Meet Engineer Randy Flinders
Randy Flinders’ dad was an electronics engineer, so Randy grew up in a home full of soldering irons and computers-in-progress. It was only natural that he would consider going into electronics engineering. But the thought of a four-year college held little appeal for Randy, he decided to attend a trade school. Randy’s original plan was to focus on original circuit design, but in 1992, with his associate degree in electronics engineering in hand he got his first job in the Compatible Electronics, Inc. test lab. There the (debugging) bug bit him and he happily provided EMI/EMC testing and engineering services to their ITE, medical and military clients until 1997. After five years with Compatible Electronics, Randy left his position as Senior EMC Test Engineer to become Manager of Compliance Engineering
for the Emulex Corporation. In 1999, he received a Certificate in Electromagnetic Compatibility from the University of Missouri. He continued at Emulex, responsible for all product regulatory approvals company-wide, until 2010. At that time Randy founded RTF Compliance and became its principle product compliance specialist.. This nonprofit corporation assists ITE and consumer electronics manufacturers in addressing RoHS, REACH, EMI/EMC and product safety requirements.
After 20 years in the profession, Randy’s enthusiasm for his work is still evident. He is active in the local IEEE EMC and Product Safety Societies, presents on product compliance at industry events, and has contributed to the development of several industry standards. Randy observed that while the opening of global markets has politicized the regulatory process, it has also grown the potential business prospects exponentially, He is optimistic about the rapidly growing opportunities for young people entering the field. His advice, again, is to get a job in a tech lab, preferably a small one and for two years. In that way, you get to see a great array of products, interface with diverse clients, and experience in all aspects of lab work.
