Benjamin Hvostal

Ben was born in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania on January 26, 1986 to Andy and Judy Hvostal. He grew up in North Baldwin borough, a suburb of Pittsburgh. He later moved to Moon Township, Pennsylvania in seventh grade. As a kid, Ben enjoyed the outdoors and spent a lot of time playing in the woods. He played the cello in elementary and middle school. He also played the clarinet for a period of time. Ben has always been a hockey fan. In elementary school and middle school he played deck hockey. In high school he picked up roller hockey. At an early age, Ben developed a great interest in computers. In 2002 he won first place in a contest to redesign the Moon Area School District’s website. Following the contest, Ben started his own website design business, pursing that for a few years and designing websites for several local businesses.

After high school, Ben attended The Pennsylvania State University where he majored in Computer Science. After a few semesters at Penn State, Ben decided to try ice hockey for the first time and joined an intermural league. He still occasionally plays ice hockey in a pickup game Saturday mornings in Roseville, California. While at Penn State, Ben had two internships in the information technology department of FedEx Ground. Ben’s computer interests eventually shifted from software to hardware and he decided to pursue an internship with Intel. He had two internships with Intel in Folsom, California and was eventually hired full-time starting in January 2009. While at Penn State, Ben enjoyed hanging out with friends, attending football games, tailgates, and spending countless hours playing Mario Kart 64 with his roommates.

Since moving to California, Ben’s outdoor spirit was rejuvenated and he has begun hiking and backcountry camping. He has even convinced Courtney to join in on the backcountry camping trips. She has acquired all the gear and is now prepared for all of the trips this summer. Ben’s other interests include cooking, tennis, brewing beer, video games, biking, and other outdoor activities.