RISING STARS: Colin Doyle

Colin Doyle
Sales Engineer
R.O. Whitesell and Associates

To gain better insight into how early career professionals in the electronics industry have turned challenges into opportunities to ensure continued growth, The Representor interviewed Colin Doyle, Sales Engineer at R.O. Whitesell and Associates. Doyle shared how he started in this business during the MLCC allocation and then the pandemic — and he’s still here!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself, personally and professionally.

I am a graduate of a small school named Slippery Rock University. After graduation I worked for Aramark at the Steelers and Pirates stadiums for a few years before migrating into a sales role. In addition to working in the electronics industry, I own a small business vending food at a Medieval festival — we serve up a mean meatball sub. I am currently engaged to be married, and we are expecting our first baby boy in September 2026! He’ll be our little ring bearer for our wedding in September 2027.

How long have you worked in the electronics industry?

I have been working in the electronics industry since 2018. Eight years really flies by!

What made you choose this industry as your current career path?

The opportunity to work with engineers designing products that we all encounter in our lives was and is extremely interesting to me. I love that in our role, every day is a little different. I may be speaking to someone designing an electric breaker one day, and someone working on a self-driving vehicle the next. It keeps me on my toes and every day is exciting!

What are some of the main challenges you have encountered as you embark on your career journey?

I started in 2018 during the MLCC allocation. Everyone said, “Don’t worry, once this is over everything will be back to normal.” Then the pandemic happened, and the issues that the post-COVID era brought. Maybe one of these days we will be back to “normal” but until then I’m embracing the challenge.

What steps have you taken to overcome these challenges and ensure that you can establish and nurture a successful career?

I believe that a large portion of this job is building strong relationships. I changed markets about two months before COVID-19 hit, and needed to build new accounts and relationships. Once we were all locked inside, it was very challenging to build new relationships. I’ve been working to build those ever since. I think every day will bring a new challenge and you never know what that might be. If you have great relationships with your customers, principals and distributors, these challenges will seem easier to overcome.

What are some training tools or networking/ industry events that you have found beneficial to your professional growth?

I was lucky enough to attend the EDS Summit in 2024, which was a very interesting event. It opened my eyes to the sheer size of the industry outside of my own territory. Local networking events such as the Pittsburgh Technology Council and ERA Ohio Chapter events have been great for meeting others in the industry. Also, some of the local distributor events are incredible for building relationships and meeting with customers.

Do you think that there is enough new talent entering the electronics industry? What could make this field more attractive to young professionals?

I cannot speak to the volume of new talent entering the industry as I am not in a hiring role. I will say that I think that the opportunity for young talent entering the industry is vast. There will be many people in the industry reaching the age of retirement soon, and that will leave a lot of opportunity and room for advancement for a new generation.

Where do you see your profession and the industry 10 to 20 years from now?

I don’t see a world where the electronics industry shrinks. Every day electronics are added to more and more products and that trend, I believe, will continue. I’m sure we will witness more supply challenges and geopolitical issues that will affect us all. Locally, in the Pittsburgh market, I expect some of the robotics companies that are currently in their start-up stage to become Tier 1 customers in the next 10-20 years.

Professionally, what keeps you up at night?

Always looking for the next PO!