UW CSE's Ed Lazowska interviews F5 Networks' John McAdam at the "State of Technology" luncheon (Ashley Genevieve photograph)
Higher Education was a recurring theme today at the annual Technology Alliance “State of Technology” luncheon in downtown Seattle.
Technology Alliance chair (and UW CSE alum) Jeremy Jaech presented the results of the most recent Technology Alliance economic impact study. According to GeekWire:
“Jaech also sounded the alarm about education funding, thanking the governor and state legislature for stemming the tide of cuts, but saying that more needs to be done to expand the pool of homegrown engineering talent. ‘I believe we are screwing up if we allow this increasing mismatch between job creation and talent production to continue,’ he said. ‘We’re going to have to engineer our own future, and I mean that literally. We need engineers, and lots of them.'” Read the GeekWire post here.
Later in the program, UW CSE’s Ed Lazowska interviewed John McAdam, CEO of Seattle’s F5 Networks. Again according to GeekWire:
“F5 Networks has been operating in the Seattle area for more than 15 years, quietly building one of the biggest success stories of the tech community. But even though it boasts a market value of $9.25 billion and employs 2,800 worldwide, few people — even those in its home town — really know what F5 is all about. Heck, most folks didn’t even know that its name is actually taken from the hit movie ‘Twister.’ … University of Washington computer science professor Ed Lazowska, who moderated the discussion, described F5 as a ‘hidden gem’ and started the talk with this very blunt question: ‘What on Earth is that that you folks do at F5?’ … Asked what government could do to help support the tech ecosystem, McAdam echoed earlier remarks by Technology Alliance Jeremy Jaech about the importance of supporting education.” Read this GeekWire post here.
Read an excellent Seattle Times article describing the entire event here.