Hal Prewitt

Hal Prewitt
2015 Podium at 24 hours of Silverstone
Born (1954-10-01) October 1, 1954 (age 70)
Hutchinson, Kansas
Occupation(s)Race car driver, artist, investor, businessman and farmer
Known forArtist, inventor, computer Technologist, computer trademarks of Core & HotPlug, engineering, race car driver, politician, businessman and fisherman
TitleCommissioner, Town of Manalapan, Florida
Term2001
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Corinne Loria (2007–present)
Florine Andrews (1980–2004)
Children3
AwardsWon 2006 National Auto Sport Association National Championship, Chivas Regal Award for Entrepreneurship 1986, Business Leader of the Year Palm Beach County, Atlantic Ocean Angler of the Year 1992, Bahamas Billfish Championship 1988, IGFA most Tagged & Released Sailfish (1990–92) and White Marlin (1992)
Websitewww.prewitt.net halprewitt.com

Harold D. Prewitt, Jr (Hal) (born October 1, 1954, in Hutchinson, Kansas) is an artist, photographer, race car driver, businessperson, inventor of personal computer products and early pioneer in the personal computer revolution. He resides in South Beach (Miami Beach, Florida).[1]

Prewitt's art career started over fifty years ago as a teenager creating and selling his works then expanded to developing computer technology and racing. He has produced art in a wide array of genres and mediums, including oils, acrylics, pencil drawings and photography. His works are displayed in many public and private venues, seen in movies such as Steven Soderbergh's Mosaic on HBO, and found in videos, advertisements and high-end restaurants, and are available from a limited number of galleries. By 2017, it was reported Prewitt had in excess of 800 collectors and sold more than two million dollars of his works.[2][3]

Prewitt competed in professional and occasionally amateur motorsport road races and has driven in nearly 200 endurance racing or sprint races worldwide. He was the No. 1 American and finished 4th of 819 international drivers from 58 countries in the 2015 International Endurance Series Championship.[4] He has been a competitor in IMSA, Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and at international FIA races including 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours Nürburgring, Dubai 24 Hour, 24 Hours of Barcelona and Silverstone Britcar 24-Hour.

In the 1970s and 1980s he was one of the early creators[5] of personal computer products, developing popular software and hardware while helping build a new industry. He provided consulting services to IBM and is credited[6] with inventing hard disk drives and world's first local area network (LAN) for their first portable computer, the IBM 5100, and their first desktop computer the IBM 5120.

He created the technology and trademarked Hotplug, the computer industry's standard method of replacing computer system components without the need for stopping or shutting down key parts such as disk drives, disk controllers or host adapters and power supplies. Prewitt's first patent details were disclosed in 1987 in the United States[7] and Europe[8] related to development of the technology, however, the filings were not completed. The trademark was issued by the USPTO and other countries in 1992 under "Computer & Software Products & Electrical & Scientific Products Trademarks".[9]

Another trademark Prewitt created in the late 1970s and registered in the 1980s was "CORE",[10] used to identify computers and related products. In 2006, after Prewitt's company was sold and the registration use was discontinued, this trademark was adopted by Intel to market their computer processors.

Skilled[6] in computer programming and engineering, Prewitt founded and managed a number of technology firms. The largest and best known was Core International, a developer of disk array, computer data storage and backup products. Core created and in 1990 marketed the world's first disk drives, disk controllers or host adapters and power supplies that were hot pluggable or swappable.[11][12] Prewitt was chairman and chief executive officer until 1993 when the company was sold[13] to Sony.

Prewitt is the Managing Member of Prewitt Enterprises, a Florida-based agricultural and investment business.

  1. ^ "Hal Prewitt". Hal Prewitt Racing. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  2. ^ "magic-of-art". Park Record. January 9, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Photo Finish was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "STANDING 24H SERIES 2015" (PDF). 24hseries.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved July 21, 2016.
  5. ^ "Boyhood dream becomes a reality for entrepreneur" (PDF). South Florida Business Journal. Retrieved January 31, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Hal Prewitt; a computer whiz kid challenges the big boys". Florida Trend. August 1, 1987. Archived from the original on November 6, 2013. Retrieved October 30, 2013 – via HighBeam Research.
  7. ^ "Patent Application in USA: Disc interface circuit". uspto.gov. USPTO. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  8. ^ "Patent Application in Europe: Disc interface circuit". register.epo.org. European Patent Organisation. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  9. ^ "Registered Trademark Hot Plug". uspto.gov/. USPTO. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  10. ^ "CORE Computers". uspto.gov. USPTO. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
  11. ^ "1990 Ad for CPR Series™" (PDF). coreinternational.info. Core International. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  12. ^ "1991 IAS™ Total Data Management" (PDF). coreinternational.info. Core International. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  13. ^ Barton, Christopher (June 24, 1993). "Japanese company buys out Core International". Boca Raton News. Retrieved January 31, 2010.[permanent dead link]