Mike Cowper was born and raised in central Indiana. He attended Purdue University where he studied physics, computer science, and mathematics. After leaving Purdue he held a variety of jobs until 1994 when he became the first full-time employee at IndyNet, the first Internet Service Provider located in central Indiana, where he was the senior manager of the network and the technical staff. He supported approximately 25,000 residential customers and 500 commercial customers, including T1, web hosting, and co-located server customers. The network consisted of numerous Unix servers and Cisco routers.
In 1999 IndyNet became part of OneMain.com and went through an IPO. In 2000 OneMain.com was sold to EarthLink and Mike left that position. Early in 2001 Mike was contacted by the former owner of IndyNet about starting a new ISP, and Midwest Internet was born. Mike is currently managing the network and servers for Midwest Internet. He has automated a number of things in order to keep the staff size small.
As a systems administrator at both IndyNet and Midwest Internet, Mike has worked on a number of interesting projects with local, national, and international companies. His most recent projects include designing wireless mesh networks currently installed at several schools and other institutions.
Mike started using Unix while at Purdue and enjoys working in that environment. Over the past several years he has also been doing independent consulting for several companies on Cisco routers and Linux servers.
He has served on the board of directors of a non-profit organization promoting literacy through science fiction, and is an active volunteer at his church.