Samtec Signal E1 2018

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SAMTEC SIGNAL

Impacting the

COMMUNITY

Welcome 1 3 5 7 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25

Pegasus Parade Samtec’s RoboRumble Samtec Columbia Mariano Monge Joey Haas Dillan Baldwin 100k Hours for Penang Paul Crozier Steve Annas Cable Supplier Award Thank You Notes Harrisburg: Madhu Rengarajan It’ll Cost a Chocolate Bar Smiling Betty, Forever Scottsburg Update Instagram: Samtec Life USA Pet Contest Big Red: A Louisville Tradition Romeo Langford Around the World

PEGASUS PARADE The Kentucky Derby Festival is an annual festival held in Louisville, Kentucky during the two weeks preceding the Kentucky Derby.

This Festival includes the Pegasus Parade, Thunder Over Louisville (nation’s largest annual fireworks event), Samtec’s RoboRumble, and countless other events.

Samtec was happy to make it’s first apperence in the Pegasus Parade, this year! Also in the parade are local buisnesses and talented individuals.

Flip the page to read more about Samtec’s RoboRumble!

Samtec’s RoboRumble Tessie is hiding somewhere in this newsletter! Once you find Tessie, email us at samtecsignal@samtec.com, and let us know her location.

Everyone who finds her will be entered to win a $25 gift card!

SAMTEC’S ROBORUMBLE Samtec sponsored the Kentucky Derby Festival’s RoboRumble this year. This event is an annual regional competition open to surrounding counties of Louisville.

Kids from the age of 5 to high school level, test their skills at Samtec’s RoboRumble! These team program their own LEGO NXT/EV-3 robots to solve defined challenges within a specific time.

Robotic Use This event focuses on creating a robot that either is a transformation of another item or transforms the way you do a task. The teams are judged based on a defined rubric.

Sumo Bot This event is exactly how it sounds. It is a double-elimination tournament where two robots try to remove or disable each other while staying on a raised circular ring. Once a robot falls out of the ring, they have lost the round.

Live Programming The Live Programming event involves on-the-spot programming.

Teams are given several tasks the day of the competition and they have two hours to build and program their robot to successfully complete one or both of the tasks.

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Samtec’s 1st place trophy.

Karl Soderquist, Pam Grieb, Greg Reidinger man the Samtec sponsorship booth.

MakerMobile’s Tim shows a freshly printed, 3D Samtec RoboRumble souvenir.

54 Kids cheering on their robot in the Sumo Bot event.

Josh Martin in the judging area.

SAMTEC COLUMBIA, SC The Samtec South Carolina Design Center (SCDC) opened in 2016 with 7 SI Engineers, but the site is now home to 15 Associates! They are located within a mile of downtown Columbia and the University of South Carolina. Most employees are still SIG (Signal Integrity Group); however, they have recently added 3 new SIG Electrical Engineers, an intern pursuing a Masters in EE at the University of South Carolina, a site admin, and a Plastics Engineer (Samtec Tool Erie) transferring down from Erie, PA. SCDC’s Contributions The Columbia site is contributing to Samtec in many challenging fronts. This includes signal integrity design of Accelerate® HD, NovaRay ™, and MEC5-DV. SCDC, in collaboration with Samtec Tool, performed new simulations on Accelerate® HD using MoldFlow to identify improvements in the body design. With new industry channel qualification metrics such as COM and ERL have been submitted and approved, SIG Standards is laying the tracks for Samtec’s S2S strategy. Simulations were performed to optimize PCB design for 28Gbps Active Chassis and will continue assisting on future 56/112Gbps demonstrators. Additionally, layout has been designing many PCBs including Examax Backplanes and NAB’18 RF. What does SCDC enjoy outside of the office?

SCDC Employees frequently spend time enjoying the outdoors from the beaches up to the foothills of the Smokey Mountains. Folks are regularly bird watching on Lake Murray, involved with a co-ed youth group (Venture Crew 312), home-brewing beer, playing and recording music, DIY renovating houses, motorcycle touring, coaching Little League, mountain biking, and tasting new seafood and BBQ restaurants across the state.

Recent renovations have just been completed.

We can’t wait for you to come visit!

