Grant Blair

Grant Blair graduated from the University of Kent in 1986 with a BSc in Physics with Computing. His career path led him to GCHQ initially, followed by various roles in private industry in the US, including positions at Bell Labs and DuPont. He spent his later career at SAP, managing credit card operations and development until retiring in 2021. Grant attributes his success to his adaptability and the saleable skill set gained from his computing degree.

Tell us about your career path since graduation.

Recruited by GCHQ, left after a year to pursue a private industry path leading to US residency and later citizenship. One year working in Soho (Digital Applications) followed by employment by a New Jersey based software contracting agency, leading to placement at Bell Labs in NJ.The government-mandated breakup of AT&T's monopoly in the US led me to several short-term positions across the country, culminating in a research assistant position at DuPont's Electronic Imaging location in Newark, Delaware. DuPont decided to relocate the facility and we parted ways, me taking my computer expertise to a small, rapidly-growing Point Of Sale (POS) company in Bensalem, Pennsylvania.

Over the next few years, this company (SASI) merged with a Toronto-based similar company (Trimax) to form Triversity. In 2006, Triversity was acquired by the German business giant, SAP, where I managed credit card operations and development until I retired in July 2021, at age 55. 

What does a typical work day look like for you?

I'm retired, relatively young and in good health!  I'll generally update my personal finance spreadsheets based on the previous day's markets, then get together with one or more friends to play golf, visit a winery or a brewery or work on processing some of the previous night's astronomical images (I have my own observatory, located on my rural NJ property).  I have multiple goals this year, including taking advantage of every clear night we have, as well as visiting all 54 of New Jersey's registered wineries. 

Can you share a professional highlight from your career so far?

While at SAP, it was one of my tasks to bring the entire company (around 90,000 people at that time) into Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance, preparing the operational side over multiple lines-of-business to pass an external PCI security audit. This was a monumental task and took multiple years. I happened to be in Walldorf (SAP's HQ) the week after the audit was successfully completed and literally bumped into one of the executives in a hallway - and he recognized me and stopped to thank me and chat about the achievement. 

How did your time at Kent help you achieve your current career?

My time at Kent demonstrated adaptability to me. I started on a path to becoming an astrophysicist (Physics with Astrophysics) but realized that wasn't a perfect fit for me and I'd be better off keeping the astronomy side as a hobby (which I have), switching out the Astrophysics for Computing.  Computing was a much more saleable skill set and has been a mainstay of all my professional work. 
Additionally, I met and befriended many American exchange students at Kent and admired their general "I can do anything" attitudes. That led me to pursuing a move from the UK to the US in 1988 and I've never looked back. 

What advice would you give to our current/prospective students who are looking to get into the same line of work?

If you want something, take the bull by the horns. Dedicate yourself to it, be persistent and if it's meant to be, it will be. Don't turn down any opportunities which help even a little bit toward your end-goals.

Did you get involved in any extracurricular activities as a student?

Golf and (briefly) cricket. Captain of the UKC golf team when we played at Princes, in Sandwich. Invited to play in the 1985 Boyd Quaich at St Andrews. Sometimes we'd slip over the fence onto Royal St Georges for a few holes, if the opportunity permitted.

Do you have a favourite memory from your time at Kent?

So many. I truly loved my years at Kent and look back fondly on so many occasions/friends there. 

I forget the precise date, but one Saturday some friends and I decided to try the little-known "inside the city pub crawl". At that time, there were fifty pubs within the old city walls. The idea was to have a half or a shot in each establishment during the course of a single day. I remember it was a particularly nice day, warm and sunny, and the city was filled with tourists. My friends Grant & Tony were better drinkers than me and I gave up after about 20 visits. We sent another friend ahead to set things up in the pubs along our pre-planned route. I honestly don't recall how it all ended, but it seems unlikely anyone completed all fifty. 

Is there anything you would do differently if you could repeat your time at Kent?

Forty years on, I still have the occasional nightmare about final exams, not having studied hard enough, etc. Seriously.

I came away with a 2:2 which nobody even cared about a few weeks later. But it still haunts me to this day. I rarely studied. I'm pretty sure I could made a 2:1 if not a first had I taken things more seriously.

Are you still in touch with other Kent alumni or academics?

One of my best friends at Kent and I got in touch again just three years ago. We made arrangements to meet up in Washington DC for a weekend of expensive restaurants and sightseeing.  We've repeated it since then, too. 

I kept in touch with one of the space sciences professors until he recently retired from a subsequent position, John Zarnecki. 
I recently donated a brick to Bletchley Park in honour of another astronomy professor who worked there during the war, George McVittie.

What are your future ambitions?

I'm perfectly content as I am right now. Been retired three years and want for nothing (other than more clear skies, a tidier home office and a yard which automatically keeps its grass short). I've considered buying a second home in Provence, but the recent French election results have deterred me somewhat, so I am now considering options in other countries, maybe even the south of England!