Dodge Bamberger Solves Inspection Dilemmas Through Custom Solutions

James Bond always knew he could rely on the gadget guy known as Q to help him out of some sticky situations. At IIA, our team of “gadget guys” help us get into some tricky inspection scenarios.

Led by Dodge Bamberger, this talented, Texas-based team creates and customizes automated inspection tools to meet our customers’ unique needs — tools that make seemingly impossible inspections possible.

A lifelong curiosity about the inner workings of machinery led Dodge to where he is today.

“l like to take things apart and figure out how they work, and that is what led me to engineering. I think I gravitated toward the mechanical side of engineering because I’ve always liked cars,” says Dodge, who earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University.

He kicked off his career as a field service representative at a company that makes manufacturing equipment for computer chips. With his next job, he moved into engineering design and away from his hometown of San Antonio to Oregon.

A few years later, San Antonio — and family — called him back home, where he began working for a company that makes beverage dispensers. There, he advanced from design engineering into a leadership role. Dodge brought nearly a quarter-century of problem-solving experience with him when he joined IIA in 2020.

The opportunity to do more design work appealed to Dodge. But one particular aspect of the job sealed the deal with IIA.

As Dodge says: “Tell an engineer that they will get to work with robots and that definitely piques their interest.”

As Engineering Manager at our San Antonio field office, Dodge oversees a team of six mechanical and electrical engineers.

“The fact that we’re a small group allow us all to be involved in a lot of different things,” says Dodge. “I’m learning something new every day.”

The majority of the work done in Dodge’s group involves tailoring remote visual inspection (RVI) tools to meet the unique needs of our industrial customers. With a machine shop on site, Dodge and his team can custom-build whatever designs they dream up.

“We maintain and improve IIA’s remote-operated vehicles and sometimes we get the chance to design new ones,” he says. “Our inspectors tell us what the customer needs, and we find a way to get into whatever area the customer needs us to inspect.”

Often, inspections are needed inside vessels, valves and tanks at nuclear power plants — an industry that presents unique challenges, even for this knowledgeable group.

“The environment at a nuclear plant is always a challenge. We’re currently doing visual inspections, so we have to use a video camera remotely to locate very fine cracks or defects that may be present,” says Dodge. “Most of our inspection equipment goes underwater at some point, and it will get exposed to a certain degree of radiation. You have to take those things into account in your design.”

Whether tailoring an inspection tool or tinkering on the project car in his garage (a 1990s-era Mazda Miata), Dodge’s patience and easy-going nature make any job feel more manageable. He is keenly aware that his team’s behind-the-scenes work helps to ensure safety at nuclear plants, pipelines and other critical facilities.

“Knowing that these inspections help keep people safe is a great motivator that drives our quality of work,” he says. “Our tools need to work every time, because you don’t want to think about what can happen if they don’t.”