Get to Know: Will Spencer

Thanks for joining us, Will. Do you mind telling us a little about your background?  

Sure, I was born in College Station but moved around a bit while my dad took various positions as a physics professor. We finally settled in San Marcos when my dad accepted a position at Texas State, which is also where I ended up getting both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in physics.  

I imagine that must have led to some unique “office hours” then? 

Yes, it did! I did actually have him as a professor and the university had a policy where he couldn’t grade my papers. It’s not only my dad though. Both my mom and brother studied physics; it’s actually how my parents met.  

Wow, quite the family tradition. How are you applying your physics background here at TekRex? 

I’ve been tasked with a few different research projects that are part of the larger TyRex family that play into my specialty in semiconductors.  

On the purely TekRex side, I enjoy taking high-level problems and breaking them into actionable steps. It’s been great taking that same framework of thinking through physics problems and applying it to tangible products here at TekRex. As I develop my CAD design skills, it’s been useful, but it has still been a departure from the “diagrams on whiteboards” way of doing things that I was accustomed to. 

What are you looking forward to most while working here? What are you excited to expand? 

I am really looking forward to learning more from all the different engineering perspectives here. It’s a pretty eclectic work environment in terms of the expertise everyone brings to the table.  

In terms of specific jobs, I’m looking forward to learning more about our 3D printing capabilities, especially as printed circuitries become more viable through things like nanoprinting. Before you needed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and massive clean rooms for traditional lithography practices.  

I’m also looking forward to exploring flexible electronics more. I think it’s going to be a big thing with the soft resins that are being developed today, where you can make fixtures and housings for electronics that would not be possible any other way. 

What are some of your other interests outside of physics? 

I really enjoy sci-fi, in books and in movies and television.

What kind of sci-fi are you into?  

Mostly hard sci-fi, like Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, the Expanse series, which ended up being a great show! 

The last question has become a bit of a tradition in this series, what is the one tool that you can’t live without? 

I love calipers. I had to use them a lot at my last job and there is just something about the little dial and screen. Behind that, I would have to go with my phone.