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Meet Gary Bridges, Director, Client Services, Cyber Security Research & Development Center
 Focus @ SRI:
Activities supporting government and industry partnerships that develop technology for homeland security
Day in the Life @ SRI:
I'm working on two major projects in SRI's Computer Science Laboratory (CSL). The first is funded by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop new technologies to prevent cyber attack on the nation's infrastructure. The second is a consortium of 10 research institutions chartered to improve the cyber security of control systems in the oil and gas industry. Most of my time is spent coordinating and planning activities for our government client and multiple research partners.
Before SRI:
Director of Training at Fluor-Daniel, an engineering consulting firm; several years in county government; and several years as manager of a small media research company. Before all of that I was in the Army and spent a year in Vietnam.
Academics:
Undergraduate degree in English and psychology, University of Missouri
M.S. in organizational psychology, San Francisco State University
Why SRI?
I can't imagine not working at SRI. Of all the work I've done, SRI is by far the most exciting and meaningful. Our clients bring enormous, interesting challenges that are important to solve. The people at SRI are bright, creative, and diverse. I want to look back on my life and feel that I've made a difference in raising the level of capability of whatever part of the world I was able to connect with -- and SRI allows me to do that. And now is the most exciting time out of the nearly 25 years I've been here.
Inspiration and Motivation:
Of all the work I do at SRI, the most exciting is working with clients to develop new approaches to solving their problems. In the Computer Science Laboratory, we spend a lot of time working with the DHS to address a huge number of important problems.
I get impatient with people who forget to think like a client.
Away from the Office:
A lot of cycling, some art collecting, and museum visiting. Japanese gardening, home remodeling, and jazz. I'm an amateur artist, so I also spend time trying to make my own art.
Proudest Professional Accomplishment:
Being involved in the two largest commercial projects in SRI's 60-year history—the work we did for Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines in the 1980s and the PGA Education Program in the 1990s.
Languages:
As someone who grew up in Missouri, I'm still learning standard English. Latin in high school, French in college. I tried hard to learn Vietnamese, and I learned enough to be dangerous in Bemba, one of the tribal languages in Zambia, when I was working there.
Words of Wisdom for New SRI Team Members:
1. If you can identify and satisfy important client needs, you can just about write your own ticket around here.
2. SRI is a one-of-a-kind place where you can change the world.
3. SRI's reputation is built on the efforts of thousands of people over half a century—you are now part of the legacy that future SRI people will inherit.
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