Windows Azure Boot Camp

Michael Collier

Michael is an Architect with Centric Consulting in their Columbus, OH office. Michael spends his days serving as a developer or architect helping clients succeed with the Microsoft development platform. He gets very geeked up about any new technology, tool, or technique that makes his development life easier. Michael spends most of his spare time reading technology blogs and exploring new development technologies. He is also an avid golfer and attempts to be good at shooters on the Xbox 360.

Michael Wood

Michael Wood is a Microsoft Practice Director for Strategic Data Systems in Centerville, OH, but lives across the river in Kentucky. He has been working in .Net since pre-Beta 2 back in 2001. He has contributed to the 'Visual Studio Hacks' book from O'Reilly and publishes a series of blog posts called the .Net Nugget. Michael is a Founding Director of the Cincinnati .NET User Group as well as the founder of the Cincinnati Software Architecture Special Interest Group. He is also a founding member of the software architecture web resource nPlus1 (http://nplus1.org) and the instigator of the informal code pairing Bitslinger events. Michael was awarded a Microsoft MVP award in 2009. You can follow Michael on Twitter under @mikewo as well as visit his blog at http://mvwood.com.

Marc Johnson

Marc is a Senior Architect with Centric Consulting in their Cincinnati, OH office. Marc is also the CTO and Co-Founder of todayforward.com, a self guided personal finance resource. Marc has twelve years of experience in custom software development with mainly Microsoft and Java technologies, across many different industries. Marc is a self described "entrepenuer junky", constantly looking for ways to leverage technology to take an idea and turn it into a business.

Jason Follas

Jason Follas is a Technical Architect for Perficient, serving clients primarily located in the greater Detroit region (including Toledo, where he lives and serves as the President of the Northwest Ohio .NET User Group). Since 1994, he has developed many interesting solutions on the Microsoft platform, including an Aircraft Weight and Balance system used by an air freight company, several e-Commerce websites, Risk Management systems, and blend optimization software. In 2007 and 2008, Microsoft recognized Jason as a Microsoft MVP (SQL Server). Jason is involved in organizing a number of local conferences including CodeMash and Ann Arbor Day of .NET. You can find his blog at http://jasonfollas.com.

Ryan Duclos

Ryan Duclos is a Senior Technical Consultant for Perficient, Inc. (PRFT), where he is passionate about Microsoft development utilizing the .Net Framework and SQL Server technologies. He lives and works in LA (Lower Alabama!) and loves spending time with his family, as well as being a Community Influencer for Microsoft. Ryan can often be found at regional events as both a speaker and an attendee. He has been working with Microsoft Technologies since 2000, and is well known in the Microsoft community as a skilled presenter, as well as being highly involved in building technical communities around Microsoft Technologies. Ryan is the President of the Lower Alabama .NET User Group and is also involved with the Pensacola SQL Server User Group. In addition Ryan is a frequesnt speaker at numerous Code Camps, SQL Saturday & User Group events.

Dennis Burton

Dennis Burton is a web developer with SRT Solutions whose diverse portfolio includes online learning management systems, precision measurement using high speed data acquisition applications, as well as automotive diagnostic software. Since the beginning of his career, Dennis has been working with systems that require processing large amounts of data quickly. Consistently working with high volume systems has led Dennis to see a need for cloud computing. He is currently working on a cloud based application for diabetes management based on his experience in running the numbers for his oldest son with Type 1 diabetes. Dennis has been around long enough to be old to some and young to others, but firmly believes that what you do with your time is more important than how long you have been spending it. As an active member of the development community, Dennis serves on the board of the Lansing .NET User Group, the Ann Arbor .NET User Group and as an organizer for the 2009 Lansing Day of .NET.

Bill Wagner

With more than 20 years experience, Bill Wagner, SRT Solutions co-founder, is a recognized expert in software design and engineering, specializing in C#, .NET and the Azure platform. He serves as Michigan’s Regional Director for Microsoft and is a multi-year winner of Microsoft’s MVP award. An internationally recognized author, Bill has published three books on C# and currently writes a column on the Microsoft C# Developer Center. Bill was awarded the Emerging Technology Leader Award by Automation Alley, Michigan’s largest technology consortium. Bill earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Tracy Bazzell

Tracy Bazzell is a Sr. Technical Architect for Perficient in their Dallas, TX office. Tracy has over 14 years experience delivering technology solutions across various industries including Financial Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Distribution, Semiconductor, and Hosting/Cloud Enablement. Tracy has focused on Microsoft technologies throughout his career and has been working with .Net since 2001. Tracy holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Texas at Austin with a concentration in Information Management. Tracy lives in Plano, TX with Michelle, his high school sweetheart and wife. They spend time chasing around their 4 year old son and 5 month old daughter.

Ken Sipe

Ken Sipe is a Technology Director with Perficient, Inc. (PRFT) where he leads multiple teams in the development of solutions in the SOA, Web 2.0 and portal domains, on both the Java and .Net platforms. Ken was the founder of CodeMentor, where he was the Chief Architect and Mentor, leading clients in the execution of RUP and Agile methodologies in the delivery of software solutions. Ken has a deep need to be highly diversified. Ken often works with IT executives on high-level strategic roadmaps, currently geared around service oriented architectures (SOA). Ken also likes to keep his hands "dirty" in the code, which has him on a regular basis, pairing or otherwise producing code. Ken is regularly requested by clients that know him to "rescue" projects, either through the streamlining of processes or the rapid production of code. Ken is a frequent speaker at events nationwide including CodeMash, No Fluff Just Stuff & Heartland Developer Conference to name a few. His Blog can be found at http://kensipe.blogspot.com/.

