Art Gutowski
SHARE is honored to welcome our new president Art Gutowski, mainframe engineer of Huntington National Bank. SHARE asked him a few questions about his career and passions so members can get to know him better.
SHARE HQ: WHAT’S YOUR MAINFRAME STORY? HOW DID YOU COME TO THE PLATFORM?
Art Gutowski (AG): I somewhat followed in my father’s footsteps. His first “real job” was as a computer operator, wiring boards for an IBM 407 tabulator at JL Hudson in Detroit, Michigan. He moved to an IBM 1401, and learned a little Autocoder, which was a predecessor to Assembler, and eventually started programming on an IBM/360. I learned about his job when he had occasion to take me to work, by then at AAA, where he was mostly a COBOL programmer.
At that time, I wasn’t fascinated with mainframes, but I looked up to and wanted to be like my father when I grew up. I eventually took my own path, but it still followed a mainframe arc.
I took a couple of data processing courses in high school, where I learned BASIC, FORTRAN, and COBOL on a z/VSE system run by the county schools, and I was hooked. Wayne State University had a mainframe and taught courses in Assembler, COBOL, Pascal, C, operating systems, and hardware architecture.
I dove right into it. I took a part-time job in the computing lab, which led to an hourly job in the datacenter writing JCL, Assembler, and COBOL for the security department. I moved into Technical Support (operating systems), got a full-time job just before I graduated, and the rest is history.
SHARE HQ: HOW DID YOU FIRST LEARN ABOUT SHARE?
AG: There wasn’t much in the way of email marketing yet, and the World Wide Web was just getting started, so it was really based on word of mouth and postal mail promotions.
I was a junior system programmer at Wayne State, and my manager and others had been to prior SHARE conferences. My manager said he would send some of us to SHARE in Chicago. The lead system programmer suggested that I go, so I did. There were six or seven of us out of more than a dozen that went, representing MVS, VTAM, CICS, and VM.
SHARE HQ: WHAT DREW YOU TO SHARE?
AG: At first, SHARE was an opportunity to learn a little about a lot of different areas of the operating system, hardware, and supporting products. I was a sponge and wanted to soak up as much knowledge as I could. But when I got there, I was blown away by the sheer magnitude of the event, with its hundreds of sessions, buses running attendees between three hotels, the number of vendors, and of course, SCIDS.
I had a great time meeting people, and I remember shipping my box of handouts back to the office. I couldn’t wait to open it up and put the things I learned to use.
SHARE HQ: WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT AT WORK, AND WHAT ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT OUTSIDE OF WORK?
AG: I still like to learn new technology and programming techniques, but now I get more out of working with the next generation of mainframers coming onto the platform. I really enjoy giving them a little bit of guidance on a task, then turning them loose to see how they arrive at a solution. We hired three new interns after they went through the Franklin Academy, and we’ve got two or three more coming up through the program now.
The other facet of my job that I put a lot into is working with vendors to improve their software. Admittedly, it can be challenging at times, but if we are able to work through a problem together, getting to the solution is very rewarding.
Outside of work, I really enjoy a good road trip. Over the last several years, I’ve seen a lot of Michigan, especially the Upper Peninsula. Last December, I toured through Ontario and Quebec, Canada. It’s interesting learning about the local history and culture. I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life. It’s amazing how much more I’ve learned about my home state and the people in it just by getting in a car and going somewhere. My other hobby is home renovation these days, but that’s a longer story.
SHARE HQ: WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS AS A NEW SHARE BOARD MEMBER?
AG: For me, it all boils down to growing the organization. I want to grow the membership, provide a platform for on-demand education and networking, and draw members to the in-person conferences because there is no substitute for that occasional face-to-face meeting. I never realized it until I started working in this industry that it’s more about people than the technology. We need to feel like we’re a part of something, and there’s no better way to be a part of it than to be there in person.
SHARE HQ: WHAT’S ONE PIECE OF TECHNOLOGY OR TECHNOLOGY NEWS THAT YOU’RE EXCITED ABOUT?
AG: I am really interested in seeing how quantum computing develops. The theory is beyond my grasp, but I can see the potential to solve previously unsolvable, or intractable, problems. I don’t suppose it helps that I’m a big fan of Douglas Adams, who wrote The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and have watched numerous Discovery Channel episodes with the likes of Dr. Michio Kaku.
SHARE HQ: TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT YOURSELF THAT SHARE MEMBERS MAY NOT ALREADY KNOW.
AG: I’ve spent some time over the past 10-12 years learning about, raising funds for, and talking to medical professionals and fellow patients about Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT). It’s a genetic vascular disorder that can wreak havoc throughout a patient’s systems. Fortunately, for me, the complications are manageable. I have friends who suffer debilitating episodes from it, and there is little in the way of effective treatments, let alone a cure, so I do what I can to raise awareness and money to fund research and education.
Serena Agusto-Cox has more than 20 years of editorial experience and six years of experience writing about mainframe and information technology. She interviews and crafts forward-looking and engaging technical updates related to the mainframe ecosystem, highlights the experiences of thought-leaders in the community, and shares important updates to technical education and training.