Western Digital Corp.: The Irvine-based company said...

Western Digital Corp.: The Irvine-based company said Monday that it is opening a research center in Rochester, Minn., to develop hard disk drives for medium to large office computer systems. Western Digital plans to hire 40 to 50 people for the center over the next 12 months, spokeswoman Brenda Bennett said. Products based on designs from Rochester are expected to be shipped in early 1996. Heading the center will be Tom Porter, a former senior director of engineering at IBM Corp. in Rochester, who joins Western Digital as vice president.