Mark D. Papermaster (born 1961)
is an American
business executive
A business executive is a person responsible for running an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization.
Executives run companies or government agencies. They create plans to help their organizations g ...
currently serving as the
chief technology officer (CTO) and
executive vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
for Technology and Engineering at
Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...
(AMD).
On January 25, 2019 he was promoted to AMD's Executive Vice President. Papermaster previously worked at IBM from 1982 to 2008, where he was closely involved in the development of PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
technology[ and served two years as vice president of IBM's ]blade server
A blade server is a stripped-down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power consumption and other considerations, whil ...
division. Papermaster's decision to move from IBM to Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
in 2008 became central to a court case considering the validity and scope of an employee non-compete clause
In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition agains ...
in the technology industry. He became senior vice president of devices hardware engineering at Apple in 2009, with oversight for devices such as the iPhone. In 2010 he left Apple and joined Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
as a VP of the company's silicon engineering development. Papermaster joined AMD on October 24, 2011, assuming oversight for all of AMD's technology teams and the creation of all of AMD's products,[ and AMD's corporate technical direction.][
]
Early life and education
Mark D. Papermaster[ was born in 1961][ and grew up in ]Galveston, Texas
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
.[ Earning his bachelor of science degree (B.S.) in ]electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
from the University of Texas
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
in Austin
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
, in 1982 he began working at IBM in Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
. He earned his master of science degree (M.S.) in electrical engineering from the University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
[ In 1988.]
Career
Career at IBM (1982-2008)
After beginning his 26-year tenure at IBM in Vermont
Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...
in 1982, in 1991[ Papermaster moved to work with the company in ]Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. He initially started designing circuits in the Microelectronics Division, and afterwards “had technical and management assignments in quality, CAD
Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...
tool applications, and microprocessor
A microprocessor is a computer processor where the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit, or a small number of integrated circuits. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, and control circu ...
s.” Promoted to vice president of IBM's Microprocessor Technology Development unit, he was then given oversight for the development of microprocessor and server technologies[ from 1991 until 2006. During those fifteen years he worked closely with IBM's ]PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
architecture and microprocessor,[ which ]Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
had adopted for its line of Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
computers. Spending five years working specifically with PowerPC and becoming an expert on IBM Power microprocessors
IBM Power microprocessors (originally POWER prior to Power10) are designed and sold by IBM for servers and supercomputers. The name "POWER" was originally presented as an acronym for "Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC". The Power l ...
chips and the Power ISA
Power ISA is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) currently developed by the OpenPOWER Foundation, led by IBM. It was originally developed by IBM and the now-defunct Power.org industry group. Power IS ...
,
IBM v. Papermaster
', No. 08-9078, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 95516 (S.D.N.Y. Nov. 21, 2008)
live version as of November 28, 2018
/ref> ''Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fra ...
'' reports that “Papermaster was a key player in developing the PowerPC
PowerPC (with the backronym Performance Optimization With Enhanced RISC – Performance Computing, sometimes abbreviated as PPC) is a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) instruction set architecture (ISA) created by the 1991 Apple Inc., App ...
chips used in arly
The Arly () is a 32.1 km long river in the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. It is a tributary of the Isère, which it joins at Albertville.
Towns crossed by the river
* Megève
* Praz-sur-Arly
* Flumet
* Saint-Nicolas-la-Cha ...
Macs.”
Papermaster moved from microprocessors to become vice president of the Blade Development Unit in October 2006. Becoming head of IBM's blade server
A blade server is a stripped-down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power consumption and other considerations, whil ...
unit gave him responsibility for “x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
, POWER, storage blades, chassis
A chassis (, ; plural ''chassis'' from French châssis ) is the load-bearing framework of an artificial object, which structurally supports the object in its construction and function. An example of a chassis is a vehicle frame, the underpart ...
, network electronics and associated ecosystem.” Also in 2006, IBM selected him to join two executive groups: its Integration & Values Team (I&VT) and its Technical Leadership Team, the latter of which focused on attracting talent.
Senior VP at Apple (2009-2010)
After being courted as a successor to iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
executive Tony Fadell
Anthony Michael Fadell (born March 22, 1969) is an American engineer, designer, entrepreneur, and investor. He was senior vice president of the iPod division at Apple Inc. and founder and former CEO of Nest Labs.
Fadell joined Apple Inc. in 20 ...
