Neil McGowan, formerly of Tandem Computers Inc., has been named managing director of the new subsidiary. Plans call for the subsidiary to be operational in the fourth calendar quarter 1994, with a focus on sales and marketing in South Africa, as well as developing relationships with distributors for other sub Saharan African countries.
"As Silicon Graphics moves into the South African market, Neil's experience in managing international projects will be a definite asset in developing new business relationships and opportunities," said John Metcalfe, vice president, international marketing operations of Silicon Graphics. "South Africa is a prime market for Silicon Graphics, as its well advanced infrastructure and developed industries provide many opportunities for using our products. Our software partners are starting to conduct business there and they need our visual computing systems to provide solutions for South Africa's industries, including education, research, earth resources, geosciences, broadcast, animation and light mechanical industry. Our technology can help re-emerging South African companies to be competitive in world-wide markets."McGowan was most recently director and general manager of Tandem's Multimedia Division. He also founded and led the company's Systems Integration Division, a worldwide organization consisting of approximately 500 employees and contractors accounting for more than $80 million in revenue. McGowan holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from St. John's University, New York.
"It is extremely important for Silicon Graphics to enter South Africa as a company of the future rather than one of the past," said Ken Coleman, senior vice president, administration of Silicon Graphics. "We want to make a positive contribution to creating the new South Africa by providing products and technology that will accelerate the economic and educational growth of this region. It is our goal to build a successful organization representative of the diversity that works with South Africa."Silicon Graphics, Inc. is the leading manufacturer of high-performance visual computing systems. The company delivers interactive three-dimensional graphics, digital media and multiprocessing supercomputing technologies to technical, scientific and creative professionals. Its subsidiary, MIPS Technologies, Inc., designs and licenses the industry's leading RISC processor technology for the computer systems and embedded control markets. Silicon Graphics has offices worldwide and headquarters in Mountain View, California.
