Computer Science Department Alumni
Kram Allen
Quality Program Manager
Imaging & Printing Group
Hewlett-Packard Company
Boise, ID
Web site:
http://www.hp.com/
Professional Profile: Kram is a member of the Coeur
d'Alene tribe and grew up on the Coeur d'Alene Indian reservation in the northern
Idaho community of Plummer, less than an hour's drive from the Moscow campus.
"My dad, was a first generation graduate and had a great experience at the University
of Idaho. I was able to witness his graduation when I was a sophomore
in high school. The University of Idaho always seemed like a great fit
for me." Prior to becoming a full time University of Idaho student, Kram
attended summer Music Camp, Science Camp, and JETS. "The college was close
to home, affordable, and was always making headlines as a top engineering school."
Like may other beginning students, Kram was not all that sure exactly what
he wanted to study, but did have a strong leaning towards engineering.
"I grew up interested in technology and electronics in general, so engineering
seemed like a possibility. I guess I was like your typical young teen
ager who wanted a job playing video games for a living." After three years,
Kram had completed the foundational math and science course required for for
several engineering majors and some of the introductory Computer Science courses
that gave him the option to go into Computer Engineering or Computer Science.
At this point he decided that Computer Science was the way to go.
There's a good balance between theory and practice.
You need both to be effective.
The Computer Science curriculum includes a required set of core courses supplemented
by a set of technical elective courses that can be used either to develop breadth
or depth of knowledge. "When I was in school, I didn’t really have an
area of specialization. I graduated during the .com boom so web technologies
were huge. If anything, that was my primary interest. Considering what happened
during the .com bust, it's probably good that I never actually worked in this
area."
Kram summarized his University of Idaho education this way, "I thought the
breadth of offerings was great. I remember taking a number of abstract CS classes
that were very interesting although I never wrote many programs for them. On
the other hand, other classes required a lot of problem solving in a particular
programming language. It was easy to get a taste of both worlds."
An internship can lead to securing full time employment
even before you finish your degree.
The way Kram ended up working for HP might be considered somewhat accidental,
but certainly transforming. "When I was a junior, my database instructor actually
helped me get my first internship at HP. He asked me if I had any plans for
the summer. I was planning to work in Moscow and had never thought of applying
for an internship. He encouraged me to interview and I received an offer. The
rest is history. I interned at HP for two summers. When I went back for my final
year at school, I did so knowing that I had a full time offer in Boise waiting
for me when I graduated." Kram received his BS Computer Science Degree in 1998.
When Kram started at HP, he began working on development of Windows software
driver for the LaserJet 2100 printer. At the time Microsoft was pushing
their "Universal Printer Driver" model and HP was supporting it for the release
of Windows 2000. A year later everything changed as All-in-One devices that
could scan, fax, copy, and print were all the rage. "At the time I did
a lot of what I would call 'low-level' coding on the fax driver. I learned
a lot because the job required that I take a pre-existing code framework and
make it work on a new product. With each new printer we reuse as much
of the code from previous products as we can."
Several years later, Kram is now a Quality Program Manager. "My job
is to reduce warranty costs and improve the Total Customer Experience for the
LaserJet All-in-One customer. Part of my job requires managing a printer test
program called "Delta". During Delta testing, we select a small sample
of customers to actually use our finished product before we release it worldwide.
This way we get a sneak peek at the quality of a product as viewed by our customers."
"At the end of the day, my job involves finding
the mistakes we have made during product development and ensuring that we
do not make them again."
Another part of Kram's job requires analysis of customer data to find out
which product issues are the most prevalent. "The most challenging part is taking
this data and presenting it in a way that is useful for other parts of the business.
What may be best for R&D may not be best for Marketing. At the end of
the day, my job involves finding the mistakes we have made during the course
of product development and ensuring that we do not make them again." Like
many other companies, HP is responding to a evolving global market opportunity
for their products and moving some of the development work offshore. Reflecting
on how this has changed some important aspects of his work Kram had this to
say, "Our business environment requires me to interface with a number of partners
all around the globe. In addition, my job involves full ownership of any
issue that might arise in the field. Sometimes I get software related issues
that need to be resolved. Other times I get issues that have nothing to
do with software. I recently received a request to change the control
panel on one of our products because the words were not translated properly
in Hebrew."
Along the way Kram was able to find the time to complete an MBA at Indiana
University. The MBA has proven to be a useful complement to his technically
oriented Computer Science degree. "I do a lot of problem solving which
requires analytical skills and technical knowledge where I must understand the
relationship between the software and firmware because this is where the issues
customers report are usually found." While the ability to analyze a technical
problem is important, Kram quickly pointed out there's another dimension to
his work, "I also need to understand how a problem ultimately impacts
the customer and our business. If R&D decides not to fix something, it
has implications for our customers. It is my job to understand what those
consequences are and how to address them. We might see tangible consequence
if a customer calls our support number. Every minute a customer support
person is on the phone costs us money. The intangible consequence can
arise if the way we handle a problem impacts how the customer views the integrity
of the HP brand. We don't want them turning to one of our competitors
for a future product purchase. I always have to remember that the 'Big
Picture' is most important."
A University of Idaho education is a great value
and allows you to complete on equal footing with those from more prominent
schools.
When I first came on board at HP, I had a steep learning curve to overcome,
because I didn't have a background in Microsoft Windows programming."
It's pretty clear that Kram was up to the challenge. "I think another way the
University of Idaho helped me was economically. It's a great value for the price
that you pay. Although it doesn’t necessarily show up in the rankings that you
see in magazines, you will observe that University of Idaho students end up
competing well for the same jobs as graduates from schools like MIT and Stanford.
I've witnessed this firsthand at HP."
March 2008
The views expressed on this page are those of the individual being
profiled and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University
of Idaho or the employer. References to specific organizations and companies
does not constitute endorsement of their products or services by the University
of Idaho.
Copyright © 2008 University of Idaho Board of Regents
