Meet our Faculty

Dr. Magdy Hanna, Chairman

Dr. Hanna is a recognized educator, speaker and consultant in several areas of software engineering. His distinguished seminars on various topics have been highly rated by software professionals. Dr. Hanna's experience with software goes back to the mid 1970's when he worked as a developer at the NCR center in Cairo , Egypt . Over the last thirty years, Dr. Hanna has worked in all aspects of software projects and processes in all capacities.

Dr. Hanna is the founder, CEO and Chairman of the International Institute for Software Testing, ( www.iist.org ) the leading educational and professional development organization that provides education-based certifications to software test and quality professionals around the world.

Dr. Hanna is the founder and Chairperson of the International Conference on Practical Software Quality and Testing, ( www.PSQTconference.com ) and founder and Chairperson of the International Conference on Software Process Improvement, ( www.icspi.com ).

Dr. Hanna Also served as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Software Test Professionals, a publication of the International Institute for Software Testing, now the Bug Free Zone ( www.iist.org/Bug_Free_Zone)

As a consultant, Dr. Hanna has helped organizations define and improve their software processes using disciplined software engineering approaches.

As a professor of software Engineering at the University of St. Thomas , he taught graduate courses on several software engineering topics with emphasis on practical software quality techniques.

Dr. Hanna developed new approaches and methods in software engineering including the Software Quality Engineering Methodology (SQEngineer), the Unified Data Model (UDM), and the Data-Driven Object Model (DOM).

Dr. Hanna holds a Ph.D. and a Masters degree in Computer and Information Sciences form the University of Minnesota , a Masters in Operations Research from Cairo University , and B. Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from Suez Canal University , Egypt.

Judy McKay

Judy McKay has spent the last 20 years working in the high tech industry with particular focus on software quality assurance. She has managed departments encompassing all aspects of the software lifecycle including requirements design and analysis, software development, database design, software quality assurance, software testing, technical support, professional services, configuration management, technical publications and software licensing. Her career has spanned across commercial software companies, aerospace, foreign-owned R&D and various Internet companies.

Judy has been conducting training seminars nationwide for four years for audiences ranging from 150 to 3. Her well-accepted, enjoyable and informative courses are based on the real world application of practical data. Her courses cover the spectrum of software quality assurance, including creating and maintaining a world class quality assurance team, designing and implementing quality assurance and effective testing, and creating and implementing useful test plans. She also offers a course introducing the non-programmer to programming and databases.

Dr. Rebecca Staton-Reinstein

“Dr. Rebecca,” as she is known around the world, helps her clients establish successful software quality support processes including project management, customized life cycles, Formal Inspections, requirements gathering, process improvement and full Quality Assurance functions. She enables IT executives to improve alignment with business goals through strategic planning and leadership development. Her informative articles appear regularly and she is a sought-after keynote speaker who provides both content and inspiration to her audiences. Her books include: Success Planning: A ‘How-To' Guide for Strategic Planning, Get Great Requirements, The Hard Job of Making Software Work: Build Quality Assurance Step By Step and the forthcoming; Conventional Wisdom – Eleven Lessons Business Leaders Can Learn From the Founding Fathers.

Robin F. Goldsmith JD

Robin Goldsmith JD is internationally recognized as an authority on business engineering and software acquisition/development quality, testing, and productivity. He is a frequent speaker at leading conferences and formerly International Vice President of the Association for Systems Management. Robin is the author of the book:"Discovering REAL Business Requirements for Software Project Success".

Subhash C. Bhattachayya

Subhash C. Bhattachayya is a Senior Automation specialist with 9 years experience in the arena of automated performance and functional testing. He has 6 years experience in software training for corporations.

Subhash has worked on many projects throughout the continental US primarily with Financial institutions and e-commerce companies. He has developed many customized "automation best practices" documents and automation/performance frameworks for clients.

Subhash holds a Bachelors of Electrical Engineering from the City College of New York and is a Certified Segue Scalability engineer, Segue's Silk Certified and Mercury WinRunner Certified automation engineer.

Michael Lawler

Mr. Lawler has been involved in the IT industry since 1984. Prior to joining his current firm in 1997, Mr. Lawler worked for a major international hotel chain where he held several positions finishing his career as an IT Director for the Chicago area. Mr. Lawler has been a team member and team lead on a variety of software quality projects across several industries including Financial, wholesale and retail consumer products sales and distribution, technology, and many others. Mr. Lawler has managed several projects involving implementing effective Quality Assurance and Quality Control process designed for a risk-based approach, Test Strategy development, as well as implementation of Test Automation for both Functional and Performance testing. Mr. Lawler provides project support and oversight for software quality project teams, including Test Automation Analysts, on an ongoing basis.

Marnie Hutcheson

Marnie Hutcheson is a columnist for MSDN Magazine and TechNET Magazine. She also creates technical courseware for Microsoft Corporation and travels around the world training the trainers who teach these technologies to the world. She is an internationally published author and speaker in the areas of software development, testing and quality assurance, and systems administration.

