, and that is what we did,” says Dave Sr. In the late 70s the CB radio business was booming and one of the duo’s first projects was to design and fabricate a watt meter for that industry. Shortly after, they be- gan to build radio transmitters for Genie garage door openers sold by Alliance Manufacturing. The company grew quickly to more than 200 employees as-
July, 2021
sembling and soldering PCBs. “I stayed a part of the busi-
ness until 1984 when we sold out to a local lighting manufacturer and I went into the robotics and machine vision industry which was just beginning.” Dave Sr. didn’t expect his
son to follow his footsteps in the industry, though he did come to work for Horizon Sales quite suc- cessfully for a brief stint servic- ing customers in the Cincinnati area. “Dave [Jr.] is now one of the most well-known and re- spected sales and marketing pro-
David Trail Sr. and Dave Trail Jr.
fessionals in the Industry 4.0 transformation that is occurring and in the MES and factory in- formation industries globally,” says Dave Sr. Dave Jr.’s first involvement
with Horizon Sales was to design the company’s logo, which is still in use today, while in high school. After Dave Sr. had a
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