Physics and hard disk drives- an industrial career perspective

Hard disk drives are marvels of technology. Each drive shipping today includes magnetic tunnel junctions to read data, thermal expansion actuators to precisely adjust head-disk spacing to about 1nm, and data tracks only 70nm wide. An army of physicists, engineers, and materials scientists are responsible for a continuing stream of innovations that have made hard drives the essential enabler for data storage in ``the cloud''. Hard disk drive companies are just one of the numerous industries where physicists make essential contributions. I will use experiences from my 27 years developing magnetic recording technology in Silicon Valley to illustrate what it's like for a physicist to work in industry. I will highlight the skills that help to enable success in the private sector, and some of the challenges of transitioning from academia to industry.