For as long as Andrew Warfield can remember, he's played around with computers. He's always been fascinated with how they work.
When he was eight years old, Warfield taught himself the ins and outs of a computer on an old IBM desktop. Nearly 30 years later, he's still fascinated with technology.
"I get a kick out of building big computer systems," said Warfield. "Since I got that IBM desktop, it's just gone on from there."
Academically, Warfield's taken his interest in computers as far as he can go. He completed his undergraduate degree in computer science at the University of Western Ontario, his master's in computer science at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and his doctorate, again in computer science, at the University of Cambridge in England.
And Warfield is still actively involved in academia. He teaches computer science at UBC and runs a research lab called the Network Systems and Security Lab. This allows him to surround himself with the next generation of thinkers and entrepreneurs in the computer science field.
"I like teaching students about how systems such as Google and Facebook work. I like talking about the complexity of these systems and why they should care about it," said Warfield.
"And I like doing research."
But Warfield also runs Coho Data, an enterprise storage company he launched two and a half years ago. Coho Data, which employs 40 people, builds hardware and software for companies to manage their data.
Warfield wants to revolutionize the data storage industry.
"We're still a growth company," he said, "but it's been a great experience. The team is experienced. We just get down and do stuff. We want to change the way data is managed in enterprises."
Although he still considers Coho Data a startup, he has big plans for the company. It won't be a startup for long.