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Top Row: Wil Mayfield, Matt Hendrick, Steve Krooswyk, Jessie Daniels, Ken Young, Ted Ballou, John Abbott, Brandon Gore, Jimmy Hogan, Rich Mellitz, Dan Hughes, Burrell Best, Adam Gregory Bottom Row: Johnny Gibson and Steve Duzan

Dan Hughes attended Penn State Behrend (Erie) to study Plastic Engineering and came to know Samtec at a career fair.

After co-op stents in 2016 & 2017 in Erie, he relocated to SCDC in 2018 to start fulltime. According to Dan, he’s excited for the opportunity to work and learn across engineering disciplines. It’s already evident that SIG and STE have an integral relationship for connector design.

In December 2017, Richard Mellitz, was awarded the IEEE-SA Standards Medallion “for being a source of knowledge to the community of the 802.3 group, for his various contributions on signal integrity, production process, and manufacturing challenges.” Congratulations to Richard on this great accomplishment!

He also take pictures in his free time and some of his pictures will be displayed in SCDC! (See right)

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MARIANO MONGE FROM COSTA RICA TO ASIA How long have you worked at Samtec?

Just over 10 years now. I still remember my first day like it was yesterday.

How have you grown over the course of your career?

I came from a completely different background. My family owned and ran a construction company. However, the financial crisis in 2007 affected business, causing customers to put large projects on hold. I eventually started to look elsewhere for employment.

Funny story, I started at Samtec in March 2008, and while I was having lunch that day, I received a call from one of the customers that had put their project on hold and said, “Mariano we are ready to go.� Even though this was a large project, I told him I had already accepted a different job, and it was my first day. After I hung up the phone, I thought about the decision I had just made. I decided to stick with my decision and that was the best thing I could have done.

I was a Technician for HDR on second shift. I faced some challenges learning topics, product names, tooling, machines, etc. because it was so different from my past experience of building houses. The more I learned the more I began to contribute to the people and the culture.

After a year, HDR second shift in CR closed and I was moved to the Automation and Connectors Area. This was another new environment with new people, products, and machines. After a lot of work and lessons learned, Samtec gave me the opportunity to become the Maintenance Manager in CR. It was here that I found my passion. I really enjoyed Maintenance, and I began conducting research on reliability maintenance engineering and management.

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I wanted to add more value, so I found a way to build healthy cross functional relationships, and develop quick-simple tools/resources that could contribute to our growth. CR has been growing since day 1, and I have been a part of the team that has contributed in many ways. It is always a team effort, but I can say a personal accomplishment is sticking with the decision to stay at Samtec over 10 years ago. I am now in Asia for a longterm assignment collaborating with Technical Teams.

What created the need for you to move to Asia?

While I was in CR, we worked to establish important tools, technical training programs, technical documents, and technical metrics and systems. We wanted to launch these tools in other sites, especially in Asia where most of our total mass production is.

Although I am stationed in Penang, I work with all our main operations here: Penang & Johor Bahru in Malaysia, Huizhou in China and Vietnam. I travel to these sites to support and help them, as well.

How long are you in Asia for and what are your responsibilities?

My first assignment was for 18 months, but It’s been extended to the end of 2018. I am here to help with growth, assist with challenges, support our technical teams, and try to implement a better “Maintenance Approach Model” to pursue better technical practices.

We also provide training for our Maintenance systems and how to use them.

What has been accomplished since your move?

First off, this is a great team effort. Here, in Asia, we are more synchronized through the Technical Teams, we are more consistent using the Maintenance Systems, we have clear expectations and job descriptions, and we are improving communication by sharing technical information through monthly reports based on four main areas: Safety, Quality, Service and Cost.

What have you learned from working in a different facility?

Asia has great people and teams with great ideas, but overall, I have been amazed by how respectful the people are. This is not only within Samtec, but in general.

There are many different cultures and beliefs, and there are many ways to dress. However, they all live in great harmony. It is all about respect.

What do you do in Asia during your freetime?

I like to read and play tennis (Although I am not the greatest). I have my own ball machine, so I can even play alone, but sometimes my neighbors and I will go play. I also like to stay home and rest. It’s not been easy staying here considering I speak Spanish and I only speak mid-level English. There are places where there is no way to communicate because they don’t speak English and their accents are difficult to understand. Overtime, I have gotten used to some of the accents, and they have gotten used to mine. Occasionally, I do like to go exploring, and travel to different places.

Anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for the space and the opportunity to share a bit of my history in our newsletter.

