Certification - November 2008 - (Page 56)

JOB ROLES Technical Architect: Learning, Growing, Innovating AGAThA GILMORE Remember when you wanted to be an astronaut? Fireman? Ballerina? When it seemed like you could accomplish anything with just a little imagination and some elbow grease? Well, as a technical architect, this kind of boundless creativity and entrepreneurial gumption come in handy, provided a healthy dose of technical expertise also is part of the package. Just ask Dennis Wisnosky, chief architect and chief technical officer for the Department of Defense Business Mission Area. “For most architects, it’s more important to know how architecture works — that means technically you have to be very broad. [But] at the opposite end of that stick is being willing to learn new things,” Wisnosky said. “You need to both learn very quickly and be able to work with people who maybe are totally different but have something to contribute.” a teaching degree, he knew he didn’t want to teach. Instead, he wanted to be an engineer, so he went to work in MRI research at Carnegie Mellon University. While there, Wisnosky was asked by a friend to consider working for the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Feeling like he hadn’t yet given back to his country, he decided to go for it. “It was supposed to be two years, but they kept on giving me better jobs,” he joked. “It was a chance to create a program that became Integrated ComputerAided Manufacturing [ICAM]. This blueprint was the blueprint for how the Department of Defense would engage with manufacturing companies worldwide and how manufacturing companies would organize themselves in order to be the most efficient, effective. I worked for the government at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as a civilian for 10 years.” Ever the entrepreneur, Wisnosky then decided to take what he had learned in his government job and apply it in the private sector. He designed blueprints for several big companies before starting his own technical architecture firm, Wizdom Systems Inc., in 1986. Creativity and an entrepreneurial spirit are the tickets to success for IT professionals who wish to become technical architects. According to an article on ITtoolbox.com, the world’s largest online community of IT professionals, a technical architect’s typical duties include defining and developing a company’s technical architecture; ensuring all components of the architecture are properly implemented; coaching the technical team; and resolving technical issues. To build the knowledge base necessary for this role, Wisnosky took his education seriously. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and math from California University of Pennsylvania, two master’s degrees — one in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and one in management science from the University of Dayton — and in his words, “twothirds” of a Ph.D. in computer science from The Ohio State University. Like his academic background, Wisnosky’s path to becoming a technical architect was varied and extensive. Though he graduated from college with “What I found was the toughest part was actually in how machines were connected or not connected to one another,” he said. “So I developed a line of factory controllers that were based upon using computers rather than custom hardware and software.” His innovation — a key to being a successful technical architect — earned him recognition by Fortune magazine as “One of the Five Heroes of Manufacturing” in 1997. In his spare time, Wisnosky also wrote several books on architecture and once again engaged in contract work for the Department of Defense. “The last time that happened was in 2005, when I was asked to teach how architecture should be done within the department,” he said. “I found out that what they were doing was very inefficient.” Wisnosky’s self-starter attitude also came into play as he wrote a letter directly to then-Secretary of 56 CERTIFICATION MAGAZINE November 2008 http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml http://www.cmu.edu/index.shtml http://www.wpafb.af.mil/ http://www.wpafb.af.mil/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Computer-Aided_Manufacturing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_Computer-Aided_Manufacturing http://www.wizdom.com/ http://www.wizdom.com/ http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/enterprise-solutions/hiring-roles-technical-architect-10857 http://www.ITtoolbox.com http://www.cup.edu/index.jsp http://www.cup.edu/index.jsp http://www.pitt.edu/ http://www.pitt.edu/ http://www.udayton.edu/ http://www.osu.edu/ http://www.osu.edu/

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Certification - November 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Tech Careers Dear Techie Virtual Village Data Stream Academic Connection Troubleshooting What We Like Look Ahead The Gender Gap: IT Lacks a Woman’s Touch IT for Free: Volunteering Today Interface Technical Architect: Learning, Growing, Innovating Inside Certification Endtag Ad Index

Certification - November 2008

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