Like many other students, Sven-Thorsten Dietrich’s senior project was a major stepping-stone for his professional career. During his senior year in 1994, Dietrich decided to research Global Positioning Technology (GPS). This new technology was founded by Trimble, a leading provider of advanced positioning solutions that maximize productivity and enhance profitability. During his studies, Dietrich learned how GPS systems work, which led him building a timeserver for his senior project. His timeserver was a computer on the network at NC State that would provide accurate time with other computers in an effort to make the system work better for the entire student body. However, unlike many other senior projects which are merely prototypes, Dietrich’s work was deployed and became one of the primary timeservers at the University. His successful project also became the core of his Master’s thesis, where he refined the time synchronization in distributed systems. During his studies Dietrich also acted independently in a consulting role, supporting work by Eden R. Martin and Dr. Bruce S. Weir of the NCSU Program in Statistical Genetics, Department of Statistics in their work on “Tests for Linkage and Association in Nuclear Families”. Dietrich’s contributions in developing the algorithm presented in the paper were acknowledged in source code distributed to the Human Genetics research community by NCSU.After graduating, Dietrich moved to California to work for Trimble. While working for Trimble, Dietrich worked in his specific area of expertise on GPS timing modules, which are integrated into cell phone towers to synchronize timing of call-handoff (to another tower). Here, he began to develop a Linux-based GPS receiver that could broadcast data via Satellite as it was being produced at remote sites. Today, this specific receiver is employed by the Plate Boundary Observatory project, a study of the three-dimensional strain field resulting from active plate boundary deformation. After six successful years, Dietrich started working for MontaVista. Here, he conducted a research project on the Linux Kernel, the core of the operating system that handles the disk drives, display, keyboard, and low-level devices that work together. His work there significantly aided the building of Linux Realtime- a reliable, predictable, and efficient technology. Dietrich worked with MontaVista for three years before beginning to work for Novell. At Novell maintained the Suse Linux Enterprise Real-Time Kernel, which is currently being used on Wall Street to improve the predictability of financial transaction-completion. Dietrich soon began working as Principal Software Engineer at Huawei for one year where he worked with Linux Evangelism and IP-dissociation, supporting Huawei’s transition towards external-collaborative/upstream-facing bottom-up development from a deeply entrenched top-down Corporate/Culture environment. Presently, Dietrich works as the VP Office of Architecture with State Street Bank. Prior to this role, he was Principal Systems Architect at Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. where he worked on bleeding edge Enterprise Carrier Grade Linux Network Infrastructure Distribution, which was acquired by AT&T.Dietrich was born in Hilden, Germany, and immigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 13. After attending high school in Annapolis, M.D., he moved to Raleigh to study mechanical engineering at N.C. State. After beginning his studies, Dietrich found that his interests were more focused on Computer Science. He soon switched his major focus of study to Computer Science, where he obtained his BS and MS. A notable alumni of the Computer Science Department of N.C. State, Dietrich says his education at the University prepared him greatly for his work in the field. Specifically, Dietrich has fond memories of learning real-world and relevant information that correlated directly to his professional career, and recognizes Dr. Robert Fornaro and Carol Miller as his primary mentors.