The Third IEEE Workshop on Wireless LANs: Keynote Speaker

“The Past as Prolog”,
Edson de Castro, Founder of Data General, Director, Vality Technology

Engineer, entrepreneur, Fortune 500 CEO, corporate director, and teacher, Mr. De Castro is best known as the founder, President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Data General Corporation.  In these positions, he led the company for more than 22 years from its inception.  During this time the company grew from a ground zero startup to a global Fortune 300 corporation with revenues in excess of $1.25 billion and employing more than 18,000 people. Some of his design work is preserved in the Computer History Collection of the Smithsonian, at the National Museum of American History.

More recently, he was the CEO of Xenometrix Corporation during its initial formation (1992) and also during a period of crisis (1995-1997).  Today he serves as Chairman of the Board of Eprise Corporation and is a Director of Avax Technologies, Direct Report Corp., Healthgate Data Corp., Vality Technology, Inc., VCampus Corp., and Zydacron, Inc, in addition to Vality.  He is also a Trustee of Boston University, a Member of the Advisory Council and of the Adjunct Faculty of the Clark University School of Management, and a Member of the Corporation of the Partners Healthcare System.

Mr. de Castro began his career as a Computer Design Engineer. In this role at Digital Equipment Corporation, he designed the industry's first mini-computers - the PDP-5, PDP-8, and PDP-11 - which propelled that company into leadership in the low-cost computer market and launched it on its quarter-century fast growth track. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and attended the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration.