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Biography
Partner Development Manager, Microsoft Redmond, Washington
Peter Oosterhof started as an electrical engineering major at Oregon State University, but found the thrill of programming irresistible and changed his major to computer science after his sophomore year. He earned his degree in 1987 and began to hone his intense interest in software development. He spent two years working as a software engineer at Tektronix before moving to Microsoft.
Early in his career at Microsoft, he was part of the team that developed Microsoft Word. In his current role as partner development manager, he manages all servers, networking equipment, and power infrastructure in multiple data centers around the world to support Microsoft Online Services, such as Bing and Azure. Oosterhof was part of the Microsoft Autopilot Team that won the 2013 Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for their work on optimizing the deployment and management of servers on a massive scale. The award recognizes an innovative technical achievement that has profoundly transformed the world of software and addressed some of the most urgent technological challenges.
Oosterhof has motivated a new generation of computer professionals by returning to the Oregon State campus and sharing the skills and attitudes necessary for success in the software industry. He said there are many opportunities for up-and-coming programmers and computer science graduates.“Software development as an industry is incredibly young and changing dramatically,” he said. “There’s a huge amount of opportunity that exists today and will continue to exist.”