In the beginning, it was hard being far away from home, family, and friends. However, it makes it easier to help associates grow and see them make improvements.

Samtec is not only a company it is a real Family!

A note from his Managers: “Mariano is having a huge positive impact on Asia and our Global Technical Team. His demeanor is perfect for this role. He is approachable and the technicians are very comfortable working with Mariano. He also brings a great mix of technical aptitude and team building experience that has allowed him to improve the performance of our entire Asia Technical Team. I would personally like to thank Mariano for his sacrifice and for all of the improvements that are resulting from his work in Asia!“ - Jeff Matheny, New Albany “Mariano has been a great contributor. He has enhanced the maintenance system and is helping to guide the maintenance team in the past year. We especially thank Mariano for sharing best practices he had in CR and assisting us on implementation. Mariano has also blended well into local living & culture. As Mariano said, Samtec is a real family, and we consider him as one of our awesome family members in Asia.”

- Darren Teh, Penang

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From left to right: Nick Cooling, Mike Orr, Mark Husted, Jeff Nesbitt, Joey Haas, Jeff Gabbard, Gary Younkin, Matt Wettekin, and Jim Manno

JOEY HAAS Congratulations to Joey Haas for completing his Toolmaker Apprenticeship at Samtec Erie.

Joe began his career at Samtec, in March 2015.

During his apprenticeship, he gained experience by building precision components for injection molds designed to create products such as MEC5DV, SEAM 8, EBCM, NVAM, to name a few. Working with Erie’s experienced team, he learned precision grinding, both sinker and wire EDM, precision CNC hardmilling, and electrode making. While working with a lead toolmaker assembling each mold, Joey also learned proper fit and adjustment, as well as prevention of troublesome issues, when exposed to production molding. During this he gained his required class hours by enrolling in courses offered

by National Tooling and Machining Association.

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Joe’ s interest in machining was greatly influenced by his dad, as he is a toolmaker as well. As a sophomore, his schedule was made up of splitting each day between McDowell High School and Erie County VoTech, where he was enrolled in the 3 year Precision Machining Program. After graduation, he worked at another local shop before joining Samtec.

Outside of work , Joe enjoys spending time with family and friends at camp. He also enjoys trips on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, as well as competitive woods racing on his KTM bike.

Congratulations for completing your apprenticeship and joining the Samtec family, Joey!

DILLAN BALDWIN Nine year-old Dillan Baldwin is the son of New Albany’s Test Lab Engineer, Donnie Baldwin.

Dillan has been going to various motorsports and racing events since he was 18 months old. He showed an interest in racecars shortly after and could even recognize specific racecars on TV. As soon as he was old enough, Donnie got him started racing carts.

Racing carts is a year-round sport for Dillan. He has 26 outdoor races scheduled through October 2018, and then he will start indoor racing until March, when it is outdoor racing season again. He travels to many states, including Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, etc.

Throughout the year, Dillan is also in a racing league at Bluegrass Indoor Karting.

The majority of the tracks Dillan races on are dirt tracks.

Dillan’s first time on a dirt track was an adventure. He started racing at Bluegrass Indoor Karting on concrete, and was used to the grip level karts there. Some of his friends he met there raced on dirt and it made him want to try it for himself. His dad, Donnie, bought a kart meant for dirt tracks and went to the track to try it out.

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There was an open practice day at a track in Rockport, Indiana that we went to for the first time. It’s a smaller “bullring” type of track, so the speeds wouldn’t be too fast and he could get a feel for the kart. This would be Dillan’s first time on a dirt track.

Donnie and Dillan talked about how to slowly build up speed so he could get used to the cart. In Donnie’s words, “Well, that was a complete waste of a conversation.” Dillan was spinning out in the first turn, because all he knew up until that point was running wide open. It took about 3 laps before he could make a complete lap without spinning out. Donnie mentioned, “He must have learned a few lessons that day, because I think he has only spun one time since that day.”

As for the future, Dillan has a dream of racing a World of Outlaw Sprint Car and of winning the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. He hopes to get connected with the right people and move into higher series in the next few years. For now, Donnie and Dillan will see where this year takes them and take it one race at a time.

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100K HOURS Samtec Penang recently celebrated 5 years or 100,000 hours of operation!

To appreciate all the effort and hard work completed

by Penang Associates, Samtec Penang organized a celebration event. Breakfast sandwiches, KFC lunch boxes, cheese tart and brownie cake for tea break were enjoyed by all Associates.

