Steve Wozniak to Join Data-Visualization Firm Primary Data as Chief Scientist

   By Angela Chen 
 

Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Wozniak will join data-visualization start-up Primary Data Inc. as its chief scientist.

Mr. Wozniak, a Silicon Valley icon famous for engineering the Apple personal computer, had worked with several Primary Data executives at flash-storage company Fusion-io Inc.

Primary Data is the new venture of former Fusion-io Chief Executive David Flynn, who made a surprise departure in May 2013 after the board asked him to resign. Fusion-io had been among the first to import the flash-storage chips used on iPhones into the data center.

"At Fusion-io, [Mr. Wozniak] helped us showcase the breakthroughs possible by adding flash in the enterprise, and we're excited to have him on the team at Primary Data," said Primary Data CEO Lance Smith, who had been Fusion-Io's chief operating officer.

Mr. Wozniak will advise the company on software architecture.

"Innovations like wearables, digital assistants, and the Internet of Things are making computing more and more transparent in our lives, and for technology to remain accessible, we need to ensure data remains seamless as it serves us information," said Mr. Wozniak.

Primary Data--which just emerged from stealth mode and has raised venture funding--creates software that connects pools of data in a way that is visible to all servers in a company computer and in the cloud.

Write to Angela Chen at [e-mail]

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