HP ProLiant BL660c ISS Technology Update, Volume 8, Number 2 - Page 5

ISS Technology Update Volume 8, Number 2 Meet the Expert-Mitch Wright Mitch Wright is a Technologist/Sr. Engineer for ASIC and Chipset Enablement in the Technology Solutions Group-Industry Standard Servers (TSG-ISS). Mitch works with product teams, system architects, and vendors to develop high-quality, highly reliable ProLiant products on schedule. ―The key,‖ says Mitch, ―is to meet the needs and requirements of our customers.‖ According to Ken Jansen, his manager, Mitch is fueled by his ―passionate inquisitiveness. Mitch is always looking for new and better technologies to solve our customers' problems, and he is good at discerning promising technologies from those that aren't or those that will take longer to develop. Mitch also evangelizes new technologies within the company to ensure that they reach the customers.‖ Mitch's hands-on approach translates into his hobbies. He likes to design and build wood furniture. He says, ―Working with your hands keeps you humble.‖ Mitch and Jenny (married for 21years) have three children: Grace (20), Claire (14), and Alex (11). Below are excerpts from an interview with Mitch. Why did you decide to become an engineer? From an early age, I had a huge curiosity about how things work and I have been on a quest ever since. Growing up, I always worked with my dad in the garage and he continually encouraged me to invent stuff and build it myself. His only requirement was I use what was readily available. So the build versus buy question always ended the same way...build it. An inventor at age 12 Name: Mitch Wright Title: Technologist/Sr. Engineer Years at HP: 12 University: Texas Tech University U.S. Patents: 7 Awards: TSG 2006 MVP Technical Papers: In search of Acceleration, High Speed Digital Design: Moving from 33MHz to 133MHz PCI-X What is your most interesting research or invention? I have had many projects that are interesting for different reasons. For example, the ProLiant 8000 [first Compaq 8-processor server] and the DL585 G1 [first ProLiant Opteron-based server] were both significant products. I have seven patents, but I am proudest of my first patent and sole-inventor patent. Also, I worked as the Lead Technologist in the Physics Research Instrumentation Lab at the Super Collider Lab from 1991-94. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience because I worked with some of the world's brightest physicists. How much customer input goes into your product designs? Customer requirements are my primary concern, whether designing computers for the data center or for scientific instruments. In the last few years, I have been fortunate not only to work with vendors but also to interface with some large customer accounts. I also interface with presales engineers at the HP Tech Tours hosted by the Technology Communications group. These interactions provide a unique opportunity to understand customer challenges and requirements. How do you drive customer input into the design of your products? We work hard with our vendors to get the features right and to ensure that the components work as designed. In the ASIC and Chipset Enablement group, we achieve this by driving industry standards and testing for compatibility and reliability with a suite of tools developed over many years at HP. 5