She began her career in engineering at Prodigy Services Company in 1987 as the Lead Systems Integrator for Shopping, and later Banking and Financial Services. Over the years, she has become a leader in the development of the Web and has helped corporations like GTE and Microsoft develop and launch several major Internet technologies.

Prior to that, she was a student of the performing arts for over 20 years. She performed on stage, in classical ballet, musical theater, folk singing, and opera for 10 years in Denver, Montreal, Boston, and New York.

She also taught dance in institutions and colleges during those years. In the late 1970s, she was the dance instructor and assistant choreographer to U.S. Olympic skating coach, Don Laws, and Olympic choreographer Riki Harris. She worked with U.S. Olympians, elite skaters, and gymnasts in the United States and Canada.

Michael Yudanin

Michael Yudanin is a seasoned IT professional, who specializes in management of IT services delivery and in process improvement consulting. His management skills are based on best practices and leading standards like CMMI, IEEE and ISO, streamlines software life cycle processes and achieves higher product quality through process improvement. Michael provides solutions for complex software development environments, e.g., large scale implementation of highly customized software products and distributed organizations. He is very knowledgeable in the latest developments with IT processes and technologies. Michael is very dependable and professional. He is Certified by the American Society for Quality as a Software Quality Engineer (CSQE).

Frank Baradari

Frank Baradari has over 28 years of experience in the IT industry. He first started his career as a programmer in the Middle East working for IBM and then moved to US in 1976 for advanced education. Since then, he worked for several leading software and hardware companies including Westinghouse, Informix, Oracle, COM21, Accenture, Unitek Consulting, and Bearingpoint. At these companies, Frank worked as a developer, manager, and Director in many projects. In several positions, he had the release responsibility for the final product as well as leading the development of software life cycle and total quality assurance process.

Frank has extensive experience in Enterprise Architecture, operational support, process management, and overall program management of IT solutions in large enterprise and start-ups. He currently works as an independent IT consulting.

Frank has a BS and MS in Physics, MS and Ph.D. in Numerical methods and applied engineering from US universities.

Jay Ruuska


Jay Ruuska is a consultant specializing in software test automation. He helps teams develop and implement test-automation strategies and architectures. Recent clients include Cisco Systems, Westinghouse, and the Gap. He also provides training for automated GUI validation. Previously he held positions at IBM and EDS in the United States and abroad.

Jay has been involved in the disciplines of user-interface testing (usability, functional validation, visual defect detection, and user-acceptance testing) across various media since 1987. He is an honors graduate of the University of North Texas and has been a featured speaker in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Al Sorkowitz

Mr. Al Sorkowitz was a Computer Scientist with the Department of the Navy where he was responsible for developing large, real-time software intensive systems. Prior to joining the Dept of the Navy, he was Director of the Standards and Quality Control Staff, at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. While at HUD, he initiated a successful testing procedure to improve the quality of unit testing that utilizes automated tools and testing metrics. A paper on this effort was published in a special issue of the IEEE Computer Society magazine "Computer" devoted to Software Quality Assurance, and was later reprinted and widely distributed in the Department of Defense Computer Institute "Selected Computer Articles"

The seminars presented by Mr. Sorkowitz are the practical hands-on “lessons learned” by himself and his staff, developing software in-house, as well as the experience working with a large number of software contractors.

Mr. Sorkowitz has published papers and has presented seminars on Software Metrics, SQA, and Testing at conferences sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society, ACM, DPMA, and the British Computer Society.

Tom Igielski

Tom Igielski has over 20 years of experience in the IT / QA field. Tom currently specializes in Quality Assurance, Automated Testing, Software Development Process and Application Performance Management. Over the last four years, Tom has focused on all aspects of web application performance testing, including those associated with configuration and scalability. Tom has managed enterprise Quality Assurance Program implementations across multi-division corporations, with a special focus on using automated tools to do functional, regression, and load testing. He routinely consults with clients in the selection, training and review of outsourced work activities in the areas of Quality Assurance and Software Testing. He holds a Certified Software Test Engineer (CSTE) certification from the Quality Assurance Institute and holds LoadRunner CPC Certification from Mercury Interactive. He is a Mercury Certified Instructor (CI).

Clyneice Chaney

Clyneice holds certifications from American Society for Quality as a Certified Quality Manager, Quality Assurance Institute's Certified Quality Analyst, and Project Management Institute's Professional Project Manager.

Focusing on process improvement and procedure development in the software testing and quality assurance areas, Clyneice has successfully lead process improvement, methodology development, and reengineering projects for organizations wishing to improve their software development, testing processes, and tool implementation. She serves as an examiner for Virginia 's State Quality Award.

Clyneice is currently an instructor for the International Institute for Software Testing and has presented technical papers at the Software Engineering Institute: SEPG Conference, American Society for Quality: Quality Manager's conference, Quality Assurance Institute International Testing conference and STAR East Testing and the Quality Assurance Institute conference.

