Jack Abato

Biography

Though I was born in Buffalo, NY I actually grew up in Anaheim, CA and was a typical California kid; surfing and riding dirt bikes. I knew early on that I wanted a career in manufacturing and a close family friend insisted that the best place to study manufacturing was Japan. So, proving once again that I had more guts than brains, I was off to Japan. After graduating from Osaka University I spent 10 months with Panasonic before heading back to California. Once back in the States, I spent a few years consulting and then 20+ years managing plants across 5 states and 3 countries. My wife, Beth, is a massage therapist and a master gardener. We’ve been married for twenty-something years (please don’t tell her I can’t remember the exact number) and have an amazing daughter who recently graduated from Auburn University and moved to Denver to start her career. My off-hours are spent tinkering with a 44-year-old hot rod and fly fishing, so not only do I get to work for a great company, I also get to live at the base of the Blue Ridge Mountains only minutes away from some of the best fly-fishing waters in the country. Something that not many people know about me… My first real job was at Disneyland, running around the park in a costume. How many people can say they worked with Happy the Dwarf? I met my wife when she took a temp job at my plant. Three weeks later I asked her out and when she accepted I told her she had to quit because dating an employee was against company policy.

Research Interest

Manufacturing process,Advanced manufacturing