Bill Stube is a Project Manager for Plexus. He joined the Data Vortex team over five years ago first as a hardware engineer and has served as the project manager for Data Vortex efforts at Plexus for over two years. His expertise includes developing schedules, budgets, project proposals and plans for successful project execution, evaluating technical and project risk, and interfacing with customers and senior management to communicate project status.
Bill graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a BS in Computer Engineering. He earned an MS in Engineering Management from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2013.
What is your role at DV and how long have you been involved?
I am responsible for the project planning, staffing, technical execution, and success of the DataVortex project at Plexus. I have been involved with DV for 5.5 years, originally as the first hardware engineer on the DV102 with varying roles over the course of the project. I have done board design, signal integrity analysis, software and algorithms work, system installations, project planning, and have been highly involved in all aspects of the project to which Plexus has contributed.
What skills and expertise do you bring to the table?
As a Project Manager, former engineer, and a former network and systems administrator, I have a diverse background. From my time as a network and system administrator I have experience in desktop support, Linux administration experience, and an understanding of industry and academic computing challenges. Through my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and from my time as an engineer, I have intimate experience in detailed design, system architectures, technological complexity and design tradeoffs, and know what it takes to design, develop, manufacture, and support evolutionary and revolutionary products. Through my Master’s degree in Engineering Management and as a Project Manager, I understand project planning, team leadership, business strategy, scheduling and budgeting, and the importance of executing to a plan. I also have the diverse Plexus staff of 350+ experienced design engineers and project managers to draw on to bring other skills to the table and to leverage for input.
Across all of these, I’ve had experience relating challenging technical concepts to diverse audiences. I think that has been helpful to me personally and to Data Vortex in our many joint investor and customer presentations.
How has being involved with Data Vortex positively affected your business/industry expertise and career?
Working with a diverse team of experienced professionals always brings learning and insight in areas that you never expect. The Data Vortex team has a broad experience base and a great ability to look at problems from many different perspectives. Over the past five years, I have had an opportunity to work with a great group of people on an exciting and revolutionary technology.
What is the best piece of leadership advice you have received? How have you incorporated that into your position at DV?
The path to success involves honestly assessing what you are good at, knowing what you love to do, and knowing what you don’t excel at or aren’t passionate about, and then building a team of people that have different passions that effectively augment or compliment your abilities. I incorporate this into my role by having a good understanding of the skills of the members of the collective Data Vortex and Plexus teams, and working to make sure we have the right resources in place to achieve our goals and to make sure everyone is enjoying their work.
What do you like to do in your leisure time?
I try to get outdoors and be active as much as possible. For me this means skiing, hiking, biking, and running, or just relaxing on the back patio. I also enjoy listening to live music.