As a memorable souvenir, each Associate also received a Samtec Penang mug. Samtec Penang’s building was printed on the mug along with the words “100K Hours Achievement”! Congradulations, Samtec Penang!

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Paul is on the far left

PAUL CROZIER Paul has been in connector sales for over 15 years and is now an FSE in our Silicon Valley office. He is responsible for major customers including NextTest, Nvidia, Xilinx, Infinera, and more.

Paul has been a fan of the Cafe Racer program on Velocity for quite some time. Cafe Racer is a show that takes viewers inside the underground society of building and racing cares and promises an exclusive look at the culture and craft behind these storied bikes.

After Paul watched one particular episode, he was so inspired that he decided to create a custom vintage cycle of his own.

Paul began by adding modern parts to a classic Japanese bike. However, the more he worked on the bike, the more inspired he became to push the limits on his bike design.

He continued to upgrade all aspects of the bike by finding many Honda parts and installing them on his Honda until he totally transformed a 1976 Honda bike into a Honda themed racing bike.

Both Paul, and his bike, just turned 40 years old last year.

Paul’s first creation ended up being a great success, and a definite reason to celebrate!

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Steve Annas accepts the IMAPS Society Fellowship Award

STEVE ANNAS Steve Annas received the IMAPS Society Fellowship Award in 2017. Steve has many years of expierence in the electronics world prior to joining Samtec. He has been with Samtec Carlsbad for one year and works on the Business Development for Glass Core Technology.

Steve is a member of IMAPS. He believes it is one of the best shows for great quality leads and general interest.

He joined IMAPS in October 1969. Steve jokes that, “if you live long enough, you too can be awarded a lifetime Fellowship of the society�, that is, if you have the drive and work ethic of Steve. Congradulations, Steve!

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What achievements are you recognize for?

I received Society Fellowship award for IMAPs Lifetime Achievements. In addition, I was VP of Technology as well as Pacific Northwest Chapter President.

Any words of motivation or lessons learned to those early in their career and wanting to achieve great things?

I strongly encourage all my fellow Samtec employees worldwide to get involved in local and national societies such as IMAPS and ECTC whenever the opportunity presents itself. The more you are involved, the more you will help shape our technologies in the future. Never be happy with status quo. I have worked in the electronics world for nearly 50 years and still love an opportunity to work with a new and/or different technology.

CABLE SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR AWARD On March 22nd, the HDR area received the Cable Supplier of the Year Award from one of our clients: Teradyne. Teradyne is a company that provides automation solutions. Among the participants were associates of 1st shift’s HDR, the CR management group, representatives of Teradyne and other associates involved in the achievement of this recognition. The celebration ended with pizza and a commemorative cake for the HDR shifts to share.

HDR Associates pose for a picture with CR management and Teradyne representatives.

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THANK YOU NOTES New Albany Engineer, Joel Lieungh visited his son’s 4th grade class for career day. Joel talked to the kids about what he does as an Engineer at Samtec. The kids loved it and sent these thank you notes!

4th Graders St.VIMathews Elementary.

Engineer The New Albany Shop acquired a machine tool at and new albany Mr.restoring Joel Lieungh was tasked with it. The restoration processes and manufacture of many of the items necessary to bring for1947 career day this Cincinnati Tool and Cutter Grinder back into service for the next 70 years was done by our Toolmakers and Apprentice Toolmakers. Both traditional methods and modern machinery were used to bring out the best of the old and upgrade to the new. Innovations to improve lubrication were designed and built in the VI Shop along with many of the damaged or unserviceable parts being remade. The working surfaces were hand worked to a flat bearing scraped condition and oil galleys hand carved into the machine base to accommodate the upgraded original oil pump and the newly installed main pump. A

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HDR Associates pose for a picture with CR management and Teradyne representatives.

MADHU RENGARAJAN Pennsylvania Robotics team coached by Samtec Employee qualifies for World Championship Madhumitha Rengarajan, is a Signal Integrity Engineer at the Harrisburg Design Center (HB). She is one of the coaches of team “GearShift”, a First Lego League (FLL) team that won the central Pennsylvania regionals and advanced to the world championship.

What is First Lego League?

