Staff Profile: Bob Hibbert

August 23, 2005

A "Terrible Towel" hangs from a ceiling tile across from a phalanx of spent Jolt Cola cans arranged precisely in formation amidst an otherwise disorderly array of contraptions. Reams of stacked documents, rafts of computer cables and casings, and rows of monitors occupy desk and floor space. Patches of cement block wall peer out from behind a map of the lands of Middle-Earth that faces an open door, plastered with Dilbert comic strips and a plug for the ancient Order of the Illuminati. The sounds of anyone from Snoop Dogg to Johnny Cash, Sinatra to Deep Purple can be heard drifting into the hallway from the room as students file into the GIS lab across the hall. In the center of the soundtracks, in a cramped windowless office, poised intently in front of his monitor, sits Bob Hibbert, assuring that all runs smoothly in the Department of Geography.

Bob is the Computer Systems Administrator for the Department of Geography at Penn State. What does that mean exactly?

"Everything that has to do with computers-that's what I take care of: the computer labs, the research labs, faculty computers, updating and patching the servers, networking, you name it," Bob explains.

Bob has been an enduring presence in the department for nearly five years. His knack for unbungling computing binds has saved the day on countless occasions for countless students. Without Bob, the day-to-day work of faculty, researchers, and students would quickly grind to a halt.

Humble Beginnings

Bob is a State College native. He graduated from State College High School and received a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from an affiliate of Penn State, the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, PA. While finishing his last semester of studies at the Penn State University Park campus, Bob began working for the Powdered Metals Lab (P/M Lab), now known as the Center for Innovative Sintered Products (CISP), located in Research West. The lab manufactures small, durable, sintered alloy products that are used in components of medical surgical tools, automotive connection rods, eyeglasses, golf clubs, and lawnmower transmissions, to name a few. Bob started out at the lab just sweeping the floors.

"I showed up at the lab one day asking about work while a couple of guys were having trouble moving a desk; they asked me to give them a hand. I helped them out and after that I pretty much had the job," Bob says.

Bob's work ethic and computer savvy were quickly recognized and the P/M Lab lost no time in hiring him as their full-time "computer guy." After a year with the P/M Lab, Bob took a computer systems administration job with the Penn State Industrial Engineering Department where his daily responsibilities included juggling the computing needs of over a thousand undergraduates.

"The College of Engineering is structured completely different than it is here in EMS," Bob remarks. "The College of Earth & Mineral Sciences is known for its quality computing; the stuff we do here, ITS copies."

Bob's office: the perfect work
environment for a hardware hack.

Bob worked for the Industrial Engineering Department for a whirlwind number of years (so hectic were they that Bob himself isn't quite sure the length of his stay there) before finding a home in the Geography Department-and he has no plans of leaving anytime soon.

The Hardware Hack

"My job is a lot like getting new toys all the time. Working in geography, you have to have good computers to run ArcGIS and other ESRI software; we're on the cutting-edge of computers in the Department," Bob boasts. "The GeoVISTA Lab, and the student labs keep the best, 'honkinest' computers trickling in."

Though he's well-versed in computer programming languages from his educational training, Bob is most certainly not a programmer.

"I studied programming in school but it was too much of staring at the same line of code all the time," Bob admits. "I'm a hardware guy-I like to hack on hardware. Whenever I get a new computer in I have to take it apart to see what's inside."

The office and hallway space in and around his office can attest to this love of hardware. Rarely will you find it devoid of computer equipment that is in line for repair or storage. Surplus monitors, faulty motherboards, or misfit keyboards from anywhere within the department inevitably find their way to 230 Walker Building.

One Man, An Entire Building

Bob's zone of responsibility spans three floors, six classrooms, forty seven offices, and seven labs; he covers a lot of ground. And because he hasn't much use for the phone, you'll often hear his key ring jangling from his belt as he passes your office on his way to personally drop in on a student or faculty member desperate with computing questions. It's hard to say what all the keys on that ring allow Bob access to, but it's access he needs as he often stays after hours, even late into the night, to finish his work throughout the building.

This summer the College of Earth & Mineral Sciences plans on overhauling Walker Building with new "G" access points for wireless internet connections (the newer, faster sister model of the former "B" access points). University Park is rapidly moving toward becoming a wireless campus and Bob will be instrumental in helping the Geography Department to keep up with the trend.

"Getting to work with wireless technology is another fun aspect of this job," Bob notes. "This summer we'll be installing two wireless access points per floor in Walker Building. You get to crawl around in the ceiling and play with the equipment-I'm pretty excited about that."

Penn State Pride

Bob dedicates a lot of time to his job, but he also finds time to dedicate to the university community. For two years in high school, Bob traipsed through the fields surrounding Beaver Stadium selling programs to the tailgaters before Penn State football games. He has immersed himself in the camaraderie of Penn State sports ever since.

"JoePa should be allowed to coach for as long as he wants-I guess holding that opinion makes me a diehard Penn State fan," Bob says. "We're gonna do good this year. The season hasn't started so we're undefeated."

During home football games Bob works the student ticket window at the stadium. He's hard to miss among the crowd of security staff and ticket-takers at the stadium gates-Bob wears an oversized foam Nittany Lion head cap which helps fire up eager fans standing in line for the game. The same cap makes an appearance at the annual graduate orientation in the fall so that, "the students don't forget who I am," Bob claims.

It would be difficult to forget Bob's presence in the department. The long hours he logs and his behind-the-scenes efforts keep running a complex network of state-of-the-art computers and a rigorous geography program that is top in the country. His affable nature, quirky sense of humor, and flair for the unusual add a unique blend of personality and professionalism to an already diverse department.