PCW's Test Center Director Remembered

German Native

A native of Landau, Germany, Uli studied English and French literature at Mainz University. She had always dreamed of living in the United States, and realized that goal in 1986, when she moved to Portland on an education visa. She received a degree in software engineering from Oregon Polytechnic Institute, and then landed a job at Motorola. She eventually made her way to the Bay Area and began working at PC World as a performance analyst. Uli became a U.S. citizen in September 2007.

In her role as Test Center Director, she oversaw the testing staff, spent countless hours leading manufacturers on tours through the Test Center facility and explaining procedures, and did her best to smooth the ruffled feathers of vendors whose products didn't perform well.

"I once sat in a meeting with Uli and a large group of people from a company who insisted that our tests of their product were faulty and implied that it was because of sloppy work," recalled Ramon McLeod, editor of PCWorld.com. "Uli calmly defended every procedure and explained that we would not alter test results. Then, they said we should use a different set of tests--of their choosing. Uli told them she wouldn't rig a test to favor any manufacturer. She later told me it was perhaps the greatest insult she'd ever heard. A few weeks later the company quietly fixed the product."

Jeff Kuta, data manager of the Test Center, remembers his first job interview at PC World. "Uli was present, and boy, was she intimidating! But over the past 13 years that I worked with her, I got to know the real Uli behind the tough facade. When I started, she showed me kindness and a welcoming heart. My twins were born only about two weeks later, and I always felt like Uli was part of my extended family."

William Wang, Test Center performance analyst, recalled Uli as a great boss and a loyal  friend. "When Uli hired me three years ago, she patiently showed me all the testing procedures and alerted me to any problems during testing. She taught me how to prepare testing reports and to make sure all the data was accurate and repeatable."