Paul Wefel

Paul entered the fascinating world of network engineering in 1993. He had planned to combine his degree in computer engineering with his mechanical engineering coursework to find employment opportunities in the robotics or autonomous systems industries, but that didn't pan out. However, after spending some college summers building networks, he decided that was kinda fun — and there were jobs a-plenty.

So Paul started off building and running networks in the private sector and later moved on to a job in the research and education community. In August 2016, Paul joined ESnet, leaving the R&E high performance computing (HPS) world after 16 successful years there. His work journey towards ESnet has allowed Paul to gain network experience in multiple sectors including enterprise, data centers, HPC, WAN, and optical making him a jack of all trades (and maybe a master of none).

At ESnet, Paul has taken on a variety of projects, from helping to design and procure network capacity across the Atlantic, to designing and procuring a transponder solution for ESnet6, to building the next-generation data centers for ESnet operations and supporting various research projects at ESnet. Every day brings a new learning opportunity.

Outside of work, Paul likes to spend time with his family. He likes to cycle (on a tadpole trike). paddle (when the midwest rivers are flowing), and camp (when time allows). Other hobbies include woodworking, gardening, fish keeping, brewing kombucha, and home improvement.