Steve Ulmer Swings Into Action in NERSP Group

We extend a warm welcome to Steve Ulmer, who joined NERDC in May as a Systems Programmer with the UNIX systems staff. "There was an opening that dovetailed nicely with my skills set," Ulmer remarked. "I help maintain the NERSP cluster, and to date have worked with the usenet.nerdc news server, the GatorLink Web server, the campus directory server, and the Kerberos authentication server."

Steve Ulmer

Prior to joining NERDC, Ulmer worked with a North Central Florida Internet service provider. "I was the senior technician in charge of UNIX administration and network infrastructure. I also provided engineering support for sales, and managed various special projects."

Ulmer, who is 25 and is studying part time at UF for a computer engineering degree, reinforces the trend that has populated the NERDC UNIX staff with relatively young but highly experienced programmers. His colleagues -- Allen Rout, John Sheehy, and student assistant Eric Oosting -- are 29, 23, and 23 years old, respectively. Ulmer may be the "earliest adopter" of them all: "I got my first computer, a Commodore Vic-20, when I was eight years old," he said, "and have never stopped since." A bonus of his employment at NERDC, he adds, is that it is now much easier to pursue his degree at UF. "I have a very supportive environment here for my continuing education."

Ulmer has been a Gainesville resident since 1991, and balances his passion for computing with voracious reading of sci-fi novels, country western dancing, and competition-level swing dancing. "I'm not yet at the national level, so you won't catch me on TV," he allows, "but I do participate in swing dance competitions around the state and beyond."

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