Joseph Turner's Blog

Brief Bio

I am currently the VP Engineering of MiserWare, a company I co-founded in 2007. At MiserWare, we produce software that reduces the power consumption of computer systems without powering down or reducing the performance of the systems.

I am also a PhD student and a Cunningham Fellow at Virginia Tech on what has become an increasingly extended (and at this point indefinite) break. I graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of South Carolina in December 2008. I have been a member of the SCAPE Lab since Fall ’04, first at USC, now at Virginia Tech.

In my spare time, I rock climb whenever weather and time permits; take poor photographs; write, play, and record music; and do a whole bunch of recreational math and programming (see my projects page for a selection).

Professional Statement

My primary interests lay with computing entrepreneurship in general and currently with MiserWare specifically. Creating engaging products and communicating their value to customers has never been easier or more bootstrappable than it is right now. Since I was a kid, I have been thrilled by computers and computing; combining that with the challenges and thrills (not to mention the sometimes brutal economics) of a business has been a fascinating path of discovery for me. Times aren’t always easy, but they are rarely boring.

In addition to my role in founding and helping shape Miserware, I have either been or led the engineering side of the company since its inception, and this has given me the opportunity to work on more aspects of software and computing than I can count. Roughly in chronological order, and leaving out the small stuff: designing and implementing core algorithms, designing software architectures, test-driven development, interviewing and hiring, choosing and building a team, agile development, project management, benchmarking, creating datacenter-scale technologies, timeline and release management, creating user interfaces, creating and facilitating cross-platform software, software maintenance and updating, and creating a disruptive next-generation have all been on my plate at one point or another. Technologies from Linux to Windows to VMWare, C++ to Python to jQuery, web services, benchmarking set-ups, testing infrastructures, web design and programming, native packaging and deployment. Being in the drivers seat for a nascent company is a sure way to get your hands dirty with all kinds of different dirt.