Rensselaer Mobile Computing Program - Acquiring Your Laptop

On Friday, November 21, Mark Cohen and Peter Hortensius of the Notebook Business Unit of Lenovo, Raleigh, NC will be on campus. Their bios are below.

At 2 PM, Mark Cohen, Distinguished Engineer and Vice President in the Notebook Business Unit of Lenovo, will give a talk covering Lenovo's approach for defining and designing ThinkPad notebooks. The acclaimed X300 and the newly announced W700 mobile workstation will be used as examples. He will also give a view of where technology is headed and what to expect in notebooks over the next several years. The talk will give an interesting window into how a successful company conceives and introduces products.

There will also be time for questions and answers on subjects ranging from technology and notebook design to the role of an engineer and value of a business degree in a technology company.

Mark Cohen
After a childhood spent in Delaware, Mark Cohen earned his degree in Electrical Engineering, while also studying Computer Science and Mathematics, at the University of Delaware. He joined IBM Boca Raton, FL in December, 1981, holding various technical and management positions in HW & SW Engineering.

In March of 1990, he moved into a group to working on the ThinkPad precursor called the L40 notebook and has been on the mobile team ever since. In 1992, Mark Cohen moved to the Raleigh, NC to lead the Mobile procurement team. During this period, he played a key role in the sourcing and vendor management for key commodities such as LCDs and OEM relationships.

In August 1995, he took the position of Project Manager for the ThinkPad 3XX, 56X, and Performance Systems. Cohen was responsible for several ThinkPad product lines totaling more than one million unit sales and several billion dollars of revenue. He provided matrix management of the cross functional teams working on four separate ThinkPad product lines. During this time, he also help launch many innovative products and contributed to numerous process improvements to PSG. When PCD combined its NetVista and ThinkPad organizations in 1998, Cohen handled project management and planning for both lines.

Officially, Mark is the Notebook Business Unit's Vice President for Portfolio Management, Project Management, and Planning for all Notebook Products, responsible for both product definition and execution. Unofficially, he is a key part of the development teams. Over the years, he has been a key U.S. technical resource for ThinkPad, for which the bulk of development is conducted at the Yamato Laboratory in Japan. This position puts Cohen at the center of Lenovo's differentiation strategy that focuses on wireless, security, manageability, and top-quality products. In May 2002, Mark Cohen was selected as Distinguished Engineer. Cohen has considerable expertise in generic and ThinkPad PC design and architecture, including mobile and low-power, and holds a number of patents.

In his free time, he spends as much time as he can with his wife and two kids. His hobbies include playing golf, cycling, and woodworking.

Peter Hortensius
Peter D. Hortensius, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President for the Notebook Business Unit of Lenovo. Previously, he was Vice President, Products and Offerings for IBM Personal Computer Division before it was acquired by Lenovo in May 2005.

Dr. Hortensius was previously with IBM for 17 years, working in a variety of research and development areas for the company including hardware, software, systems design, and product development.

Before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, he spent several years working at IBM’s renowned research facility in Yorktown, New York, and is the holder of 10 patents, including several on wireless communication, and has numerous technical publications.

Dr. Hortensius earned his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in Canada in 1988. He is regularly quoted in the press as a technology spokesperson with a focus on how technology and industry changes impact customers and their personal computing devices.


Mobile Computing Program
*Designing Exceptionally Engineered Notebooks* Mark Cohen, Lenovo Friday, November 21 2 - 3 PM Ricketts 203 On Friday, November 21, Mark Cohen and Peter Hortensius of the Notebook Business Unit of Lenovo, Raleigh, NC will be on campus. Their bios are below. At 2 PM, Mark Cohen, Distinguished Engineer and Vice President in the Notebook Business Unit of Lenovo, will give a talk covering Lenovo's approach for defining and designing ThinkPad notebooks. The acclaimed X300 and the newly announced W700 mobile workstation will be used as examples. He will also give a view of where technology is headed and what to expect in notebooks over the next several years. The talk will give an interesting window into how a successful company conceives and introduces products. There will also be time for questions and answers on subjects ranging from technology and notebook design to the role of an engineer and value of a business degree in a technology company. Mark Cohen After a childhood spent in Delaware, Mark Cohen earned his degree in Electrical Engineering, while also studying Computer Science and Mathematics, at the University of Delaware. He joined IBM Boca Raton, FL in December, 1981, holding various technical and management positions in HW & SW Engineering. In March of 1990, he moved into a group to working on the ThinkPad precursor called the L40 notebook and has been on the mobile team ever since. In 1992, Mark Cohen moved to the Raleigh, NC to lead the Mobile procurement team. During this period, he played a key role in the sourcing and vendor management for key commodities such as LCDs and OEM relationships. In August 1995, he took the position of Project Manager for the ThinkPad 3XX, 56X, and Performance Systems. Cohen was responsible for several ThinkPad product lines totaling more than one million unit sales and several billion dollars of revenue. He provided matrix management of the cross functional teams working on four separate ThinkPad product lines. During this time, he also help launch many innovative products and contributed to numerous process improvements to PSG. When PCD combined its NetVista and ThinkPad organizations in 1998, Cohen handled project management and planning for both lines. Officially, Mark is the Notebook Business Unit's Vice President for Portfolio Management, Project Management, and Planning for all Notebook Products, responsible for both product definition and execution. Unofficially, he is a key part of the development teams. Over the years, he has been a key U.S. technical resource for ThinkPad, for which the bulk of development is conducted at the Yamato Laboratory in Japan. This position puts Cohen at the center of Lenovo's differentiation strategy that focuses on wireless, security, manageability, and top-quality products. In May 2002, Mark Cohen was selected as Distinguished Engineer. Cohen has considerable expertise in generic and ThinkPad PC design and architecture, including mobile and low-power, and holds a number of patents. In his free time, he spends as much time as he can with his wife and two kids. His hobbies include playing golf, cycling, and woodworking. Peter Hortensius Peter D. Hortensius, Ph.D., is Senior Vice President for the Notebook Business Unit of Lenovo. Previously, he was Vice President, Products and Offerings for IBM Personal Computer Division before it was acquired by Lenovo in May 2005. Dr. Hortensius was previously with IBM for 17 years, working in a variety of research and development areas for the company including hardware, software, systems design, and product development. Before moving to Raleigh, North Carolina, he spent several years working at IBM’s renowned research facility in Yorktown, New York, and is the holder of 10 patents, including several on wireless communication, and has numerous technical publications. Dr. Hortensius earned his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from the University of Manitoba in Canada in 1988. He is regularly quoted in the press as a technology spokesperson with a focus on how technology and industry changes impact customers and their personal computing devices. Return to Mobile Computing Program homepage.
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Designing Exceptionally Engineered Notebooks