Richard Thompson

Senior datacenter network engineer and technical program manager with 18+ years of experience leading complex infrastructure projects, mentoring teams, and driving innovation in high-performance and low latency computing environments.

• New Jersey Cyber-Security and Communications Integration Cell
• Member, Theta Chi International Fraternity
• Order of Omega National Honor Society

• CCNA #CSCO11864853
• Barclays 2025 Expert Engineer graduate
• Dell Compellent Storage Administration and Advanced Management
• Dell Compellent FS8600 Administrator
• C-Tech Certified Network Cabling Specialist
• New Jersey State Firefighter 1 Certified

• Datacenter Refresh, As an advisory board member and lead technical manager, I oversaw the migration from legacy Catalyst infrastructure to advanced ACI and Nexus-based EVPN architectures. This initiative required detailed planning and coordination to ensure a seamless transition while maintaining operational stability and supporting evolving business requirements.
• Colocation Build-Out, Serving as the lead engineer, I managed the design, acquisition, and deployment of global transport edges. These efforts enabled robust external connectivity for datacenters, facilitating integration with AWS, Equinix Fabric, dedicated internet access (DIA), and various client connections to meet diverse business needs.
• DWDM Build-Out, I designed fiber routes and dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) networks for multiple 100G and 400G coherent infrastructures. These designs supported terabit-scale data transmission across the northeastern United States, ensuring high bandwidth and reliable data transfer for critical applications.
• Datacenter Expansion, In directing the network aspects of multi-room datacenter expansions, my responsibilities included overseeing cabling, cabinet installation, containment, power provisioning, and equipment integration. These efforts ensured that new facilities were built with scalability, efficiency, and resilience in mind.
• HPC Cluster Build, I implemented high-speed Ethernet networks, including 400G and 800G solutions, to support high-performance computing clusters. These clusters powered mission-critical applications, providing the necessary performance and reliability for advanced computational tasks.
• Datacenter Consolidation, Following the Barclays acquisition of Lehman Brothers, I led network migrations that consolidated six datacenters into two. This complex project required meticulous planning and execution to ensure continuity of service and integration of disparate networks into a unified architecture.