Robert Elfant, a Purdue PhD graduate, began his career at IBM where he contributed to the establishment of the new Semiconductor Division. He was product manager for the first IBM MOS memory program and received the Senior Vice President's Outstanding Award for his work.

Elfant then became vice president at OMEX, a start-up company developing an Electronic Document Management System. At OMEX, he established a solid technical footing for the new product. His next career move was to Burroughs Corporation as vice president and general manager of the Micro Component Group. In this position he was responsible for contracting and manufacturing all integrated circuits and printed circuit boards as well as for CAD development. Elfant's achievements at Burroughs were recognized with the Corporate Human Resources Award for People Management and Team Building.

Elfant joined Intel Corporation as director of Component Assembly and Test and became general manager of Intel's Cellular Products Operation. He then moved to Western Digital Corporation as a vice president responsible for semiconductor process development and manufacturing at four plants. He soon became vice president of operations and then was promoted to vice president of engineering. Currently he is senior vice president of the storage products operations at Western Digital where he is responsible for all engineering, manufacturing, and quality activities of the Storage Products Division. He is also responsible for coordinating the corporation's Continuous Improvement Program.

A Fellow of IEEE, Elfant has submitted ten patent applications, published several articles, and given many presentations. He was named the HKN Outstanding Young Electrical Engineer in 1967 and received the Purdue Distinguished Engineering Alumnus Award in 1968. He has been on the Dean's Advisory Board at Purdue and at the University of California, San Diego. He has been both vice president and secretary of the Magnetic Society of IEEE.