Walter Rott

I have always been fascinated by technology, working as a mechanic, building my first personal computer myself and programming in the cradle (almost). First, I became a communications mechanic – you know, the guy fixing the wiring when you lose telephone service. Then, after studying Information Science Engineering at the Technical University in Munich, I began working at Siemens where for over 10 years, I led various teams developing telecoms products, advancing to the Siemens Engineering Circle.

During my tenure at Siemens, I met my two best friends, Marshall and Hans. We’ve been working together since 1989, first in our two companies that were subcontractors to Siemens, and then in ECT, which we founded in 1998. I am the CTO in charge of the network layer which currently includes all the telecoms-specific protocols and integration requirements as well as some really exciting new tech, like network function virtualization, containerization, automated lifecycle management and continuous integration/continuous deployment.

When I am not working, I’m usually submerging myself in some other technology. But I still find lots of time for my family and a couple of hobbies: scuba diving, boating, skiing, cars, playing cards (my wife likes räuber rummy) and making weekend opera trips with the families of Marshall and Hans.