Fred Thomas

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Fred Thomas works in HP’s Advanced Compute and Solutions (ACS) Business as a HP Distinguished Technologist. He has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Physics from Bucknell University. Among his roles in ACS is Structured Innovation Lead for R&D, where he facilitates their organization-wide Friday Morning Innovation sessions. He is also ACS’s Patent Technical Coordinator. His innovative work product has included crucial inventions in products like HP Z Captis, HP MediaSmart Home Server, HP digital EO pen technologies, Iomega Zip, Jaz, Floptical & Clik! data storage drives, Identi-Key machine vision for retail key blank recognition, and AO-DVD subwavelength optical data storage, among others. Thomas has been with HP 18 years and with more than 100 U.S. Patents, has been around the IP (Intellectual Property) horn a few times. Outside of work and inventing things, he enjoys hiking with his family, reading, watching select sports, and a good Will Ferrell movie here and there.

“Tesla with AC Motor” early 20th-century postcard.

Commentary

Is structured innovation an oxymoron?

Fred Thomas

Jan. 16, 2025

Inventing, for most, is not a mystic process, and the use and understanding of tools to structure and guide the invention process can be highly beneficial.

Image of Abraham Lincoln: Popular Mechanics, March 1924.

Executive Forum

The greatest American: Inventor and innovation evangelist!

Fred Thomas

Nov. 14, 2024

Abraham Lincoln embraced invention and innovation as core to the economic success of the United States of America—and so can you.

FIGURE 1. HP Z Captis Dual-modality PBR capture modes: Studio (left) and Explorer (right).

Software & Accessories

Electro-optical solution for virtual material capture and rendering

Fred Thomas

Oct. 21, 2024

A high-resolution image capture device launched in August 2024 as a collaboration between HP and Adobe enables the digital capture of three-dimensional (3D) surface appearance...