WOMEN IN TECH
WOMEN IN TECH
WOMEN IN TECH
IBM hires former Xerox CTO to lead research group operations
Just a week after reshuffling its management team, IBM Corp. has made another key executive hire that will bring a fresh pair of eyes into its research side.
The technology giant is appointing engineer-turned-executive Sophie Vandebroek to the role of chief operating officer at its research division, according to a story in Xconomy. The Cornell University alumna, who holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, joins IBM after a 25-year stint with Xerox Corp.’s Innovation Group. She headed the business for about 10 of those years until retiring at end of 2016 after the printing giant’s split into two companies.
Vandebroek oversaw five engineering campuses as part of her role including the famed Palo Alto Research Center, better known as PARC, which produced some of the most important innovations of the Internet era. The list includes object-oriented programming, Ethernet networks, laser printing and a slew of other technologies that now stand at the core of their respective fields.
Vandebroek’s transition to IBM will see her assume a leadership post at one of the few research organizations with a more impressive track record than PARC. Big Blue counts more than 3,000 scientists among its ranks and boasts a long lineup of technological contributes that traces back to the creation of the world’s first electronic punch card in 1923. The following decades saw the company make numerous other defining innovations including, among others, the introduction of the first mainframe.
IBM Research continues its work to this day, while other divisions are being refocused on growth areas such as cloud and analytics. Vandebroek’s new role as chief operating officer will give her direction over several projects that are essential to this shift, most notably the Watson artificial intelligence. She’ll also have a say in more long-term initiatives such as the group’s efforts to develop brain-like processors and its quantum computing push.
Vandebroek told Xconomy that she plans to do most of her work from IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Boston. The executive will also reserve offices in a number of other facilities for occasions when travel may be required.
Photo courtesy of Xerox
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