Title
Wood, Roger oral historyCatalog Number
102792248Type
Moving imageDescription
Roger Wood’s contributions to data storage started in 1979 at Ampex Corporation, Redwood City, pioneering the use of digital signal processing (DSP) techniques in magnetic recording. Ampex’ DCRS tape recorder in 1984 included PRML, advanced ECC, and an MR head. In 1986, he joined IBM, San Jose, and worked on a variety of HDD-related projects ranging from testing/optimizing magnetic components to researching R/W electronics to developing a prototype 2.5” drive. In 1996, he spent a year teaching at NUS, Singapore, and led two collaborative projects with DSI (low-cost R/W channel and high-bandwidth actuator).Wood’s interest in the physical limits of conventional magnetic recording led to the prescient prediction in 1999 that HDD data storage densities would limit at about 1 Tbit/sq.in. and data-rates at about 3 Gb/s. Perpendicular recording (PMR) was necessary to achieve these limits and Wood then went on to play a central role in the introduction of PMR. This included an 18-month assignment at Hitachi-GST in Odawara, Japan.
In 2008, Wood led the seminal work on TDMR, a technique offering further areal-density gain for conventional recording. All high-capacity drives now include TDMR as well as PMR and sophisticated DSP techniques.
Dr. Wood is from the UK. He holds degrees from London University and the University of British Columbia. He is an IEEE Fellow and was the recipient of the 2009 Magnetics Society Achievement Award. He has authored over 100 journal papers and holds 30 US patents. In 2017, he retired from the position of Fellow at Western Digital, San Jose.
Date
2020-03-28; 2020-04-07; 2020-05-14Participants
| Gardner, Thomas, Interviewer |
| Wood, Roger, Interviewee |
Place of Publication
Gilroy, CADuration
03:33:15Format
MP4Category
Oral historySubject
Ampex Corporation; Western Digital; magnetic recording; recording technology; areal density; PRML Disk Drive Channel; Perpendicular recording; TDMR; Hard disk drivesCollection Title
CHM Oral History CollectionCredit
Computer History MuseumLot Number
X9301.2020Related Records
| 102792053 | Wood, Roger oral history |