Bob Sesek
Lead Consultant

Profile

Bob is about making masterpieces out of messes. Think of him as a catalyst or disciplinarian of chaos. From writing, rehearsing, and revising command plans for space vehicles (“Houston we have a problem“) at Hughes, through testing printers that were changing in functionality, under tight release deadlines, with a team needing a transformation of its self-image, throughout his career Bob has found jobs where leadership, capacity for independent thought, and understanding of systems, come together to bring renewal and redefinition of teams. One of the top inventors in HP history with 24 issued and 63 pending patent applications, Bob was also a mentor to inventors at HP Boise converting “cuckleheads” (i.e., new HP employees who did not know what they could not do) into respected members of the inventing community. Bob likes to break things. And then he likes to repair them. And then he likes to invent improvements. As an adult child of US immigrants, Bob is adept at blending in without belonging. Blending in gives him a capacity to empathize with and understand the people he is among. Not belonging frees his irreverence and sharp tongue to throw out a steady stream of observations and tough love that are invaluable for getting a team to reflect on its performance. 

Experience

2005 - present   Consultant, Basic Intellectual Property Management, Inc., - Boise, ID
2002 - 2005   System Test Master Architect.  Hewlett-Packard - Boise, ID
2002 - 2005    Master Level System Qualification Architect.   Hewlett-Packard - Boise, ID
1997 - 2002    Test Program Manager.   Hewlett-Packard - Boise, ID 
1995 - 1997    Quality Engineer.   Hewlett-Packard - Boise, ID      
1994 - 1995   Lead System Engineer.  Hughes Aircraft Company - El Segundo, CA
1990 - 1994   Member Technical Staff.  Hughes Aircraft Company - El Segundo, CA  
1988 - 1990   Research Assistant.  University of Illinois - Urbana, IL 
1988 - 1990   Teaching Assistant.  University of Illinois - Urbana, IL 

Education

University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, IL

1988 -1990   MS General Engineering
1984-1988    BS General Engineering  
1984-1988    BA Economics                                                                                   

Skills

•  First hand understanding of an invention's life cycle (i.e., inventing, selection of inventions for patenting, prep and  
    processing patents, importance of attorney/inventor chemistry, etc.).
•  Understanding of PC industry product engineering and test (25 products, 2 companies)
•  Experience in commercial and government product development
•  Ability to motivate people from diverse backgrounds and lead cross-functional teams
•   Work well in and enjoy unstructured environments
•  Strong presentation skills
•  System thinking expertise in seeing solutions and assimilating the big picture
•  Can shift paradigms without a clutch

Patents

24 issued (US7,054,021, US7,051,088, US7,043,166, US7,031,013, US7,025,260, US6,990,030, US6,973,943, US6,945,527, US6,923,360, US6,898,317, US6,880,924, US6,870,648, US6,860,425, US6,823,151, US6,814,513, US6,739,687, US6,729,360, US6,679,594, US6,678,197, US6,654,573, US6,603,952, US6,595,509, US6,550,757, US6,433,685), 63 pending (available upon request)