Recycled entrepreneur gives software new life. (Greg Fisher, head of Fisher Engineering Systems)

Greg Fisher makes a living out of "recycling" software. You could say that he's been recycled himself, in a manner of speaking, back into the auto industry.

As a great grandson of one of the seven General Motors/Fisher Body brothers, the young Fisher wanted to break with family tradition and venture outside of the auto industry.

So after earning an engineering degree from Notre Dame and an MBA from the University of San Diego, he set his sights on the computer industry. It wasn't long, however, before the automotive world called him back. First, he worked as a systems engineer manager for EDS. Then he went to Japan, where he managed a team of engineers who pioneered a high-speed computer network for Nissan.

Three years ago, Fisher returned to his roots, merged his engineering, computer and business acumen, and started his own company. The firm, Fisher Engineering Systems in Troy, offers engineering and software support services to such clients as: Ford Motor Co., Chrysler, Digital Equipment Corp., Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems and Giddings & Lewis.

Fisher, 32, says his firm had revenues last year of about $1 million and was profitable. His goal is for Fisher Engineering to become a $10 million company in five years.

Much of Fisher Engineering's work centers on the design or re-design of a company's computer network and what Fisher refers to as the "recycling" of software. He says the demand for this service is steadily growing as more ...