Employee Spotlight: Sam Caylor

AMS Congratulates Sam Caylor as he celebrates his 15-year anniversary with the company!

As the Systems Development Manager at AMS, Sam leads the Software and Hardware Development Teams that design the custom data acquisition hardware, and develop the analysis, and reporting software that is used to perform our commercial testing services.

Sam was born and raised in Sevierville, TN, at the base of the Great Smoky Mountains. In 5^th grade he found his love for computers and electronics though his activities in 4-H. He began his working career at 14 when he got his first job at Karmelkorn in Gatlinburg, TN making Karmelkorn, candied apples, funnel cakes, and other tasty treats. Sam attended Sevier County High School where he played Baseball for the Smokey Bears. But the greatest highlight of his high school career was being an Olympic Torch Bearer for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

After high school, Sam went to Maryville College, where he earned a B.A. in Engineering, played baseball, and met his lovely wife, who played volleyball at the time. After his junior year of college, Sam played baseball for the Johnson City Redbirds (Short-A Minor League Baseball Affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) before returning to school in Knoxville, TN.

Sam kicked off his engineering career at the University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK). While working on his B.S. in Electrical Engineering, he worked in the integrated circuits and systems laboratory, a research and development laboratory inside the Electrical Engineering Department at UTK, working on extreme environment electronics to detect airborne toxins on the International Space Station. During his graduate career, he continued working with this lab, working on technologies that were ultimately deployed on the Curiosity and Perseverance Mars rovers.

After graduating from UTK with his M.S. in Electrical Engineering, he started working for a local startup, Telesensors, that developed radiation detection devices for homeland security use. He then came to work at AMS in the summer of 2008.

Sam and his extraordinary wife Erin have been married for 18+ years and have two beautiful children, Xander (12) and Zoey (10). Like their parents, Xander and Zoey are very athletic and enjoy sports, including baseball, volleyball, beach volleyball, and swimming. When they aren’t at sporting events, the family loves exploring the outdoors, hiking, mountain biking, paddleboarding, and camping. They also love to travel and have visited several national parks in California (Yosemite, Sequoia, Pinnacles, and Death Valley), Utah (Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches), and the Grand Canyon in Arizona. They also have plans to visit the Grand Tenons and Yellowstone National Park soon.

Sam Caylor is a joy to work with and plays such a crucial role in the success of AMS. He is a great mentor to his team and other employees, is always happy to help you solve any issues, and is genuinely dedicated to serving our customers and making AMS a great workplace. Thank you for 15 years, Sam! Congratulations on this milestone!