Remembering Alex

On Sunday, Virtual Computer lost a colleague and dear friend, Alex Vasilevsky, following a long battle with cancer.  Alex co-founded Virtual Computer in 2007 and served as our chief technology officer.  A great deal of the vision and technology behind NxTop originated with Alex, and for much of our company’s journey whenever we faced seemingly impossible technology challenges, Alex’s vision, intelligence, resourcefulness, and dedication inevitably led us through to the other side.

Alex’s contributions to the high tech community spanned nearly three decades.  In addition to his groundbreaking work here at Virtual Computer, Alex leaves behind a legacy of innovation across technology areas such as server virtualization, digital video architectures, high performance parallel computing, and advanced optimizing compilers.

Alex’s resume reads like a history of Boston-area technology innovation.  He was at the center of 1980s supercomputer innovation at Thinking Machines, helped usher in the digital video revolution at Avid Technology and Ucentric Systems in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and more recently played a pioneering role in virtualization at Virtual Iron and Virtual Computer.  His lasting influence also extends far beyond these and the other companies he worked for through his many contributions to the open source software community.

Here at Virtual Computer, we mourn the loss of a man without whom none of us would be on this incredible journey.  He was a warm, caring man who thrived on competition and intellectual challenge, and the ambitious things we have done and continue to do here every day are truly a monument to that. Virtual Computer was important to Alex, which is why he worked tirelessly alongside us for several years while simultaneously battling debilitating illness.  We will honor Alex and the cherished family he leaves behind by finding strength in the example he set and making Virtual Computer his crowning achievement.