Kenneth P. Garrard

Ken Gerrard’s first professional job was in 1978 writing mainframe pharmacokinetic software for Burroughs Welcome Co. Ken was an undergraduate computer science major with a keen interest in using computers to solve real problems. “After graduate school, I spent several years developing real-time control systems as an independent consultant. When I started working at NCSU 26 years ago my first task was to build a controller for an ultra-precision machine tool. But first we had to build a multiprocessor computer and write an operating system.” For the last 20 years, his work has focused on precision fabrication and metrology of optomechanical systems. “Writing software for imaging mass spectrometry is another metrology problem. I’ve enjoyed learning enough about mass spectrometry to work on tools that help analytic chemists process and visualize large data sets.”