Where Empowered Innovation Meets Impact
Gary’s career has been shaped by a simple but powerful drive: the need to understand how things fit together, and to have a real hand in shaping what they become.
That instinct showed up early. Gary attended high school in Venezuela, then moved to Colorado for college to study engineering. The shift to English-language coursework was challenging at first, but once he adjusted, something clicked. Learning stopped being an obligation and became an obsession. Gary didn’t just want to pass his classes; he wanted to understand everything.
He dove into mechanical engineering and added minors in physics and engineering management to complement his skills. Gary experimented with building things of his own. He explored entrepreneurship and developed a product designed to improve safety – a device to automate firetruck ladders that could potentially save lives. It was his first new venture, and it introduced Gary to the part of engineering he loved most: identifying a pain and bringing the solution from an idea all the way to life.
The deeper he went into engineering, the clearer it became that he didn’t want to choose between technical and leadership roles. He wanted both. That led him to pursue two master’s degrees, one in Mechanical Engineering and another in Engineering Management. Still, something felt incomplete.
That missing piece came with systems engineering.
For the first time, Gary found a discipline that matched how his mind worked. It allowed him to zoom out to see the full system and then zoom back in to influence the technical details that made it all function.
That balance carried into his early career, working across aerospace, robotics, and Department of War (DoW) contracting. Some of his work included development and integration of three separate launch site systems in Cape Canaveral, automated test stations for micro-electro-mechanical systems, LEO/GEO satellite system components, and micro-adjustable machinery for aluminum can manufacturing. Each role added complexity, responsibility, and scale, but also clarified what mattered most to him.
As Gary looked for his next step, he wasn’t just searching for interesting technical work. He was searching for a place where he could put innovative ideas to work.
That sense of ownership defines Gary’s role at Sabel today, where he runs technical project management for TDPWerx, a commercial off-the-shelf software solution that brings scalable automation to Technical Data Package validation across acquisition, production, and sustainment.
“TDPWerx has the potential to revolutionize a big part of engineering: design reviews,” Gary said. “I’m excited about the product and the chance to optimize how engineers work; it can have a massive impact, which is important to me.”
The work is demanding and fast-moving, with customer delivery happening alongside ongoing innovation.
“With TDPWerx, we’re trying to deliver a solution to customers while also adding additional capabilities as the product progresses and matures. It can and will change the way engineers perform Quality Assurance, review cycles, and design. The vision for the product is huge.”
What keeps Gary engaged is both the complexity of the project, and the trust placed in him to lead through it.
Looking back, Gary’s path makes sense not as a series of career moves, but as a steady narrowing toward the place where his skills, values, and motivation align. From navigating languages and disciplines to leading complex systems and products, his story is ultimately about finding – and owning – the work that matters most.