The entire staff at Washington Laboratories has extensive experience in a variety of engineering and testing programs and products. From compliance testing to design reviews, PCS site surveys to specialized test services, consulting to customized seminars, Washington Labs provides the state-of-the-art facilities, superior engineering and testing services and knowledgeable staff to help get your company's products to market faster. 

(at right) J.L. Norman Violette, Ph.D., M.B.A., P.E., international lecturer, founder of Violette Engineering Corporation (VEC), CEO of Washington Laboratories and co-author of the ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY HANDBOOK, has over 30 years of electrical and electronic experience. Well-known for his pioneering efforts in EMC research and education, Norm has conducted over 200 domestic and international EMC seminars.  Michael Violette (on left), P.E., vice president of VEC, co-founder and president of Washington Laboratories, Ltd. brings unique expertise in the area of testing and engineering. Mike has written a multitude of EMC test plans, conducted a variety of site surveys and tested products, systems and components for industries as diverse as aerospace and architecture.

The Trust Factor

We can help. Getting approvals for your products can be frustrating, but it doesn't have to be. Washington Laboratories, Ltd. specializes in testing and engineering for product compliance, and in consulting for design review and troubleshooting for the electronics community. We are an authority on EMI/EMC, safety and product compliance, and we have an amazing success rate -- thousands of approvals for a broad range of clients.

Liv Violette, before the beginning. Liv is director of Marketing and PR at WLL. An accomplished and award-winning documentary producer, she manages development of new brand ideas in emerging media environments and across new ranges of messaging, including the popular EspressoEngineering.tv series.

And, most importantly, she is the mother of Sam and Leila Violette:

Peter Ling and Aiko Marioka, Since the Beginning. Our partners in California have been supportive, interested although their interests lie far afield from EMC (Peter runs a successful financial services company http://www.morling.com and Aiko creates great figurative, modern and nomadic sculpture. You can view her work here: http://www.aikomorioka.com.) Thanks, Peter and Aiko.

Joann Dorsey, Since 8/2/1992. Joann keeps the office running, overseeing the administrative, HR, payroll (that's why we're extra nice to her) and our much-anticipated events, seminars and celebrations. She is an expert on Longaberger baskets and grows a beautiful garden. If you're looking for something or just some friendly advice, ask Joann. If you have a question about where something belongs, she will tell you where to place it.

Mostly, she has kept her good humor in spite of the fact she's been surrounded by engineers for almost 20 years.

Steve Koster, Since 12/22/1992. Steve balances EMC lab technical, schedule and customer care issues with humor, compassion and aplomb. He's up for whatever it takes to keep things going, from pounding nails to blowing snow off the test ranges to flipping burgers. It's not easy running a lab when projects stop and start, smoothing often-frustrated and anxious customers.

Steve Ferguson, Since 9/14/1998. Steve is VP of Operations and our resident expert and instructor for military standards. His background includes extensive government and industry experience and he shuttles around the country (sometimes in his roving home-away-from-home), working all manner of complex and critical technology applications. Steve's focus keeps these often-difficult tasks on-track and on-schedule. He's got a penchant for hands-on teaching and gives everything he's got to his students.

Ta Thuan, Since 9/25/2000. Ta has developed expertise in MIL-STD testing and supports our clients with patience and a good wit. Ta doesn't get flustered; maybe it’s because he’s been through a rare maturation in his own journey. His story is exceptional, coming to the US alone as a young refuge from Saigon.

Lavern Robinson, Since 8/1/2001. Lavern keeps our customers informed of scheduling and arrangements for equipment and the nitty-gritty of keeping the projects moving smoothly. Lavern is keen to keep everyone informed and on-track, as much as possible in the sometimes-chaotic world of product development and testing. There is another layer of strength and fortitude to Lavern, whose faith shines through her fine family.

James Ritter, Since 4/29/2002. James brings an unbridled enthusiasm to the complex and fine details necessary to keep difficult radio projects moving forward. The type of equipment has evolved to a mind-boggling level of complexity with new standards and technologies in the state-of-the-art products that come through our door. James meets these complexities head-on. He’s got a great laugh, right?

John Repella, Since 8/9/2004. John gets to travel to many exotic locations (wherever they stuck nuke plants that is) and is point-man for many on-site measurements. In addition, John keeps our QA processes up-to-speed, which has the extra "bennie" of interfacing with and keeping our accreditors happy. John also makes the hottest hots you would ever want to sprinkle on pizza or Chinese food.

Marshall Pye, Since 1/16/2012. Washington Laboratories has named Marshall Pye as its new Product Safety Manager.

Mr. Pye has 30 years of product design and compliance experience and has worked with numerous safety and regulatory agencies during his career. He is a registered Professional Engineer.

Steve Dovell, Since 10/24/2005. Steve's broad experience in product development-working in communications firms in the area-comes in handy, especially considering the range of products that we have to contend with. Steve lends his skills to fixture development, often crafting necessary doo-dads we need to test our clients' products. Give him a puzzle and Steve will solve it.

Christina Karlhoff, Since 5/2/2005. Christina makes IT fun and short work of it. CK, as we shorthand, runs the WLL network, keeping the machines humming and the data flowing. She developed the database core that keeps our team connected across time and space. In addition, she is handy with a screwdriver and can hot-swap a power supply or tend an ailing hard drive.

Elmer Rodriguez, Since 1/15/2007. Elmer joined us from a paging company and brings a systems-level appreciation to our projects. Stepping in with a deep understanding of electronics and communications, Elmer has full range of equipment skills and mastery. He also continues to polish his academic understanding of the art of engineering.

Christopher Dao, Since 2/12/2007. Christopher gets excited about customer service and works to accommodate the client, whatever the need. He hails from a telecommunications industry background, a perfect background serving up his good vibes to our customers. And ready to pitch in, whatever and wherever be the project.

John Reidell, Since 4/28/2008. John has a steady calm that takes shape in the measured and consistent manner of his work. He draws on a large store of patience for sometimes, uh, less-than-cooperative projects. He tackles the extended-stay projects and extended-mile travel, which isn't so trivial.

Theresa Kerrick, Since 6/30/2008. Give Theresa a call and she'll be happy to help you with whatever you need. But more than that, Theresa has stepped up to a multitude of skills that every small company needs-featuring, namely, her agility; she handles shipping, equipment tracking, book-keeping support and by and large keeps a good sense of humor around all these guy engineers-not easy to do.

Katrina Bradshaw, Since ca. 1991 Katrina has had a strong hand in our branding, organization and marketing communications. She brings a broad background in media, management and creative development to our team and has helped foster numerous initiatives to expand our messaging to our markets.

Eric Thibau, Since 1996. Eric has been a strong supporter and ami for over fifteen years, supplying ideas and enthusiasm and projects in close support with our staff. Eric, President of European Certification Partners, is always ready to offer his good guidance on opportunities and cooperation between European testing authorities and our US clients.

Mark Chandler, Since 7/1/2008. Mark is our visual magician, making our message smile. He has overhauled our imagery, adding a bit of his sly wit and sense of design to the twirls and swirls of our messaging, from WL's brand to EspressoEngineering and, don't forget, Willie, our mascot.