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Thursday, August 22, 2002

By Donald I. Hammonds, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Seagate Technology officially opened the doors of its new, Strip District research facility yesterday, a potent symbol of Pittsburgh's continuing economic transformation.

	Seagate CEO Steve Luczo, speaking at yesterday's opening: -- Pittsburgh and Seagate have been going through dramatic transformations. (Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette)

Seagate is the world's largest maker of computer disk drives, and its research facility employs about 140, including 80 holding doctorates. Its employees come from 22 countries.

The focus of their research is to develop and evaluate advanced recording systems, technologies, processes and materials for future storage products that could meet customer needs four to 10 years into the future.

Seagate provides high-capacity disk drives that can store more information than a stack of typed pages three times the height of the Empire State Building.

The new building, on the site of an old Civil War cannon factory, has a colorful circular roof element which at night has become a neon-lit landmark on the Pittsburgh shoreline. Seagate's headquarters are in Scotts Valley, Calif., with manufacturing facilities in more than 38 locations in this country and 49 worldwide.

Several speakers stressed the significance yesterday of the firm's decision to locate in Pittsburgh.

Seagate's Tom Porter, chief technology officer, said that when Mark Kryder, the senior vice president of research, suggested that the world-class magnetic recording research center be built here, "My eyebrows were halfway up my forehead."

"I said, 'We have places in California, Colorado and elsewhere and we can probably put it there.' When Mark suggested that we consider Pittsburgh, I said, 'Why would I do that?' "

Porter, who hadn't visited in years, said Kryder reminded him of Carnegie Mellon University's pre-eminence in the field and told him, "Pittsburgh is a beautiful city and a great place to live."

When Porter came to visit the city, he said, "I found that the city was in transformation, a tremendous transformation, and it was a beautiful city that was moving from old steel to the technologies of the future."

The building itself is an window-lined facility with striking views of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the Allegheny River and various Strip District and city landmarks. It is big enough for additional staff, which Seagate anticipates needing.

Eventually, the center's work is channeled into various product development and manufacturing facilities throughout the world. The storage solutions will eventually be used for servers, personal computers and consumer electronics devices, among other things.