Chris McPherson

Chris McPherson is a native of Middle Tennessee and has been writing software professionally for over 15 years. Chris has been building solutions with Microsoft's .NET technologies since it's release in 2002. Chris is one of the founding partners of Firefly Logic and the organizer of the Geek Social, a Nashville technology networking event.

James Bender

James is the Principal Technology Evangelist and Application Development Practice Manager for the The Sophic Group in Columbus, OH. James has been involved in software development and architecture for 16 years. He has worked as a developer and architect on everything from small, single-user applications to Enterprise-scale, multi-user systems. His specialties are .NET development and architecture, SOA, WCF, WF, cloud computing, and agile development methodologies. He is an experienced mentor and author. James is an active member of the development community. He started and continues to lead the Columbus Architects Group (www.colarc.org) and is the senior editor of first-party content for nplus1.org, an educational website aimed toward architects and aspiring architects. James maintains a blog at www.jamescbender.com and his Twitter ID is JamesBender

Jim White

Jim White, a software engineer with 20+ years of experience in the software development industry. I am also an instructor of software development technologies. In addition to my training duties, I am the Director of Training at Intertech, Inc. – a software developer training and consulting firm located in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Prior to my joining Intertech, I served as a senior technical architect at Target Corporation. Prior to that I consulted for 8 years working on all types and size of projects. I started my career in software as an officer in the United States Army. I have authored a book as well as dozens of articles on various software development technologies.

Tim Star

Tim has over a decade of experience developing enterprise critical applications with Microsoft products to deliver sophisticated, high-quality, technology solutions. Tim has significant development team management experience and a proven track record of delivering well managed enterprise-grade applications. Prior to joining Intertech, Tim worked at Intercim, a global leader in Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) for the Aerospace & Defense, Automotive, Pharmaceutical and Semiconductor Industries. At Intercim Tim’s technical skills, leadership, and diplomacy has allowed him to advance from a position of Software Engineer through the development management ranks and finally to the position of Application Architect.

Avichal Jain

Avichal is a Senior Architect with Perficient, serving the Saint Louis Metro area. Avichal has more than twelve years of experience in architecting Microsoft based applications for large-scale enterprise solutions (Multi-million dollars). Avichal has successfully managed numerous concurrent full software development life cycle projects for large and mid-sized companies across a wide range of industries including financial services , higher education, healthcare, Retail, Manufacturing etc. Avichal also mentors diverse groups of professionals forming highly motivated and unified teams that are focused on providing on-time and on-budget delivery.

Ryan CrawCour

Ryan CrawCour is a passionate, experienced, professional who has worked in the IT industry for over 14 years. With over eight years of experience architecting and designing integrated solutions on the Microsoft platform, he has achieved solid track record in custom enterprise application and integration solutions.
A large focus for Ryan has been on delivering SOA and ESB solutions on the Microsoft technology stack using products like Microsoft BizTalk Server, WCF and WF. As a past member of the Microsoft BizTalk Virtual Technical Specialist team he has worked closely with Microsoft and their partners around he world to architect and deliver solutions within the integration space.
Recently Ryan has been concentrating on the recent release of Microsoft’s Cloud Computing Strategy and is excited about embracing Windows Azure can help businesses change the way they think of computing today!

Chris Auld

Chris Auld is Intergen's Director, Strategy and Innovation, responsible for Intergen's Microsoft technology leadership on the world stage.
Chris is one of only two Microsoft regional directors in New Zealand, works closely and often with Microsoft Corporate in Redmond, USA, and plays an active role around the globe on the training and speaking circuits. Known for his evangelical, arm-waving style and his enthusiasm and drive, Chris works closely with clients to help them undertake adventurous, high risk, high return projects. His vision is to revolutionise businesses through dynamism, passion and leading-edge innovation.
Chris' areas of expertise include: cloud computing, rich internet applications, and mobility.

David Pallmann

David Pallmann manages the Custom Application Development practice at Neudesic. Prior to joining Neudesic he worked at Microsoft on the WCF product team. David has written 3 technical books and is currently writing his fourth, The Azure Handbook. He lives in Southern California with his wife and children.

Mike Erickson

Mike Erickson has been professionally involved in technology for the past 21 years. He has worked on many platforms and with many programming languages. He has focused mostly on Microsoft tools and technologies for the past 14 years and holds several Microsoft certifications. He has worked as a consultant, architect and trainer for the past 10 years. He has worked in various industries and for clients throughout the United States. He has been working with Windows Azure since it was first announced and leads the Salt Lake City Azure User Group.

Jennifer Marsman

Jennifer Marsman is a Developer Evangelist in Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism group, where she educates developers on Microsoft’s new technologies. Prior to becoming a Developer Evangelist, Jennifer was a software developer in Microsoft’s Natural Interactive Services division. In this role, she filed two patents for her work in search and data mining algorithms. Jennifer has also held positions with Ford Motor Company, National Instruments, and Soar Technology. Jennifer earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Engineering and Master’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her graduate work specialized in artificial intelligence and computational theory.

Brian H. Prince

Brian H. Prince is an Architect Evangelist for Microsoft. He gets super excited whenever he talks about technology, especially cloud computing, patterns, and practices. His job is to help customers strategically leverage MS technology, and help them bring their architecture to a super level. He is a co-founder of the non-profit organization CodeMash (www.codemash.org). He speaks at various regional and national technology events including Tech·Ed. He is the co-author of "Azure in Action." Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science and Physics from Capital University, Columbus, Ohio. He is also a zealous gamer. For example, he is a huge fan of Fallout 3.