Michael Lipsie:
CLASS OF 1964
Alamogordo High SchoolClass of 1964
Alamogordo, NM
New Mexico Institute Mining & TechnologyClass of 1968
Socorro, NM
Michael's Story
A lot has happened but nothing really interesting.
After Alamogordo, I went to NM Tech in Socorro with no real goals. I graduated (without distinction) in 1968, finally managed to get a job in Florida for a few months before I was drafted (it was the height of the VietNam war). By great luck, I spent the next two years in Virginia. After the Army discovered that my family lived near DC, they 'allowed' me to occasionally be the courier for the weekly reports to the Pentagon. I would take the helicopter to the Pentagon, my father would pick me up, I would spend the weekend with my family (and save the Army to cost of housing me). Then on Monday morning my father would return me to the Pentagon and I would helicopter back. Other than having to wear the silly uniform, it was a great deal. [I was not a happy Army guy (and they were not that happy with me) but, all in all, it was good for both of us.
After the Army, I went back to Socorro [thank you GI Bill] to get my CS degrees (BS and MS). In 1974, I got a job in Silicon Valley (before it was called that) at Hewlett-Packard. That was the peak period for HP. Wonderful years. In 1981, there was a bit of a karfukkle as they killed the project I was on. I was moved to a different project which would have been a great move if I had any interest in management. I didn't. When a friend tried to recruit me for a start-up, I jumped at the opportunity. It was a good idea but badly thought out. I went anyway. After a few years, it went the way of most start-ups. Down.
I managed to get a job at Pyramid. A very interesting architecture that supported both flavors of Unix that were popular at the time. It also had an interesting register setup and call protocol (still really like it). But Pyramid and I did not like each other. I don't know what the problem was [but it was mostly my fault]. Eventually they fired me.
By this time, I had finally understood my sexuality had a partner that I was compatible with (David and I are still together 25 years later). I have very fond memories of Jo and David T and great regrets of any pain I caused ...Expand for more
them.
After a few rough years (it was another recession), I got a job at Mitsubishi under a fellow that I had managed at HP. This greatly concerned the Japanese. In addition to the normal levels of interview, I had a separate level to convince them that this reversal of management would not be a problem. At HP, the fellow had been a real pain. I was glad to be rid of him. But he grew up and I changed and we developed into a very effective team for the few years we worked together.
But the market changed and so did our "lab". Once again I was forced into management (slightly less painful this time) before I got to return to 'engineer'. I had a wonderful year on a research project before it became clear that everything I was working on was going to be closed. I bailed.
I got a job at SDS (Software Development Systems) which was a Chicago based company opening a Silicon Valley company. I ended up on a cycle accurate simulator for a PPC processor. SDS had a lot of simulators but only one cycle accurate one. I chose a different (but more accurate-but perhaps slower) architecture. Before I was able to ship the product SDS was bought by ISI which was bought, six months later, by Wind River. After that product shipped, I started work on the next generation debugger (Wind River had a dozen antique debuggers that they needed to update). But the next recession caught us. I survived the first four waves of layoffs but the fifth caught me.
After a few months of unemployment, I joined CrossTest. Their plan was to 'automatically' generate test programs so that you knew your code had not broken. I still think they have wonderful IP but no clue how to use it. I was there 8 years with no salary. Fortunately, David had a job for five of those years and the mortgage was paid off for three.
Then I found a startup called Algotochip. I worked with two people that I had worked with a Pyramid. And this time I was very productive. But, ultimately, the company folded due to marketing failure.
So, I could either retire or find another job. I would prefer another job bu I can live on retirement.
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