Jeff Wilde (BS, 1985) is the Manager of Optical Technology at Quinta Corporation, San Jose, CA. (Quinta Corp., 1879 Lundy Drive, San Jose, CA 95131). His home address is 18555 Mountain View Ave., Los Gatos, CA 95033. His email is wilde@compuserve.com. The following is excerpted from a letter in which he describes his activities since his 1985 graduation. Accompanying his letter was a major donation for the purchase of advanced teaching laboratory equipment. The department is grateful to Jeff for his generous donation!

"Dear Friends and Colleagues, I thought I would update you on my activities after TTU. After graduating in 1985, I went to Stanford and received a PhD in Applied Physics (1992). After a one-year postdoc at Stanford, I decided to strike out on my own.

As a result, the past few years have found me busy following a career path that offers a nice mix of entrepreneurship and high technology. After running my own business for a short while (3D Technology Labs, Mountain View, CA, which leveraged SBIR contracts to conduct research on 3D holographic storage and 3D display), in 1996, three others and I founded a Silicon Valley start- up company. We put together a plan to develop a high-capacity disk drive by combining the strongest attributes of optical (high areal density) and magnetic (multiple heads and platters) storage products.

In April, 1996 we obtained first-round venture capital financing and formed Quinta Corporation. Our timing was good (a little luck never hurts!), and the company grew quickly. A year and a half later, we had successfully demonstrated key aspects of the technology and completed three more rounds of financing. We then had 80 employees. In August, 1997 we were acquired by Seagate Technology and currently operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary with over 200 employees. This has been a very exciting experience!

Details regarding Quinta's technology can be found in the press release archives on the Seagate web site. Our approach is based on a miniature optical recording head that flies over the surface of a spinning disk in a fashion similar to that in current magnetic disk drives. Our disk is made of plastic with magneto-optic recording layers deposited on the two surfaces. We utilize fiber optics for light delivery, along with a silicon micromachined mirror on the head as part of a high-bandwidth track servo system. Multiple heads and disks can be included in a disk drive package. We have not yet made a formal product announcement, but we are working diligently toward that end.

The education and lab experience I obtained through the TTU Engineering Physics program was instrumental in laying the groundwork for my career. I enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to teach physics labs and to work in Prof. Menzel's lab. I have fond memories of my undergraduate years and look forward to maintaining contact with the department. Best Wishes, Jeff Wilde"

This page was last modified on January 07, 2000