Cool Person of the Day

There are so many specialized companies within the tech sector that it is unsurprising that umbrella companies form.  Umbrella companies are large corporate entities that usually do not manufacture or sell anything of their own; their sole purpose is usually to manage the many component companies.  In other words, an umbrella company is company that owns smaller companies.  One of the most intriguing umbrella companies is Sanmina-SCI, a tech company that has interests in medical systems, computer components, plastics manufacturing, clean technology and even defense technology!  One of the most intriguing individuals at Sanmina-SCI is Jackie Ward! Read more »

With all of the advances in digital music technology, it is unsurprising that consumers today are constantly looking for better audio equipment.  While an inexpensive mp3 player may play audio files with equal precision as the most expensive players, serious audiophiles know that the quality of the speakers, headphones or earbuds make all the difference with digital music.  Harmon Kardon is an industry leader in the manufacture of quality audio equipment.  Harmon Kardon relies upon the talents of Sean Olive. Read more »

No matter how good your product or service is, if you do not have the right team of people promoting it, the marketplace may never know the true genius of your work.  In the tech sector, especially on the Internet, this is especially true; the Internet is so cluttered with information and services, you need to make yours stand out.  Even an established and successful Internet-based company like Salesforce must continue to find new clients in order to keep growing.  For Salesforce, the person in charge of finding those new clients is Hilarie Koplow-McAdams!

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The rise of the Internet social network has happened with such a speed that it is often difficult to say what the real enduring impact of the Internet social network has been and will be.  To understand what Twitter is trying to convey, as far as what the service might mean to communications and history, a very specific analytic tool had to be built.  That tool was TagWalk and the inventor of TagWalk is Tim Hastings! Read more »

When your company is a multinational operation with many different divisions, the human resources department faces several challenges not faced by smaller businesses.  In the tech sector, many companies have corporate structures that are specialized to each continent or part of the world.  While having mirrored operations throughout the world may allow the company to specialize to capitalize on the abilities of the facilities in each area, it can create a real human resources nightmare.  To keep a company like that growing, you need a human resources specialist who can hire the executives needed to manage all of the disparate operations of the corporation.  For Imation, that person is Patricia Hamm. Read more »

In the computer world, there are so many technologies that it is hard to keep up with all of them.  Indeed, you might be surprised to learn that 3Dconnexion recently shipped its one millionth 3-D computer mouse; clearly it is not an obscure product, but somehow it has never drawn mainstream media attention.  Creations like the 3-D computer mouse are the result of tireless research and development by inventors.  In the case of the 3-D computer mouse, the ultimate design was the result of the efforts of Douglas Engelbart. Read more »

There are some work environments with which employees truly fall in love.  Those places where you might work where you find a sense of fulfillment and potential for advancement may be the best workplace of your life.  Sometimes, though, they might not be absolutely right for all you need at a certain point in your life.  When that happens, you may well move on.  The best workplaces, however, are the ones that will have you back when your circumstances, or those of the company you love, change once again.  Cadence Design Systems was an environment Susan L. Bostrom loved and one that eagerly took her back in 2011! Read more »

For some entrepreneurs, it is hard to define the moment their life turned to take them down a road to greatness.  Every company founder, CEO, and inventor, though, has a moment when something changed for them or they made a connection no one else made and they were able to push their idea or business in a new, successful, direction.  For William Wang, that seminal moment is very easy to define: he was in a plane crash.  From that plane crash came Vizio! Read more »

Finding women at or near top positions in the tech sector is at least as hard as it is to find them in prime management positions in the financial sector and other big businesses.  However, possibly because of the rate at which technology changes, women in technology sector professional jobs are often derailed from their career path by using maternity leave.  To acknowledge how hard working mothers work to balance both their family life and career, Working Mother magazine names one woman in business as their Working Mother Of The Year each year.  In 2009, that honor went to a woman in the tech sector, Blair Christie of Cisco Systems!  Blair Christie is so much more than just a working mother; she is the powerhouse who runs much of Cisco Systems’ global communications and negotiations efforts. Read more »

The business of doing online business is more vital and robust than ever. Those businesses that are not yet taking advantage of the Internet as an income channel are rapidly finding themselves at a competitive disadvantage.  But setting up an online business can be difficult, especially for those who are not technically inclined.  Few people understand that as well as Mitchell Harper does. Read more »