Meet Justin Severeid – Embedded Software Team

At Punch Through, we encourage everyone to proudly be themselves and want you to know the people behind the work that we’re so proud of. That’s why we launched our “Meet the Team” series, where we introduce you to one of our team members each month. 

Meet Justin Severeid, one of our embedded software engineers. Justin can do wonders with his coding capabilities, helping to develop any number of features for consumer products – medical devices, in particular. He works for Punch Through, after all. In his off hours, you’ll often find Justin tinkering with something – whether that something is his motorcycle, woodwork, or 3-D printer. Justin’s also got quite the green thumb. A good thing, as he’s a bit of an indoor horticulturist. 

What were you doing before working at Punch Through?

Before coming to Punch Through, I was working as a firmware engineer on the R&D team for a residential building products provider. My team focused mainly on fireplaces. I had the chance to work on various aspects of that technology, such as the controls, hardware, and software as well as the user-facing mobile apps. I was there for about two years when I saw this opportunity come up. 

What is your favorite thing about Punch Through culture?

Lack of company politics. That’s by far my favorite thing about the culture here. At other places where I’ve worked, people sort of change when the CEO shows up on the floor. You can almost feel this sense of fear set in. At Punch Through, it’s not like that. You don’t even have to think about it. Everyone is super approachable, and you can talk about almost anything – leaders included. You can just be yourself. I really appreciate that.

Tell me a story about your most memorable moment while working at Punch Through.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the most memorable moment for me will be the company offsites. It’s sort of a trend here, and it’s not unmerited. We get together and talk about the company and celebrate the things we do for our clients, of course. But we also get a chance to get to know one another. Play Rock Band with the team. Dust off the original Star Wars Battlefront back from 2004. It’s a great time and always memorable. 

What cool or rewarding things do you get to do on a regular basis?

By far, the coolest thing we all get to do on a regular basis is work on really cool projects. If not, then someone next to you is working on something cool, and you get to hear about it and learn from it. As far as rewarding goes, the projects that we work on are generally medical in nature. That device could improve someone’s life, so I don’t ever have to compromise my principles or my morals to work here. You can’t always say that at other places. 

What is the most valuable part of your work to you on a personal level?

The most valuable part of my work is skills-related. I’m always improving my engineering skills, soft skills, and just random skills, and then, without fail, we’re recognized for all the work we do. That’s important. Even just telling us that we did a good job means a lot. The feedback can be very valuable for improving our skills and our work. 

What is different about Punch Through versus other places you have worked?

The biggest difference between Punch Though and other companies that I’ve worked for would be that the leadership team is always working towards our company values, and most of the decisions are made around those values – values that are employee-facing. They get that for the company to do well, the employees need to do well. That’s something that’s totally different from other places I’ve worked.