Sep. 7--By his own admission, Ed Zander was a poor engineer early in his professional career. But by all accounts, he went on to become an expert marketer of high-tech products.

Zander's marketing prowess was a key reason companies like Chelmsford's Apollo Computer and Westboro's Data General thrived during the heady days of the 1980s "Massachusetts Miracle." It also catapulted him to bigger and better things, first as president and chief operating officer at Sun Microsystems and, later, as chairman and CEO at Motorola Inc.

Zander, now 61, retired from Motorola earlier this year. He now lives quietly in California with his wife, Mona, and spends time consulting and advising startups.

On Tuesday, he will by the keynote speaker at the Young Professionals of Greater Lowell's Third Annual Business Leadership Forum. The event starts at 6 p.m. at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium.

Last week, Zander took a few minutes via phone to discuss his high-tech career with The Sun:

You'll be speaking before a group of young professionals here in Lowell. Can you summarize what you plan to tell them?

I'd love for it to be interactive and I'm sure they will have good questions. I'll talk a little about how I cut my teeth here and I'm sure we'll talk about what's happening in the high-tech industry.

I also think people would be interested in talking about why Massachusetts hasn't been able to do what it did 20 or 30 years ago. Why don't more of startups grow

up before being acquired? Massachusetts certainly has the education and the venture capital.

What advice would you give a young engineer, or any young professional in this weakening labor market?

There are always going to be a few people who make it big with a Google or Facebook, and that's fine, but it doesn't happen to everybody. It's important to achieve success the old-fashioned way -- by building a career.

Yes, it's true that it's difficult right now. A lot of young and smart people aren't seeing career growth or the financial returns they expect. But great companies often get started during economic downturns, as bigger companies pull back and get a little more cautious. You can pick your opportunities, especially in tech.

You were trained as an engineer, but you're best known as a successful salesman and marketer. What are the keys to succeeding in that element of business?

I often ask young executives if they have written their own press releases -- you would be surprised at how many can't.

Also, it's really important to understand not only your customer, but your competition -- that's big.