Tomorrow’s innovators practice imaginative thinking and teamwork. FIRST LEGO League teams research a real-world problem such as food safety, recycling, energy, etc., and are challenged to develop a solution. They also must design, build, and program a robot using LEGO MINDSTORMS® technology. They then compete on a table-top playing field.

It all adds up to tons of fun while they learn to apply science, technology, engineering, and math concepts (STEM), plus a big dose of imagination, to solve a problem.

This season’s challenge is Hydro-Dynamics, and teams were tasked with identifying a problem with the human-water cycle (obtaining, transporting, using, or disposing of water).

The team identified lack of reusing/recycling grey water as their problem. They researched extensively to learn more about pure water, greywater, and blackwater, the challenges in re-using greywater, and the laws pertaining to greywater usage in the state of Pennsylvania. As a solution, they came up with a scalable model with which they can store the water from the shower in a recycle tank and reuse the greywater for the toilets. By implementing their system, it is posible to save more than 24% of pure water being used by an average household.

They designed a robot with tolerances to achieve the objectives of the playing field while following the “core values”. This well roundedness is what set the team apart from the competitors. The team won the 2018 Pennsylvania – Central Regional Championship on Saturday, February 24th, 2018, beating 30 teams!

To see team GearShift win and accept their award https://youtu.be/lKuT5JMgqRw

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Aaron McKim and Craig Ryan accept the 10lb Toblerone chocolate bar

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CHOCOLATE BAR New Albany’s Craig Ryan joked when a group from Samtec Santa Clara asked New Albany’s Optics Line and Test Lab to expedite multiple builds and tests.

New Albany’s Optics Line and Test Lab focused on the request and knocked it out fast. The two New Albany teams quickly forgot about the chocolate bar joke and continued other builds and tests.

John Hazell, from Samtec Santa Clara, did not want to let the opportunity slip away to reward his New Albany friends. He had a cleaver idea to recognize their Sudden Service by sending a 10 pound chocolate bar to the New Albany’s Optics Line and Test Lab! A few weeks later, John Hazell, Bill Kozlovsky, and Sandra Torres (all from Santa Clara) set up an “urgent” meeting with the New Albany teams. Craig Ryan recounts the expierence, ”We were called into an urgent meeting on short notice and lo and behold, we were surprised with a 10 lb Toblerone chocolate bar!! The bar was broken into several pieces and shared among the lab employees.”

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The New Albany test lab

SMILING BETTY, FOREVER The New Albany VI Shop acquired a 1947 Cincinnati Tool and Cutter Grinder and were tasked with restoring it. The Toolmakers and Apprentice Toolmakers began the restoration processes to bring the machine tool back into service. Both traditional methods and modern machinery were used to bring out the best of the old and upgrade to the new. The team removed the damaged and unserviceable parts and remade each piece to fit back into the tool.

The working surfaces were hand worked to a flat bearing scraped condition and the oil galleys were hand carved into the machine base to accommodate the upgraded original oil pump and the newly installed main pump. A long list of items like rebuilding operating handles, a tool rack, special wrenches for doing the work along with additional special touches to make this machine our vision

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brought to life were conducted to give everyone a chance to participate and add their own personal contribution to the work. Other improvements were devised and installed by Jason Neely to replace all the outdated (and kind of scary) electrical circuits and wiring throughout the entire machine making it now safe to operate. The machine also received a new coat of paint in Samtec Black and Orange motif.

The work would not be complete without giving her a name. This machine now carries a plaque inscribed with the name of a very special girl near and dear to this writers’ heart. In the best tradition of our Armed Forces naming their vehicles after those near and dear to them we present to Samtec “Smiling Betty, Forever ‘18” in honor of Betty South, our company matriarch who brings us so much joy and laughter.

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Cathy Fields (SB HR Manager), Cody Graf, (SB Manufacturing Quality Engineer) and Kelly Dulaney (Scott County Chamber of Commerce), and Craig Mull (SB Operations Manager).

SCOTTSBURG UPDATE Since Samtec Scottsburg’s (SB) opening in 2016, Scottsburg has accepted the 2017 Mayor’s Good Neighbor Award in the large business category and the 2017 Large Business of the Year from the Scott County Chamber of Commerce! This is a result of community involvement and the dedication our Scottsburg Associates provide.

Craig Mull, Scottsburg’s Operation Manager and Cathy Fields, Scottsburg’s Human Resorces Manager, shares an update from Samtec Scottsburg below.

