Steven G. White (Spinnaker), 1952 - 2002
Founder, Virtual Mechanics, Inc.
It is with the deepest sorrow that we announce the death of our Founder and President. In January of 2001 Steve discovered he had cancer. After undergoing chemotherapy and radiation Steve's condition deteriorated. Steve wanted to live very much. The disease however was too aggressive. He passed away on June 23rd having celebrated his 50th birthday with family one week earlier.
We would like to thank all those that offered support to Steve since founding Virtual Mechanics in 1997 and particularly to those who helped out since his diagnoses last January. Steve had a passion and drive for software development and particularly Virtual Mechanics that kept him involved to the end.
Steve graduated in 1980 from the University of British Columbia and entered graduate school studying Architecture. While there he took a 3D computer graphics and animation course and got hooked. He subsequently started Canada's first computer animation company - Vertigo Graphics. He sold out in 1984 and started Neo-Visuals Inc, one of the first commercial 3D graphics software companies in the world and for a time the main competitor to Alias/Wavefront, also located in Toronto. In 1987 he sold Neo-Visuals technology to SAS Institute of North Carolina and became the President of SAS Canada before retiring to pursue his other passions - his family and sailing. Animation was his calling however and in the mid 90's he was back developing software to put interactive vector graphics on the Web. In the late 90s he founded Virtual Mechanics with the aim of developing software for the creation of interactive animation for the Internet.
Steve was an avid coder. He wrote all the initial code for Vertigo Graphics, Neo-Visuals, and Virtual Mechanics and continued to focus most of his time on software development even after acquiring the resources to hire darn good development staffs. Steve was also a prolific writer. He was personally responsible for the publication of the syndicated newsletter IMS Web Tips that went out to well over 35,000 subscribers weekly. He was in the process of co-writing a book on SVG which, due to his illness, he was not able to complete. We will make it available to the community off our site shortly.
Steve approached his condition the way he approached life. He embodied determination and a strong work ethic. Though he encountered his fair share of failure and disappointment he never gave up hope. As difficult a time as it is for us, we will carry on his legacy. Steve wanted it that way.
J. Peter White
President
Virtual Mechanics Inc.
