Always Listening, Always Learning

Don Baumer has a long-standing reputation for being a nice guy who knows that active listening and having integrity are the most important aspects of connecting, personally and professionally.

As a young man Don was an avid photographer. He took the photographs for his high school’s newspaper and yearbook and processed his own film. After high school he worked in a photography laboratory and a few years later, he was recommended for a job processing X-Ray film for a National Inspection company. That was over four decades ago, and as Don says, “The rest is history.”

During his many years in this industry, Don has always had learning at the top of his list. He has previously earned RT, MT, PT, UTT Certifications, and has completed NDT courses as well as various advanced training programs. He has experience in all areas of the business, such as operations, accounting, marketing, human resources and even creating new technology programs once upon a time.

Don has been self-taught in his professional and personal endeavor to further increase his knowledge of the industry. All of these things have helped him as he’s made his way through varying positions over the years. Innate drive and hands-on experience is, many times, the best keys to and indicators of success.

As one of IIA’s Lab Directors, Don oversees the day-to-day operations, performance, and of course, safety of the lab. He also keeps a close eye on ways he can improve performance and enhance customer experience, while also meeting the goals of the organization.

Safety and quality go hand-in-hand, which is another vital piece of Don’s responsibility. He makes sure IIA’s quality program is successful and working smoothly and that all overall lab activities and technicians are operating in accordance with ISO requirements.

There are lots of moving parts with what he does on a daily basis, and no two days are the same. One day, Don may be hosting a client or regulatory audit of the facility, conducting safety training or as RSO monitoring NRC and IEMA rules and regulations.

IIA performs a wide variety of testing services, which means Don has been involved in some very interesting projects over the years. Of course he’s been involved in innumerable industrial projects, but some of the more unique projects have involved X-Raying frozen lasagna, boxes of chocolate, salad dressing, cake mixes and pharmaceutical products for missing conveyor parts. He’s also been part of a team that performed radiography for a NASA Launch Pad Project and was instrumental in developing radiography techniques to detect creep cracks in dissimilar welds and movement on Super Heat/Reheat Liners and Nozzles at power plants.

You never know when radiography will come in handy, do you?

Don respects the culture and core values of IIA, which are in alignment with his own personal and professional values. He lives by his own advice, which is to always be kind to everyone, have a positive attitude, and make sure you are always listening to others. Last but not least, never stop learning. Also, Don lives by the phrase “integrity can’t be bought,” which is one of his motivations to provide story-worthy service to each customer. Don never stops until he makes sure his lab can provide a safe, viable and story-worthy solution for each customer.