We are very proud of the success we have had in Scottsburg the last two years. Internally, we have increased our headcount from 167 to 255 and are still growing. Also, we have increased the number of Automated machines from 0 to 26 YTD and four of those platforms are the high speed OMM style machines. Without the hard work and dedication of all of our Associates at the Scottsburg location we would not have been in a position to receive these machines and achieve the level of success we’ve had, especially while maintaining the high levels of service in our Bentec and Hand Fill areas of the facility.

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Externally, we have focused our efforts on supporting the local High Schools by sponsoring academic and sports programs. Programs such as “We Care” provide underprivileged children in Scott County with winter clothing. We have started a program called Seniors to Hire, and we are working directly with the high schools to identify seniors that do not have financial means/support to go to college to help guide them to a career with Samtec. Scottsburg is also working with the Mid-America Science Park to help develop a partnership and training curriculum with Vincennes University. This helps to further develop technical, leadership and quality skills of our team.

Craig Mull explains, “I’ve been very blessed to be associated with such a great group of people. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Scottsburg team for the Awesome service and support they provide our customers every day. I look forward to many more years of success from this team!”

Cathy Fields expresses, “There are not enough words to express how extremely impressed I get on a daily basis by our Scottsburg team. I would like to say “Thank You” for all of your hard work and dedication.

It is a great privilege to work with each and every one of you, and for that I am thankful!”

@WorkAtSamtec Follow us on Instagram to see what’s happening inside the walls of Samtec! One lucky Samtec follower will win a $25 gift card on July 9th!

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PET CONTEST

“Rufus, Sheltie, 8 yrs, Loves to play fetch and prefers empty water bottles over about any other toy.

Loves to remove the labels & caps.”

Roger Morris, New Albany

“Cali & Minnie, Domestic Shorthair cats, 4 years old, They are litter mates and love to play in empty boxes.”

Carol Armendariz, SME Colorado Springs

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Samtec USA had a Pet Photo Contest.

Associates uploaded pictures and voted on their favorite.

Here are the winners and also a few random entries!

“Max & Ollie, Rescues, 1 yr, Brothers from Another Mother.”

Libby Pevlor, New Albany

“Cody is a mixed breed that we adopted from a rescue shelter. He is almost 2 yrs. A fun fact about Cody is that he loves to play hide and seek.”

Mike McCullough, Erie, PA

“Fizzy, 10 year old American Saddlebred, loves carrots & will eat anything that doesn’t eat him first.”

Kayla Web, New Albany

“Chip, Beagle-Boston Terrier mix, 12 years old, Chip can open the sliding patio door to let himself in the house, but unfortunately cannot close it.”

Marty Lombardo, Chicago

“Maddie, Bernese Mountain Dog, Maddie is 10. Maddie loves the snow and loves to run. 4 years ago she ran as far as 11 miles with me.

In November she was diagnosed with bladder cancer and is on oral chemotherapy now. She is doing good and still always wants to go run with Mom even if its only 1/2 mile.

She sings, whines and dances around me when I put my running shoes on.”

Michele Zuniga, FSE in Maryland

“Miles Labradane (.5 Lab, .5 Dane) 7 years We drove 2200 miles to pick him up, so we named him Miles. He was 6 weeks old and they wanted $25 but waived it when they found out how far we had driven.”

Henry Ancker, Chicago

“Missy, breed unknown. Cats love boxes; Missy loves suitcases, and she expects a free ride when she sits on one with four wheels.”

Yii Wan Choong, Penang

“Abby, Dameranian, 15. She likes to wear pomelo & she loves peanuts” Christie Kinerson, Southern California

“Oscar Prilaforte’ Burden, Mini Donkey, Lab mix, 12 yrs, Oscar has only barked a hand full of times since I’ve known him.

When he barks, it’s serious.”

Jessica Burden, New Albany

“Louie, Lou Lou, Malti-Poo, 12, I am a miracle dog. I astonished the vets when told I had stomach cancer.

Three weeks later with lots of prayer and a special diet I went from not being able to walk or eat to running around the vet office with out any cancer treatment!“ Shannon Buckley, New Albany

“Maggie Nickname: Maddurls Breed: Cavalier Age: 6 Fun fact: she snores louder than I do!”

