IBM Systems Magazine, Mainframe - March/April 2015 - (Page 56)

STOP RUN PHOTO COURTESY OF C. KEVIN SHUM C. Kevin Shum, second from left, stands with his family at Yosemite National Park in California. Pictured in the background is the Half Dome. Navigating National Parks An IBM Distinguished Engineer bonds with his family while visiting U.S. historical sites Valerie Dennis is managing editor of IBM Systems Magazine, Mainframe edition. hile he wasn't born in the U.S., C. Kevin Shum has traveled the country extensively, visiting more than 50 U.S. National Park Service sites. "The historic sites provide a lot of the history about the U.S. and its people," he says. A Distinguished Engineer in the IBM Systems group, Shum and his wife Jo both moved to the U.S. from Hong Kong as teenagers. About 20 years ago they visited their first national park, Acadia in Maine. "We had a great time camping with a bunch of friends," Shum recalls. "There were many memorable moments, including biking around the trails, hiking to scenic spots and digging for clams at low tide." W 56 // MARCH/APRIL 2015 ibmsystemsmag.com Still, the spark to visit national parks didn't fully ignite until 2007, when they took their three children to Washington, D.C., for spring break. "During that trip, we stopped by one of the park ranger stations at the National Mall, and the ranger suggested our kids take part in the junior ranger program," Shum says. The program includes a booklet of activities specific to that location that, once complete, earn the child a junior ranger badge. This experience drove his daughter's interest in the National Park system, and kick-started the family's adventures. Shum's two younger children got involved as well. "For the next few years, when we went on a weeklong or longer vacation, we would mix in side trips to as many of the local national park sites as possible," Shum says. He notes they have also taken weekend and day trips from their home in New York. "Going to national parks and getting junior ranger badges became our family tradition," he says. Together they learned about women's rights in Seneca Falls, New York, and immigrants at Ellis Island. They walked the Freedom Trail in Boston and toured presidential birthplaces and residences, as well as notable war sites and forts. The family has also visited many scenic spots, including the Cape Cod shoreline, Yosemite and the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Shum explains, "For someone who wasn't born in the U.S. but is a U.S. citizen, I found the visits very interesting." He credits part of this interest to the junior ranger program, adding that the family needed to read displays and answer specific questions at each site. "So, instead of pure sightseeing, we took time to read and take part in the exhibitions in the visitor centers or in the parks themselves." Though his children have outgrown the junior ranger program, the family still has many places they plan to visit together, including the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone. Shum looks forward to planning vacations so the family can visit as many sites as possible in one trip, but what he enjoys most are the memories his family has made together. http://www.ibmsystemsmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IBM Systems Magazine, Mainframe - March/April 2015

Table of Contents
Editor's Desk: Transforming today
IBM Perspective: Move at the speed of z
SHARE Outlook: Celebrating 60 years of people and enterprise computing
TechBits: A mixed bag for cyber security
Partner PoV: Take advantage of data virtualization to boost business intelligence
Trends: Workload-specific open-source solutions offer flexibility for success
Currents: IBM zEnterprise Systems leads in uptime and reliability, ITIC survey finds
R&D: Bluemix makes it easy to build applications securely and quickly in the cloud
IT Today: Is your infrastructure prepared for cloud, analytics, mobile, security and social?
Cover Story: Transforming IBM Systems: Senior VP Tom Rosamilia leads a technology sea change at IBM
Feature: Finding Insightful Information: IBM offers cost-effective solutions to keep mobile analytics on the mainframe
Feature: Propel Your Cloud Infrastructure: Transformational IBM Spectrum Accelerate brings software-defined high-function storage
Tech Showcase: Today's flexible training options fit time and budget constraints
Administrator: How IBM zHyperWrite improves performance
Solutions: Alignia; Intelligent Capping for zEnterprise; MegaCryption 6.4.1; JES2RSS; zOSEM 6.2; SecureData z/Protect 4.3.0; DR/DFI 4.5
Stop Run: An IBM Distinguished Engineer bonds with his family while visiting US historical sites
Reference Point - Global Events, Education, Resources for Mainframe
2015 Mainframe Solutions Edition Product Index

IBM Systems Magazine, Mainframe - March/April 2015