Ed Hubbard
By Pamela Babcock
 

rowing up, United Devices Inc. President Ed Hubbard (MBA ‘95) got his hands dirty pumping gas and working as a mechanic at his father’s service stations in Pennsylvania and in Florida.

But Hubbard always loved computers, and that set him on a career path that has made him a leader in the application of technology to medicine. In 2000, after an impressive career with IBM, Microsoft, Intel and Dell, Hubbard founded and became president of United Devices Inc. The Austin software company’s Grid MPTM platform aggregates the idle capacity of computers to create grids for running applications in life sciences, geosciences, manufacturing, financial services, chemical engineering and other industries. The company also operates a nonprofit, global research grid (www.grid.org), where more than 2.5 million computers in over 220 countries contribute processing power to public-interest health research projects of massive scale.

“I really love the fact we can have this impact particularly in the medical arena,” Hubbard says. United Devices recognized that grids could be used to support projects with a profound humanitarian impact — like finding a cure for cancer, wiping out bioterrorism threats such as anthrax and smallpox, and helping the world’s top pharmaceutical companies make life-saving drugs available faster.

Grid computing works on the principle that virtually every computer has spare “processing cycles.” By aggregating computers connected to a very fast network, organizations can harness these spare cycles to work on processing projects together, thereby providing the power of a giant mainframe without spending money to buy one. Organizations can create these grids within departments or across geographically dispersed enterprises.

United Devices drew accolades when it won Computerworld’s 21st Century Achievement Award for its “visionary use of information technology in the category of medicine.” The award cited the company’s use of its grid system “for critical projects such as locating drug candidates for smallpox, anthrax and cancer.”

Hubbard speaks frequently around the world and has returned to UNC Kenan-Flagler on several occasions to offer his perspective on business.

“Often, if you start a new company, you find out the next day you’re in charge of sales. I tell students in the MBA Program that if they don’t have a sales background, go learn something about sales,” Hubbard says.

Growing up in the family business was a boon to learning how to build a company, Hubbard adds, because “you have a lot of tough bosses over the years, but there’s nothing like working for your family. Being the low man on the totem pole at a gas station, you can imagine some of the jobs I had to do.”

These days, Hubbard says if you have a dream, remember that the journey begins with the first step. “You have to take that first step and keep moving forward,” he says. “Even though you can’t see over the horizon, when you get there, you’ll be able to see even further.”

In his spare time, this father of two daughters is a certified offshore sailor and enjoys snowboarding, reading and fitness. And it should come as no surprise that cars still get his engines revving. He recently built a Cobra replica, and his resume proudly notes he’s not only a former certified mechanic but also a “general car nut.”