, Papermaster accepted a position with Apple in 2008. Shortly afterwards, IBM filed a complaint alleging Papermaster had breached
Breached was a Canadian rock band from Toronto, Ontario, active from 2010 to 2015. Its members were Bobby Noakes (vocals), Mike Diesel (guitar/vocals), Ryan Alexander (bass), and Neil Uppal (drums). Mike Diesel was a member of the band Age o ...
a one-year noncompete agreement.[ Papermaster countersued,] arguing that Apple had hired him for his management and engineering abilities, not for insider knowledge of IBM processors. Apple and IBM reached a settlement in January 2009 where "Papermaster could only work for Apple after a six month unpaid vacation."
Papermaster joined Apple on April 24, 2009 as senior vice president of Mobile Devices and Devices Hardware Engineering. Reporting to Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
, he was given direct oversight of the iPod and iPhone engineering teams, including iPhone hardware development and the June 2010 rollout of the iPhone 4
The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the 4S. Following a number of notable leaks, the iPhone 4 was first unvei ...
. Although the device proved popular, issues such as a slow release of a white version and reception flaws with the antenna resulted in controversy. The antenna design, a then-unusual device casing that acted as a signal receiver, had been green-lit in late 2009 by Steve Jobs. On August 7, 2010, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' reported that Papermaster was leaving Apple for unconfirmed reasons.
VP at Cisco Systems (2010-2011)
In November 2010, Papermaster became vice president of the Silicon Switching Technology Group at Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
.[ of Cisco's Silicon Engineering Group, he had oversight for Cisco's “silicon strategy, architecture, and development for the company’s switching and routing businesses.”][ His department also oversaw “chips developed in-house for Cisco's switches,” the ]ASIC
An application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC ) is an integrated circuit (IC) chip customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use, such as a chip designed to run in a digital voice recorder or a high-efficien ...
(application specific integrated circuits) chips that go into Cisco products such as the Nexus 7000
The Cisco Nexus series switches are modular and fixed port network switches designed for the data center. Cisco Systems introduced the Nexus Series of switches on January 28, 2008. The first chassis in the Nexus 7000 family is a 10-slot chassis ...
data-center switch and the Catalyst
Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
line of LAN switches.
CTO and Executive VP at AMD (2011-present)
On October 19, 2011, Advanced Micro Devices
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational semiconductor company based in Santa Clara, California, that develops computer processors and related technologies for business and consumer markets. While it initially manufact ...
(AMD) announced that Papermaster had been appointed its senior vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
(SVP) of Technology & Engineering, as well as its chief technology officer (CTO). He was officially appointed to both roles on October 24, 2011. As SVP of the newly formed Technology & Engineering Group under former CEO Rory Read
Rory P. Read is an American business executive. He is the CEO of Vonage, a position he assumed on July 1, 2020. He previously served as EVP chief operating executive at Dell as well as president and CEO of Virtustream. He was formerly the chief ...
, Papermaster was given oversight for all of AMD's technology teams. He was also given oversight for all of AMD's products, “corporate technical direction,” and research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...
,[ including system-on-chip (SOC) product design][ and integrated hardware and software.][ Papermaster, who had been recruited to AMD by ]Nick Donofrio
Nicholas Michael Donofrio (born September 7, 1945) is an American scientist and engineer and was the Executive Vice President of Innovation and Technology at the IBM Corporation until 2008. Upon retirement, he was selected as an honorary IBM Fell ...
,[ himself hired Jim Keller,] and in 2013 Papermaster hired Apple chip designer Raja Koduri
Raja M. Koduri (Rajabali Makaradhwaja Koduri) is an Indian-American computer engineer and executive for computer graphics hardware. He is currently the chief architect and senior vice president of Intel's architecture, graphics and software (IAGS ...
, who reported to him directly.
One of his first orders of business was to restructure the CPU design team to build Zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
, a new high performance x86 processor core. Under Papermaster, by early 2017 several other new lines of CPUs and graphic processors were under development as well, for example the data center processor EPYC
Epyc is a brand of multi-core x86-64 microprocessors designed and sold by AMD, based on the company's Zen microarchitecture. Introduced in June 2017, they are specifically targeted for the server and embedded system markets. Epyc processors share t ...
series, which launched in June 2017 with AMD's new Zen (microarchitecture)
Zen is the codename for a family of computer processor microarchitectures from AMD, first launched in February 2017 with the first generation of its Ryzen CPUs. It is used in Ryzen (desktop and mobile), Ryzen Threadripper (workstation/high end ...
