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Meet Mark Johnson, Program Manager, Software Engineering Program, SRI San Luis Obispo

Focus at SRI
I am a Program Manager in SRI's Software Engineering Program (SWEP). I was the first engineer hired into SWEP in October 2000 and the first employee at SRI San Luis Obispo.

Day in the Life at SRI
My typical day is unpredictable and I like that. There are currently 28 of us in the San Luis Obispo office working on 15 or more different projects. That translates into lots of emails, phone calls, and meetings. Then, I try to squeeze in some "real" work on a variety of projects that I have supported over the years, including some field work.

Before SRI
I was a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo for eight years. In the late 1990s, immediately prior to joining SRI, I worked at a few dot-com companies and rebranded myself as a software engineer. I performed a lot of programming and computer simulations in my engineering research.

Academics
BS, MS, and Ph.D degrees in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.

Why SRI?
Having attended Stanford, I had always known about SRI as a place full of extraordinary people performing important R&D work. When I learned that SRI was opening an office in San Luis Obispo in 2000, I jumped at the chance to apply.

Inspiration and Motivation
I'm inspired by all the great colleagues I get to work with at SRI. I also have basic curiosity about how the world works.

What has changed in your field since you began your career, and what new or exciting trends are you seeing?
It is probably safe to say that the field of computers, software, and networking is changing faster than any other technical area.  All other science and engineering disciplines increasingly rely on computing as a core tool. Everything is exciting, and the problem space is huge. The SWEP group is lucky because there is so much variety; we have engineers working on everything from low-level embedded software to next-generation artificial intelligence applications.

Proudest Professional Accomplishment
The first accomplishment that comes to mind is being part of the SWEP team that won SRI's Presidential Achievement Award in 2007.

Languages
English and some German.

Away from the Office
Scuba diving and underwater photography are my primary hobbies, but I don't have a chance to practice them as much as I wish. I am also training for the Dublin marathon, which my wife and I will run together for the second time in October.