See Yourself at DISTek
As a 100% employee-owned company, DISTek encourages everyone to be proud of their work and know the value of their personal and professional contributions. DISTekians have a lot of interesting things in common…including a love for all things gaming and a curious amount of engineers who thoroughly enjoyed tearing apart electronics as kids. But we’ve also each experienced our own trials and tribulations along the way.
Learn more about DISTekians as they discuss the most pivotal and proud moments of their lives:
MEET
Nishantha Randunu, Ph.D.
Ambitious go-getter, loving husband, and lifelong learner
A curious child, Nishantha vividly remembers aching to see the parts inside of his mother’s radio. One day he couldn’t fight it any longer. He tinkered with the radio until finally—it popped open. Delighted by his success, he eagerly pried apart the radio only to witness the tiny parts spill out and scatter across the table.
While that was the end for the radio, Nishantha’s fascination with technology had only just begun. His persistence and determination have led him to become a highly skilled software engineer with a strong background in electrical engineering and physics. With his vast experience in MATLAB, Simulink, model-based system design (MBSD), Stateflow, and more, Nishantha is an asset to
any team.
But Nishantha’s path to success was not always smooth. Determined to achieve his doctoral degree, he left home in Sri Lanka to study physics at Florida Atlantic University. He earned his master’s degree and dove back in for his Ph.D.
His dreams of graduating were almost crushed when his supervisor lost funding for his research. But that didn’t stop Nishantha.
He got a new supervisor, earned his doctoral degree in electrical engineering with a nearly perfect GPA, garnered several awards and honors, and traveled to a few other countries to present/collaborate his research.
Nishantha isn’t just a tech wizard. He’s also a passionate foodie who loves to cook. He takes pride in not only the taste of his dishes but also the presentation, including packing just the right lunch for his wife every day.
He’s also a team player who thrives on team-building activities, whether it’s cheering for his teammates on the field or coworkers from the office.
At DISTek, Nishantha works with a team that has a great sense of humor, appreciates psychological safety, and a passion for learning.
His team organizes a team-building book club that meets once a week to discuss non-work-related books and other random topics. Nishantha often coordinates volunteer outings, where he finds success in coming together to accomplish goals that benefit others.
MEET
Jason O‘Halloran
Dedicated engineer and devoted dad
Jason has always been fascinated with technology. Growing up, his father, an avid electronics hobbyist, tasked him and his siblings to take apart broken appliances, like the family VCR, and see how they worked. Jason spent countless hours tinkering and learning, never intimidated by things he didn’t understand—a trait he still carries today.
Soon after receiving his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technology in 2014, Jason joined the DISTek team as a test engineer. His first project was an end-of-line tester for an automotive transmission remanufacturer. It was a challenge he was excited about.
He was determined to learn fast and be a valuable part of his team for a successful product.
And it worked. The team also turned their DISTek client into raving fans.
His success continued as he advanced his career, earning the title of project team lead in 2019 and engineering manager in 2022. With a constant drive for success in all projects, Jason was crushed after a project he was working on turned out to be a “profound failure,” he said. It took twice as long to assemble than estimated, was difficult to maintain, and the final product was not aesthetically pleasing.
After recentering himself and finding strength in his faith, Jason continued to encourage his team to keep going until the project was complete. Today, Jason is grateful for the lessons he learned from this project, and now he approaches each challenge as an opportunity.
His advice to young people entering the workforce is to find a job with a work culture that celebrates its employees and promotes collaboration.
It’s more important to find a job where you’re happy than to find one that makes you rich.
Approach every opportunity with a grateful attitude, and most importantly, never stop asking questions.
Jason has worked on many exciting projects, but his most important work of all is raising a family. “Being a father is one of the single greatest achievements of my life, and I love to see how they all grow and develop into their own little person, each unique and wonderful in their own way,” he said.
Jason’s passion for technology and his unwavering dedication to his craft has led him to a successful and fulfilling career. His story is a testament to the power of hard work, collaboration, and perseverance in the face of adversity.
MEET
Carmen McIntyre
Accomplished engineer, loving mother, and compassionate coach
Carmen goes above and beyond when it comes to preparing the next generation—whether it’s keeping up with the latest cutting-edge technology at work or volunteering her time to mentor junior high school students in robotics. She’s also a devoted mother who fought for her life to raise her son—and won.
In her 20s, Carmen was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic system. With her son only one year old, Carmen maintained a full-time job and traveled for chemo treatments and later daily radiation treatments.
My biggest fear was not being there when my son went to kindergarten.
Carmen has been cancer-free since 1998 and was able to watch her son, and later her daughter, grow up and so much more.
As an engineer with more than two decades of professional experience, Carmen has a lot to share with the next generation of innovators. She helps coordinate events for her local robotics community, coaches robotics teams of middle and high school students, and judges high school competitions. She travels with her teams to competitions across the country, where they’ve seen a lot of success with their projects.
But the award she’s most proud of is the Woodie Flowers Finalist Award, which honors mentors who lead, inspire, and empower students. The award is particularly special to her because she was nominated by the students. Only one mentor wins this award per competition, and she took home the prize in 2019 at the Northern Lights Regional Competition in Duluth, Minnesota. Her students also won the Chairman’s Award at the FIRST Robotics Competition in Minneapolis in 2022.
While her students learn a lot from her, she enjoys learning from them as well.
I find the kids are amazing. The solutions to problems they come up with are inspiring.
Yet Carmen still finds time to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life, like board games with her family and keeping up with her NFL fantasy team. But she’s not slowing down for long. Her next goal is to see her first NASCAR race in person.
