Nizam Ishmael Jr., Master Inventor at IBMNizam Ishmael Jr., Master Inventor at IBM

1

What's A Master Inventor?
"You do a little bit more thinking out of the box. You don't accept what's there. Right now, I'm doing a lot of business-integration work, which is really challenging. With all the dot-com stuff, there've been a lot of companies merging and buying other companies. So we're doing a lot of work to get their software to talk to each other."

2

Best Patent
A device that fits over a PDA's screen and can raise or lower the level of gray scale or color on a pixel. It would allow someone who's visually impaired to use these PDA devices. And since mobile phones these days are moving more and more toward being full-blown PDA devices, I think it'll be significant in the future."

3

PC-Powered Corvette
He installed a VIA motherboard that supports GPS and an entertainment system: MP3s, CDs, FM radio, satellite audio, TV, and movies. "I also have some software that lets me retune the computer in the car. I do like to work on the car. If I didn't do IT stuff or something in the medical field, I'd do something in the automotive industry."

4

Book Smarts
"I really don't get a chance to read many books. I spend more of my time looking at car forums or computer forums. And I usually read car magazines."

5

Pet Peeve
"I don't like dealing with paperwork. Especially in a big company, there's always more and more paperwork than in a small company. ...You go on a long trip, so you come back and you have to keep up with tons and tons of receipts. You'll spend two or three hours just logging all your receipts."