. Ryzen Threadripper
Ryzen ( ) is a brand of multi-core x86-64 microprocessors designed and marketed by AMD for desktop, mobile, server, and embedded platforms based on the Zen microarchitecture. It consists of central processing units (CPUs) marketed for mainstr ...
high-end desktop processors released in the summer of 2017 also utilized Zen. Also in 2017, Papermaster announced that AMD would continue to develop hardware using both its new Vega
Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, an ...
graphics architecture and its older Polaris
Polaris is a star in the northern circumpolar constellation of Ursa Minor. It is designated α Ursae Minoris ( Latinized to ''Alpha Ursae Minoris'') and is commonly called the North Star or Pole Star. With an apparent magnitude that ...
system. At that point he had been heading the company's push into using 7 nm processor nodes, announced as a key component in upcoming Zen and Navi-based processors.[
]
Speaking and writing
Papermaster is periodically asked to comment on industry trends such as Moore's Law Plus, immersive technology
Immersion into virtual reality (VR) is a perception of being physically Presence (telepresence), present in a non-physical world. The perception is created by surrounding the user of the VR system in images, sound or other Stimulation, stimuli th ...
,[ and ]machine intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech rec ...
.[ He has written articles for '']TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...
'' on the applicability of Moore's Law, which applies to the pace of semiconductor advancements. He has also written articles for publications such as Dark Reading, ''ET Tech'', ''Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
'', '' IEEE Test & Design Magazine'', '' Inc.'', and ''Network Computing''.
He has also given talks at industry events, for example "How To Build Truly Great Products" at the Design Automation Conference
The Design Automation Conference, or DAC, is an annual event, a combination of a technical conference and a trade show, both specializing in electronic design automation (EDA).
DAC is the oldest and largest conference in EDA, started in 1964. ...
in 2016 and “Evolving Embedded Systems in a Self-Directed World” at Embedded World in 2018. He also spoke at the 2016-2017 Techfest
Techfest is the annual science and technology festival of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, consisting of social initiatives and outreach programs throughout the year.
Started in 1998 with the aim of providing a platform for the Indian st ...
and was a keynote speaker at the Imagination Tech Summit in 2017. In 2017 he spoke at the Strategic Materials Conference, and he also gave a talk on Moore's Law Plus at the IEEE Industry Summit on the Future of Computing in 2017. In April 2018, he spoke at the Congress on the Future of Engineering Software.
Organizations
Papermaster is a member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation
JDRF is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that funds type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, provides a broad array of community and activist services to the T1D population and actively advocates for regulation favorable to medical research and approval o ...
, the Olin College Presidents Council, and the advisory board at Cockrell School of Engineering
The Cockrell School of Engineering is one of the eighteen colleges within the University of Texas at Austin. It has more than 8,000 students enrolled in eleven undergraduate and thirteen graduate programs. The college is ranked 10th in the world a ...
at the University of Texas. Also at the University of Texas, he has served on the school's electrical and computer engineering advisory council. In 2009, the University of Texas named Papermaster an ECE Fellow for his work with the university. He was included on the Forbes Technology Council as a contributor as of June 2016. In August 2017, he was announced as a new member of the advisory board of the CTO Forum
The ''CTO Forum'' is an IT magazine for India CTO community published fortnightly by 9.9 Media. It is targeted at technology professionals in enterprises. The company, 9.9 Media, also holds a well-known event called The CTO Forum, a summit.
The ...
.
See also
*List of University of Texas at Austin alumni
This list of University of Texas at Austin alumni includes notable graduates, non-graduate former students, and current students of the University of Texas at Austin. The institution is a major research university in Downtown Austin, Texas, US and ...
*Trade secret
Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily asc ...
and non-compete clause
In contract law, a non-compete clause (often NCC), restrictive covenant, or covenant not to compete (CNC), is a clause under which one party (usually an employee) agrees not to enter into or start a similar profession or trade in competition agains ...
References
External links
Mark Papermaster
- AMD
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papermaster, Mark
Apple Inc. employees
Cockrell School of Engineering alumni
University of Vermont alumni
IBM employees
Living people
1961 births
American chief technology officers
AMD people