Profile: Dave Brewster
OhioX Tech Leader Spotlight:
Dave Brewster
Name: David Brewster
Title: Managing Director, Technology Industry Sector
Organization: JobsOhio
Hometown: Amherst, Ohio
Current City: Recently moved from Lewis Center to Ostrander, Ohio
Q: In three sentences or less, describe what your company does and your role.
JobsOhio is a private non-profit economic developer, I lead efforts aimed at growing and supporting Ohio’s Technology Sector. A Technology Sector consisting of silicon, software, and services. From semiconductor design and manufacturing to the deployment and implementation of AI and cloud infrastructure.
Q: What's a day in the life for you like at JobsOhio?
Every day is different. Generally speaking, the days are spent in direct discussion with industry decision makers and ecosystem contributors across multiple time zones. We review challenges hindering growth, discuss potential ideas to mitigate challenges, de-risk growth, and brainstorm on the near and distant future we’re working towards. Evenings are spent documenting the information, further brainstorming, and wrapping up deliverables. The weekends are spent preparing for the week ahead. As available throughout the week, I’ll find time to stay current on industry trends, geopolitical impact, and related matters. In addition to traveling inside of Ohio’s borders meeting with companies, I’m on the west coast periodically.
Q: How did you get your start in tech?
In the military. Initially supporting electronic warfare systems on B-52’s before moving into an airborne role on the RC-135 Rivet Joint. Post-military, I landed a job working in a large-scale UNIX, mainframe environment and eventually moved into UNIX-based HPC’s; back in the days of the IBM SP2, Sun E10K, and EMC Symmetrix.
Q: What’s a trend in tech or innovation that doesn’t get enough attention?
Post R&D commercialization or as it referred to in some circles as technology transfer.
Further explanation. There are many great innovations that never make it to production use at scale. In some cases, it’s a matter of parties not knowing how to manage IP handling during the transition from lab to prototype to proof-of-concept to high volume production. In other cases, it’s not decisively determining the best path for dual-use technologies such as defense and commercial vs defense or commercial. Other times, it’s a matter of capital in an environment that wants month over month profit margin increases rather than investing in future competitiveness and problem solving.
Q: What's your favorite pizza shop in Ohio?
Central Ohio’s Harvest Pizza
Q: What's a fun fact about you that most people wouldn't know?
My tech career was initially my backup plan. When I separated from the military, I left to finish up flight school with a goal of eventually being an air cargo pilot on international routes. All of the cargo airlines I contacted at the time told me I was too old. In the end, the backup plan was actually the better plan.
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Learn more about Dave’s work by connecting with him on LinkedIn.