Bryan Seger, New Albany

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A LOUISVILLE TRADITION When you think of famous beverages in Kentuckiana (The area around where Kentucky and Indiana meet), Big Red might not be the first drink that comes to mind because of the famous Kentucky Bourbon.

Big Red was created in Waco, Texas in 1937.

Here’s where it gets strange; The first distribution of Big Red was only sent to two locations: areas close to Waco, Texas and the Kentuckiana area.

Sun Tang Red Cream Soda It was originally called Sun Tang Red Cream Soda.

It wasn’t simplified to “Big Red” until the drink’s president, Harold Jansing, overheard fans of the drink shortening the name in conversation. Harold loved it so much that he changed the name in 1969.

Dr. Pepper In 1970s, Dr. Pepper became a co-owner of Big Red and began to distribute to areas outside of the Waco, Texas and Kentuckiana area.

Louisville’s Big Red Day Mayor Greg Fischer issued a proclamation celebrating the bright red soft drink’s 80th anniversary of being sold in Louisville. He even named May 16, Louisville’s Big Red day.

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Try all the flavors!

Along with Big Red, recognized as the United States number-one selling red soda, Big Red, Inc. markets beverage brands Big Blue, Big Red Zero, Big Peach, and Big Pineapple.

What does it taste like?

Its flavor, though often thought to be bubble gum, is created by mixing orange and lemon oils with the traditional vanilla used in other cream sodas.

Celebrities love it Big Red’s survival can be attributed to a passionately loyal following. The drink attained celebrity status years ago in entertainment circles. Rock superstar John Mellencamp’s only two vices are said to be cigarettes and Big Red. Singer, Sammy Davis Jr., once had his manager order several cases from the Waco bottler.

When Sir Douglas Sahm made his 1971 album The Return of Doug Saldaña, he posed on the cover with his hand wrapped around a Big Red. Big Red and Samtec New Albany Big Red happens to be one of the top sellers in Samtec New Albany. It was even voted the top Regional Soda on “Wide Open Eats” website. That being said, if you ever visit Samtec New Albany, make sure you try a Big Red and let us know what you think!

ROMEO LANGFORD New Albany High School’s Romeo Langford completed his senior year, a star. Throughout his high school career he gained popularity because of his talent. So much so, that he helped to sell out almost all games that New Albany played. He also was named Mr. Basketball in Indiana, a McDonald’s All American, and Basketball Player of the year by the Courier Journal.

This caught the attention of Basketball schools across the nation. Many well-known college coaches made appearances at the games hoping to have Romeo join their team. But, it was up to Romeo to decide.

He narrowed his selection to Indiana University, University of Kansas, and Vanderbilt University.

Many New Albany Samtec Associates wanted him to choose the local favorite, Indiana. On April 30, 2018, Romeo gathered fans in the New Albany gym and announced he was going to Indiana!

Samtec held a meet and greet where Samtec Associates could have their Indiana University items signed and wish Romeo good luck!

Photo by Amy Lorenz, New Albany

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Lindsey Freiberger and family

Romeo signing a basketball

AROUND THE WORLD

Samtec Penang

Penang Associates celebrated a “Back to the 70’s” facility cook out. There was even a Flash Mob Dance Performance and a best dressed contest!

Samtec Costa Rica

Costa Rica’s job fair received over 1,000 applicants the first day alone!

Samtec Erie

Samtec Erie has been open for 25 years, this March 2018! Erie is also having their signage updated, as it hasn’t been updated since they have moved in!

Samtec Headquarters New Albany, IN

Associates in New Albany brought in canned and boxed goods to donate to the local food pantry after hearing they were in desprate need.

Welcome Samtec Burlington

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Burlington is about 30 minutes northwest of Boston, Massachusetts. There is only one Associate there now but will grow to about 15.

Market Supplier of the Year

New Albany’s Jan Hrouda and Milwaukee FSE, Brett Mytys attended the Rockwell Automation Supplier conference where they proudly accepted the Market Supplier of the Year award, on behalf of Samtec.

Samtec Co-ops

A few Samtec Co-ops visited Escape Louisville for Teambuilding event. One team made it out with only 30 seconds to spare!

Samtec Israel

Twenty people attended the Distribution Day Conference, put on by Samtec Israel. A few buisnesse’ that attended were Migvan, Avnet, Arrow, DigiKey.It was really great! All of them enjoyed it very much and told us it was really a 1st class event.

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