Dr. Timothy Korson

Dr. Timothy Korson has had a decade of substantial experience working on a large variety of systems developed using modern software engineering techniques. This experience includes distributed, real time, embedded systems as well as business information systems in an n-tier, client-server environment. Dr. Korson's typical involvement on a project is as a senior management consultant with additional technical responsibilities to ensure high quality, robust test and quality assurance processes and practices. Dr. Korson has authored numerous articles, and co-authored a book on Object Technology Centers. He has given frequent invited lectures at major international conferences and has contributed to the discipline through original research. The lectures and training classes he presents are highly rated by the attendees.

Barbara Patterson

Barbara Patterson has over 20 years experience in Information Systems.  She began work in the large main frame environment as a Systems Analyst, writing requirements and performing user acceptance testing. She later established, then managed the Quality Assurance function at a mid-sized property and casualty insurance company for 7 years. The Change Management function she developed there was recognized in 1992 by QAI (Quality Assurance Institute) as a "Best Practices" operation. This operation supported a development staff of over 200 individuals implementing both package and custom products on a variety of platforms.

Wayne Moser

Wayne Moser has spent over 20 years in various Software Development and Quality Assurance positions.  He has authored and implemented customized software development and QA life cycle processes for several large organizations, based upon practical experience and a “best practices” approach. Having worn both the development and test manager hats, Wayne full understands and appreciates how tenuous and important the relationship is between development and test groups.

Wayne 's experience has spanned a wide variety of operating systems and platforms, from embedded microcode back in the early days with Burroughs through to most recent emphasis on web-based technologies and implementation for several large firms in the publishing vertical market. As a consultant, Wayne is often brought in to start up a formal test and/or QA group. Along with mentoring the teams, Wayne has developed and delivered various customized training programs.

Wayne holds a BS degree in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Barbara Ainsworth

Barbara Ainsworth, PMP, CSQA, CSTE, is Managing Member and Principal Consultant for Process Plus International LLC; a female owned minority company that focuses on IT client process management and improvement utilizing models as foundational frameworks.  She serves as a consultant to USA and global IT groups in manufacturing, financial services, insurance, and service organizations to help them meet their organization's business objectives by advancing their IT capabilities.  She consults with business and IT senior management for strategic direction, and then works cross functionally, at every level, to achieve the desired results. 

She has driven Project Improvement initiatives ranging from hundreds-of-thousands to millions of dollars; in small, local enterprises as well as organizations with thousands of people worldwide. Her wide range of implementation experience and continuing education has developed a well-rounded understanding of and expertise in frameworks; and the implications and impact of using frameworks.  She has extensive experience in IT responsibilities: as User; Quality Control; Quality Assurance; Project and Program Management; and Process Improvement.  Her role experience ranges from Analyst to Technology Officer to VP to Owner.  Her experience includes over 15 years of implementing models and utilizing supporting frameworks from the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), Quality Assurance Institute (QAI), Project Management Institute (PMI), International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), and Six Sigma.  She facilitated implementation of off-the-shelf methodologies.  She is certified to perform SEI Interim Profile Assessments and has completed assessments for various organizations. Barbara continues her education, having attended over sixty industry-related classes, seminars, and conferences to date.  She is a member of numerous industry related professional organizations and has presented the topic of process improvement at IT industry conferences.  The professional organizations and conferences include:  SEI, QAI, PMI, National Defense Industrial Association Systems Engineering Division, and International Function Point User Group.

Joe Raassi

Joe Raassi has over 30 years of experience in the IT industry. He first started his career as a lecturer in mathematics and computer science in Europe and the Middle East and then moved to Silicon Valley in 1986. Since then he has worked for several leading software and systems companies including Veritas Software, Network Appliance, Chromatic Research, and NetIQ Corporation.

At these companies, Joe was involved, as a developer, tester, and manager, in several projects including C/C++ Compilers, Unix Kernel, Storage Management, Programmable Multimedia Processors, and Systems and Applications Management Software. He has also held management and consulting positions at some of these companies, including ‘Director of Quality Assurance' at NetIQ and Chromatic, where he built, trained, mentored, and managed world-class software engineering teams in the U.S. and abroad.

Joe is passionate about all aspects of software quality engineering. His research and work interests include test tools and efficient testing, code coverage, risk and change management, test automation, software release engineering, the cost of poor quality software, software engineering process models and standards, software engineering training, and testing/QA in Agile and Open Source development environments.

Joe currently works as an independent software engineering contractor and is involved in QA consulting and training projects in the U.S. and abroad. He spends his free time working to construct and maintain his soon to be available www.ontest.com Web site.

Joe holds a MS degree in Computer Science from Loughborough University in the U.K, and is an honors graduate of the Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications. His hobbies include hiking, music, traveling, and reading world history and cultures. He has three children and lives with his wife in Los Altos , CA .