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2009 Electrical Engineering Leadership Seminar
This winter quarter seminar series is a unique opportunity for students to hear from some leading executives who all have one thing in common - a degree from the UW EE department! Each week one of our successful alumni will share their insights on the skills, attributes and approaches that can lead to outstanding careers. This is intended to be a fun and informative seminar that puts our students in touch with professionals in the field they otherwise might not have the opportunity to meet.
Seminars are held in EEB room 003 (Rushmer Room) from 3:30-4:20 p.m. every Monday during winter quarter.
January 5, 2009 - Gerald McMorrow, BSEE 1974, MSEE 1978
Gerald McMorrow is CEO, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Verathon Inc. (formerly Diagnostic Ultrasound Corporation). Verathon designs, manufactures and distributes reliable, state-of-the-art medical devices to be used in urology, acute care, primary care, extended care, anesthesiology, critical care, emergency medicine, and EMS markets. Since establishing the company in 1984, McMorrow has led Verathon through its transformation from a small start-up venture to an international corporation. In 2006, McMorrow was named winner of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year Award in the Pacific Northwest for the Health Services category. Gerald McMorrow resides in Washington State with his wife, Shirley. They have three children.
January 12, 2009 - Bror Saxberg, BSEE 1980
Bror Saxberg is currently the Chief Learning Officer at K12 Inc., a privately-held, e-learning company that strives to provide any child access to educational curriculum and tools. Saxberg received his MA and PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT, an MA in Mathematics from Oxford, and an MD from Harvard Medical School. He was elected Rhodes Scholar in 1980 at the University of Washington. Saxberg lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife, Denise.
January 26, 2009 - Gary Swofford, BSEE 1968
Swofford has over 35 years of experience in the energy industry. He currently serves as General Manager of Swofford Energy Consulting, LLC. Previously, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Puget Sound Energy (PSE). Swofford has also served as V.P. for PSE in Customer Service and has two degrees, in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington and in Engineering Economy for Public Utilities from Stanford University. Mr. Swofford brings deep understanding of the issues driving power utilities to adopt networking technologies. He provides insight into what motivates consumers and the regulatory world to embrace advanced metering programs that encourage consumers to use energy more efficiently and cost effectively. As the former Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for Puget Sound Energy - which serves 1.5 million electric and gas customers in Western Washington - Mr. Swofford was instrumental in implementing one of the USA's first large-scale, fixed wireless networks for a utility. He also directed the operational aspects of several innovative customer service programs including a voluntary time-of-use pilot pricing program that resulted in more efficient operations and a dramatic improvement in the energy consumption habits of consumers. Mr. Swofford continues to be active in the utility industry since his retirement in late 2003. In addition to serving on the Tantalus board, he provides guidance to companies in the emerging technology sector, and is involved in a number of prominent national power organizations including the EPRI, the Electric Power Research Institute.
February 2, 2009 - Tom Rolander, MSEE 1976
Tom Rolander serves as the CTO and Cofounder of CrossLoop, Inc., a global marketplace for computer support and training. Being the fifth software company Rolander has started, his passion for innovation remains as fresh today as when he was a UW student. Other ventures Rolander has been involved with include serving as the VP and CTO for Benetech, the Senior Architect and Director of Research & Development at Novell, the CTO and CEO of PGSoft, and the VP of Engineering and Research & Development at Digital Research. Rolander tempers the intensity of his work life with equally ambitious athletic pursuits as an avid sailor, pilot, cyclist, and runner.
February 9, 2009 - John Ehrenberg, EE PhD 1973
John is currently president and CEO of Seattle-based Hydroacoustic Technology Inc., HTI, a company that develops and applies acoustical equipment for remotely monitoring fish populations. He has been part owner of HTI since 1988. Prior to assuming his current position at HTI, he was the Director of the Information, Electronics and Avionics Technology organization at Boeing. His Boeing organization was responsible for R&D in the areas of electromagnetics, solid state electronics, RF electronics and phased arrays, microsystems, optical technology and photonics. The organization carried out research sponsored by a number of Government agencies including DARPA, Air Force, and Navy as well as Boeing sponsored R&D. Prior to joining Boeing in 1987, Ehrenberg was a Research Professor in Electrical Engineering and at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington. His research focused on the development of signal processing techniques for underwater acoustic and communications systems and for oceanographic and geophysical instrumentation. Ehrenberg received his BSEE from Seattle U, his SMEE from MIT and his PhD in EE from the University of Washington. John Ehrenberg and his wife Kathy live in Seattle. They have two children.
February 23, 2009 - Brian Otis, BSEE 1999
Brian Otis received the B.S. from the University of Washington and the M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He has held positions in the U.W. Kelly Tremblay Brain and Behavior Lab, the UC Berkeley Ralph Freeman Vision Science Lab, the Berkeley Wireless Research Center, Intel Corporation and Agilent Laboratories. His graduate academic research involved low power transceiver design for sensor networks. He joined the University of Washington as Assistant Professor in 2005, where his research involves the design of ultra-low power circuits and systems for autonomous, wireless sensors.
March 2, 2009 - John Branch, BSEE 1991
John Branch, Partner at Darby & Darby, a full-service intellectual property law firm, concentrates his practice on the procurement of patent, copyright and trademark rights in the high-tech areas of analog and digital electronics, computer software and hardware, video games, networks, telecommunications, wireless devices and other related technologies. As a registered patent attorney, he also provides client counseling on technology innovation issues such as patent infringement, validity opinions, licensing, due diligence matters, intellectual property aspects of securities offerings and related litigation. Branch is a member of the International Electrical and Electronics EngineersŐ Computer Society, the Washington Software Association, and participates in Washington Lawyers for the Arts. Branch earned his B.A. in Electrical Engineering from the UW.
March 9, 2009 - George Huang, EE PhD 1973
George Huang has 30 years of experience in the high-tech sector. In 1984 he founded GCH Systems, Inc., which develops and markets embedded controllers, ASICs, and PC systems. In 1993, GCH acquired Award Software (a BIOS software company), and in 1996, he took it public as its Chairman & CEO. Award Software merged with Phoenix Technologies in 1998, with Dr. Huang as Vice-Chairman. He now brings his extensive corporate management skills to bear as the Chairman and CEO in his latest venture with FutureDial, a mobile devise solution provider for industries and consumers.
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