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Minority Engineer Magazine, launched in 1979, is a career- guidance and recruitment magazine offered at no charge to qualified engineering or computer-science students and professionals who are African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and Asian American. Minority Engineer presents career strategies for readers to assimilate into a diversified job marketplace.

This magazine reaches minority engineers nationwide at their home addresses, colleges and universities, and chapters of student and professional organizations.

If you are an engineering student or professional who is a member of a minority group, Minority Engineer is available to you FREE!


Minority Engineer

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 ED WARD, DELL

 
Growing up in the late 1970s, Ed Ward was fascination by new technology, especially video games.
 
“I loved playing video games, but these were not the video games of today,” he recalls. “I had to go to an arcade and pay to play.”
 
While Ward was willing to sacrifice his allowance on Centipede and Asteroids, it turned out to be an expensive habit, at least exceeding the weekly income his parents allotted. If he wanted to indulge in the arcade offerings, then Ward needed to find a way to supplement his cash flow.
 
“I had to cut lawns, which I did not love to do,” he remembers.
 
So when Ward saw someone playing a game on an Apple II computer while in high school, he had an epiphany.
 
He explained that you can program computers to do things. To me, that meant there was a possibility I could play video games for free and be relieved of the need to mow lawns,” he explains.
 
What Ward didn’t consider at the time was that he had stumbled upon his future profession. He went on to study electrical engineering and computer science in college. After graduation he built his résumé working for some of the biggest names in computers, including Dell Inc.
 
Based in Round Rock, TX, the technology company helped define the personal computer market, and Ward has played a role in many of its game-changing innovations, including desktop and work station engineering, Ultra Mobile Notebook and Note book Systems. At the mo ment he serves as vice president of engineering, commercial PCs, tablets, Chrome and IoT solutions.
 
“I’m responsible for worldwide engineering and development of Dell’s commercial client product lines. This consists of Latitude notebooks, OptiPlex desktops, Precision work stations, Venue Pro Tab lets and IoT products,” he says.
 
Even after 20 years with the company, Ward remains intrigued and impressed with the work and corporate culture.
 
“I joined Dell in 1995 when we had 7,000 employees and $1 billion in revenue. In those days it wasn’t unusual to see Michael Dell roaming the hallways. I also remember thinking, ‘Wow! My co-workers are incredibly smart and passionate about getting stuff done.’ So my first impression was that Dell really had the energy of a startup,” remembers Ward.
 
“In some ways things have changed because we’ve grown from 7,000 to more than 100,000 employees,” he continues. “But, at the same time, we are true to our assertion that we’re the ‘world’s biggest start-up.’ Our team members are still high performers and focused on winning.”
 
As the ranks swelled, workforce diversity also grew, which Ward has come to value both professionally and personally.
 
He explains, “To me, diversity is more than just cultural or ethnic or intrinsic; it’s also about thought,” he explains. “I work with people who have vastly different backgrounds. This makes me confident that, when we all come to the table, we have so many different ways of looking at things that we come up with the best solutions to move forward with.”
 
Personally, Ward expanded his network through the Black Employee Resource Group, one of many internal shared-interests organizations at Dell.
 
“We have 800 global members of our group and we focus on events and campaigns for networking and relationship building across the organization. I am impressed by our growing and evolving commitment to diversity, but this spirit has been something that has shaped my opinion of Dell throughout my entire career here,” he concludes.
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