1. Paul W. Smith, Ph.D.
Paul W. Smith, a Founder and Director of Engineering with INVENTtPM LLc, has more than 35 years of
experience in research and advanced product development. Prior to founding INVENTtPM, Dr. Smith
spent 10 years with Seagate Technology in Longmont, Colorado. At Seagate, Dr. Smith was primarily
responsible for evaluating new data storage technologies under development throughout the
company, and utilizing six-sigma processes to stage them for implementation in early engineering
models. While at Seagate, he was a proud member of the team that brought the world’s first
notebook disk drive with perpendicular recording technology to the market.
Prior to joining Seagate, Dr. Smith was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff for Research and
Development at Applied Magnetics Corporation in Santa Barbara, California. In this position, he
managed a group responsible for the advanced mechanical development of magnetic recording
heads, worked on the transition from inductive to magneto-resistive technologies, and represented
the company on the IDEMA standards committee.
While living in Santa Barbara, Dr. Smith also found time to serve on the Board of Directors of the
YMCA, and to chair their annual campaign for youth for two consecutive years. In this role, he led a
team of over 200 volunteers in raising more than $300,000 for disadvantaged youth. His leadership
was recognized in 2002 with the Dr. Paul Veazey award for significant service to youth.
Dr. Smith began his career at Burroughs Corporation in Westlake Village, California as a mechanical
engineer. He participated in the development of the data storage industry’s first thin film recording
heads, transitioning the concept from laboratory to full production. He eventually resigned his
position as manager of the Advanced Technology Group to pursue doctoral studies.
Dr. Smith holds a doctorate in Applied Mechanics from the California Institute of Technology (1988;
Thesis: Considerations for the Design of Gas-Lubricated Slider Bearings), a Master of Mechanical
Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1973, Materials Science Option, Thesis:
Determination of Defect Density and Distribution Using Magnetic Hysteresis Measurements) and a
Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1972)