Technology >> CEO Interviews >> March 2, 2000
H.K. DESAI is the Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive
Officer of QLogic Corporation, headquartered in Costa Mesa, California.
QLogic designs and supplies a wide range of silicon and board-level I/O
solutions for peripheral and computer system applications. Mr. Desai
took over as interim President and CTO of the company in August 1995
before he officially accepted the president position. He later took on
the additional responsibilities of CEO and Chairman of the Board.
Largely credited with the company's increased growth and earnings, he
has focused QLogic's resources into developing new markets and
customers, driving market capitalization from $25 million in August 1995
to approximately $2.3 billion in June 1999. In nearly four years under
Mr. Desai's leadership, QLogic has led the I/O industry in innovative
technology development, diversified into new markets, and driven
additional growth through acquisition. Mr. Desai originally joined
QLogic in July 1990 as Director of Engineering and was promoted to Vice
President of VLSI Engineering in November of 1992. In 1995, he accepted
the position of Vice President, Engineering (Systems Products) at
Western Digital in Irvine, California before rejoining QLogic later that
year. Prior to QLogic, Mr. Desai was employed with Unisys Corporation
for 10 years in Mission Viejo, California. He began as Project
Leader/Senior Engineer in January of 1980 and was later promoted to
Engineering Section Manager. Mr. Desai previously served as Programmer
Analyst with Sperry Univac Corporation in Irvine, California from April
1978 through January 1980. He joined Sperry Univac from NCR Corporation
in Dayton, Ohio where he was a design engineer and programmer analyst
from October 1974 through April 1978. Mr. Desai began his professional
career as a design engineer with Addressograph Multigraph Corporation in
East Hanover, New Jersey. He has been awarded with patents #4,695,946
and #4,701,845. The American Electronics Association (AEA) presented Mr.
Desai with an Executive of the Year Award in 1999. He was also a
finalist to receive the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. He
is a member of UCI's Chief Executive Roundtable as well as a charter
member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). Mr. Desai holds an MS Degree in
Electrical Engineering from the University of California Berkeley and a
BS Degree in Electrical Engineering from MS University in India. He is
married with two children. He enjoys skiing and tennis. Profile
Corporation the company's history, products, services, customers, those
kinds of things.
Mr. Desai: QLogic spun off from
