For Scott Winters, a master inventor, distinguished engineer and director of development at IBM in Austin, inspiration can come from anywhere.
“Wherever I go now I constantly see things that I can do better or different, whether it’s going to the supermarket or a football game or driving the car and coming to work,” said Winters, 51.
He was sitting in the food court at an Austin mall while his family shopped when he came up with a new system for a cell phone network that he later patented. Winters modeled a directory of cellular services on the way kiosk vendors display their merchandise.
That kind of innovative thinking makes Winters one of the top patent producers at IBM. He received 25 patents last year; during his 18 years with the company, his total is 65 patents and another 40 pending.
At IBM, patents are rarely issued to a single person; usually three or four people share in the development of one, said Winters, who develops mentoring groups with people at different stages of their careers.
The patents awarded to Winters last year focus primarily on cell phone software. This year’s submissions to the patent office, he said, all will be based on social networking.
Photo by isc-online.
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