Get to Know: Grant Friddell

So Grant, tell us a little bit about yourself. Where do you come from and where have you worked previously?

I got my bachelor’s in electrical engineering from UT Dallas and went on to complete my MBA at Auburn. After school, I spent 11 years as an Operations Supervisor in the oil and gas industry.

What drew you to SabeRex? What particularly excites you to come work here?

One of the biggest draws originally was the location. I love being in Austin and having access to all the great food and outdoor recreation. When it comes to the job, I love the variety of industries we collaborate with – every day is a little different. Some days, I get to leverage my background in the energy sector, while others have us tackling totally new issues in the tech space.

Do you have any specialties or specific areas of focus? 

My background has a heavy operations and engineering focus, but I also enjoy the leadership side of what I do. I enjoy focusing on creating a culture here that people are happy with so that we can retain talent and foster collaboration.

We can handle everything from design to production to logistics. Another topic that comes up often is just how feasible domestic electronics manufacturing is now. What was the cheapest option 5-10 years ago is not the case these days as more and more production is coming back stateside and especially here to Austin.

What areas are you looking forward to expanding at SabeRex?

That would definitely have to be electronics manufacturing, specifically in the robotics and EV spaces. I geek out over the advancements that are made on the vehicle side of the EV market, but I’d also like to work more on the charging infrastructure side as well. I’m also focusing on bringing in more projects that can fully showcase how well our sister companies work together. 

What are some things you wish the average person knew about your line of work?

Without coming here and viewing our facility, it can be tough for people to understand just how all-encompassing our suite of services are. We can handle everything from design to production to logistics. Another topic that comes up often is just how feasible domestic electronics manufacturing is now. What was the cheapest option 5-10 years ago is not the case these days as more and more production is coming back stateside and especially here to Austin. 

So, this last question has become a bit of a tradition for us. What is the one tool you can’t live without?

That’s tough. A lot of what I love about my job is experimenting with a lot of different tools to find the right one for each job. So I’m gonna take the easy way out and say my backyard smoker.