Rob McNelly is one of Meridian IT’s senior Power Systems engineers. Over the years he has had roles as an IBM customer, IBM employee, and a consultant specializing in IBM Power systems.
He has expertise that is anchored by six years with the IBM Global Services team where he supported a variety of clients. At Meridian IT, Rob focuses on Power Systems architecture and engineering, supporting AIX and Linux for a range of clients across multiple industries. He has earned certifications including the IBM Certified Advanced Technical Expert (CATE) and the Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE).
Rob was first named as an IBM Power Champion in 2011 and was most recently included in the 2024 class of IBM Power Champions.
In 2019 he was named as a Lifetime IBM Champion.
Rob’s contributions include creating and reviewing multiple IBM certification tests, generating technology videos, writing articles and weekly blog entries on IBM technology, and serving as a technical editor for IBM Systems magazine.
Rob’s blog, AIXchange, was published weekly from 2007-2020 and the archives can be found here:
https://robmcnelly.com/category/aixchange-archives
He currently writes a monthly article for TechChannel, you can find the archives here:
https://techchannel.com/contributor/rob-mcnelly
He also wrote articles for IT Jungle which you can find here:
https://www.itjungle.com/author/rob-mcnelly/
Check out his badges here:
https://www.youracclaim.com/users/rob-mcnelly/badges
In his spare time, Rob enjoys camping, hiking, and backpacking through the mountains of Arizona. He has also learned to enjoy Ragnar races, and sprint triathlons. To learn more follow him on twitter @robmcnelly.
The evolution of talking about myself.
I came up with a couple of other versions:
Rob enjoys camping, hiking, biking, and backpacking through the mountains of Arizona. He has also learned to enjoy Ragnar races, and sprint triathlons. He always looks forward to spending time on Arizona’s closest beach which is located in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. He enjoys scuba diving from live-aboard diving boats. His favorite trip was hiking to the blue waters of Havasupai, and is planning on hiking the Grand Canyon in the near future. Long ago he realized that he would rather live in a hot dry climate than shovel snow.
and this version that includes some links:
Rob enjoys camping, hiking, and backpacking through the mountains of Arizona. He has also learned to enjoy Ragnar races, and sprint triathlons. He has hiked and camped near the blue waters of Havasupai twice, but only made it down past Mooney Falls and beyond once due to a previously unknown fear of heights and the sketchy route you have to take to do it. His latest goal is to do a Rim to Rim hike in the Grand Canyon, the only unknown is whether it will be down Kaibab and up Bright Angel on the South Rim, or to try one of the different routes and go from the North Rim to the South Rim. He likes to visit Phoenix’s closest beach which is roughly 3 hours away by car in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. He also found that live-aboard diving boats is the way he prefers to scuba dive.
This version was updated in January 2025:
Rob completed a South rim to river to South rim hike at the Grand Canyon in March of 2022, and a North rim to South rim hike in May of 2022. He is planning to do a North to South rim hike again in May of 2025. He has moved south of Tucson Arizona which makes it easier to climb Mt. Wrightson, climb Rincon peak, and tramp around the Chiricahua mountains. He has found that when he gets tired of hiking, it can be fun to ride a mountain bike along sections of the Arizona Trail, and each fall he tries to do a Sprint Triathlon at the Tri Community Tri, where he usually comes in last in his age group.