I recently met with Daniel Hanley, a Technical Sales Engineer at Larson Davis. I was impressed by both his willingness and energy to volunteer with young people, and the unique way in which he is fostering his career with a mix of military and private-sector professionalism.
Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Physics from the United States Naval Academy (USNA), Dan took a manufacturing process engineering position with Samsung Austin Semiconductor. He then went into acoustical consulting, while remaining in the US Navy Reserve as an officer, and volunteers as a recruiter and admissions counselor for USNA. Nowadays, Dan provides technical sales support for consultants, government and commercial applications for Larson Davis. Dan is also currently serving INCE on the Industrial Noise Control Certification Program Committee.
Read on for a summary of my conversation with Dan.
Q. You went to the US Naval Academy and have stayed in the Navy Reserve since then. Can you tell us how your previous experience as an acoustics consultant helps and informs your current role a Sales Engineer at Larson Davis?
A: The main thing that comes to mind is leadership. I’m very proud of my commission, and have worked to gain the experience to lead (Sailors and Marines). My naval training has helped me with interpersonal relationships, which feeds into my current role as a technical sales engineer—and also my previous roles in consulting, something which I would enjoy doing again. I am currently an Executive Officer of a Detachment supporting intelligence operations within the Indo-Pacific region. As Executive Officer of the command I am responsible for the organization, training, overseeing daily operations, and supervising personnel of our command of approximately 100 intelligence professionals. Acoustics intelligence is critical to our national security, so I have always wanted to work my academic and civilian career into my Navy Reserve career by having a reserve job supporting Navy Acoustics, which I have not been able to make happen… YET.
Q. Thank you for your service! How did you find your way to acoustics as an interest/specialty and into INCE-USA?
A: I sort of fell into acoustics with my USNA senior focus. As an Applied Physics major I was required to choose a specific focus, which resulted in my senior year being a focus in acoustics with a underwater acoustics and SONAR class, another acoustics class and research on characteristic frequencies emitted during dielectric breakdown – all of which had a naval focus. My first civilian job (SLR) had a practice-lead that is INCE Board Certified, which is where I first learned about INCE. I became a Full Member in INCE at my next consulting position, and I’m currently volunteering on Industrial Noise Control Certification committee, which is a new certification for industrial noise-related professionals.
I think the NOISECon conference organizers do a nice job of allowing us “vendors” to sit on sessions. I hope INCE will continue to provide outreach to early-career folks to get the word out about the acoustics-related professions.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your role as a technical sales engineer?
Consultants tend know what they want so that type of sale is often pretty straightforward. However, I enjoy teaching and mentoring people who use our equipment, but may need help understanding acoustical concepts so that they can use the equipment properly and interpret the results successfully. Although consultants usually know the features they want in a product, I get to train folks such as industrial hygienists in noise and vibration concepts dealing with OSHA and NIOSH standards, and that is rewarding to me. Larson Davis has a wide variety of products, such as dosimeters, human and ground vibration monitoring in addition to sound level meters
Larson Davis provides some free training for customers, but we also can provide larger/longer training sessions for more in-depth training for those that want that. Our director of sales at Larson Davis wanted to bring some folks in that have a deeper acoustics and technical background to better help and provide service to customers. All the Larson Davis sales engineers have some technical chops, which is encouraging to have that type of camaraderie. I’m based in Houston and serve the southwest US. I also attend trade shows related to the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) and the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP).
Q. What else do you fit into your already busy schedule?
I miss the technical aspect of consulting, and to satisfy that technical itch I’m working toward INCE Board Certification by taking the INCE online courses. Between my full-time job, the Navy Reserves which is several weeks’ commitment per year, and the online INCE-USA courses toward Board Certification, I do stay busy. I’m also enrolled in an online Master’s program and Joint Professional Military Education (JPME) degree through the Air College to keep up my training and career growth in the Navy.
I’m also involved in some volunteer work with a charitable arm of the TX Gulf Coast Chapter of the US Naval Academy Alumni Association, called the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter Foundation. This nonprofit’s mission is to grow interest in STEM amongst middle and high-schoolers. One thing we do is judge/grade student competitions for Urban STEM and SeaPerch (which is a cool underwater drone project for students).
Q. Cool! How do you imagine we can spread the word about acoustics and noise control as a profession?
I think we need to get kids aware of the possibilities of this profession long before college—even as young as elementary school-aged kids. In order to do that, I try to think from the point of view of a little kid and show them how STEM concepts help us build things that might excite them or have real world application. I always seem to jump to a military application like missiles, aircraft, and ships, to get them excited about the end point first—rather than just trying to get them to like math, which isn’t so interesting. If kids can see the “why” or the end result, I think that’s where we can capture their fascination and attention.
When not working, Dan enjoys exercising and playing ice hockey.
INCE Member Spotlights are occasionally posted to highlight an INCE member doing interesting work. Let us know who we should talk with next!
