About

Dan’s passion for audio and electronics began at a very young age. He grew up reading high‑end audio magazines and dreaming of owning the gear featured in their pages. Fascinated by how sound worked, he experimented with wire, magnets, and signals—eventually building his first working speaker driver at age 12, a moment that hooked him for life.

As a teenager, Dan’s curiosity expanded into the world of high‑voltage electronics. He built his first Tesla coil as a teenager, spending countless late nights experimenting with flyback transformers, neon sign transformers, microwave oven transformers, spark gaps, and arcs. Those early high‑voltage projects deepened his understanding of electrical behavior and fed the inventive streak that continues to guide his work today.

In high school, Dan built numerous car‑audio systems, creating custom enclosures, managing wiring, and installing security and lighting systems. His favorite classes were mathematics, science, auto, and electronics—anything that let him learn how things worked from the inside out.

After graduating, he attended Hennepin Technical College, earning his AAS in Electronics and making the President’s List every semester. During college, he worked part‑time as a bench technician for a lighting‑controls company. Upon completing his degree, he was hired full‑time, spending the next 15 years building his career in roles ranging from traveling programming technician to manager of quotations and applications groups.

After purchasing a home, Dan finally had the space to explore another passion: woodworking. Whether building custom display pieces, organizing his workshop, or designing small projects that blend electronics and wood, he enjoys the hands‑on creativity and precision the craft demands.

Today, Dan works for a lighting rep agency as a commercial controls applications engineer.

Outside the workshop, he enjoys home renovation, astronomy, weightlifting, fish‑keeping, tinkering with new ideas, and spending time outdoors.