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Industry Insider: Getting to Know the People That Make Up Our World
ConnectorSupplier.com profiles the best engineers from the four corners of our
industry. In this issue, we meet a connector design engineer with eight
U.S. patents.
Recognizing “Best” Engineers: Bill Garrett
Scott Manahl, western regional manager for Amphenol Commercial Products,
said, “I would like to nominate William (Bill) Garrett, component
engineer at Western Digital in Lake Forest, Calif. With more than 20
years of sales and sales management experience at Deutsch, Cinch,
Spectrum Control, and Amphenol, I have worked with many OEMs, CEMs, ODMs,
and other connector-related organizations. During this time I have
witnessed the demise of the traditional “Connector Guru.” While a few
remain, very few, if any, match the background, experience, durability,
and design portfolio of Bill Garrett. His years of design experience at
WD have produced several patents, numerous design innovations, and been
integral in WD’s ongoing march to a leadership position in the HDD
market.”
Name:
William (Bill) W. Garrett
Location:
Western Digital, Lake Forest, California
Current position:
Principal engineer
Industry affiliations or organizations:
Serial ATA Organization
Accomplishments you’re proud of:
I currently hold eight
U.S. patents.
First job:
Draftsman
Favorite website:
Mechanical Engineering - Physics Forums
The last book I read:
The Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren
If I knew then what I know now, I would have: Still wanted to be an engineer.
The best advice anyone ever gave me was: Teaching art doesn’t pay as well as engineering, stay
in school.
What trend in the industry is affecting your job and what would you like
to do about it?
The ever-increasing need for speed requires the design of host interface
connectors that are able to handle expanding speed levels.
Editor’s note: We did a
little research and discovered patents for a
storage
peripheral, such as a disk drive, having a robust PCB connector
configured in accordance with a SATA standard; and a cable connector
configured in accordance with a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA)
standard.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6811427.html
Patent #6811427, issued 6/21/2005—Storage peripheral with a robust
serial advanced technology attachment (SATA).
http://www.patentbuddy.com/patentdetails/958466
Patent # 6,908,330 issued 11/2/2004—A cable connector configured in
accordance with a SATA standard that includes a first electrical contact
arrangement in accordance with a SATA standard and is configured to mate
with a first blade connector having a second electrical contact
arrangement, also in accordance with the SATA standard.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/6832929.html
Patent #6832929, issued 12/21/2004—A printed circuit board connector
configured in accordance with a SATA standard. The PCB connector is for
connection to a PCB. The PCB connector includes a first blade connector
for supporting a first electrical contact arrangement in accordance with
a SATA standard, a housing for supporting the first blade connector and
the first electrical contact arrangement, and a pair of laterally
opposed guard arm receiving cavities integrally formed with the housing.
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6996893.html
Patent #6996893, issued 12/19/2003—A method for assembling a plurality
of disk drives: An assembly plate comprising of a plate alignment
feature (PAF) and a plurality of cells, wherein each cell has a cell
alignment feature (CAF) and is adapted to receive and retain a disk
drive; determining a valid alignment of the assembly plate in relation
to a disk drive assembly device based on the PAF; selecting a disk drive
for assembly if the assembly plate is in valid alignment; determining a
valid alignment of a selected cell in relation to the disk drive
assembly device based on the CAF of the selected cell; placing an
initial component of the selected disk drive in the selected cell
wherein the initial component is retained by the cell via a retention
feature of the cell; repeating the selecting, the determining of a valid
alignment of a selected cell, and the placing for each disk drive in the
plurality of disk drives; and completing the assembly of each disk
drive, during which each disk drive remains in its cell.
http://uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week05/OG/html/1339-1/US07484291-20090203.html
http://uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/week05/OG/patentee/alphaG.htm
Patent #7484291, issued 2/3/2009—A method of manufacturing a disk drive
with a lead frame engaged within a host electronic unit socket.
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