Thomas Meloche, BSCE
Contact: 734-418-7111
Thomas Meloche, co-founder of one of the most successful agile software development houses in the country, has been creating and teaching courses on agile software development for over a decade. He is currently spending most of his time with Geri mentoring large corporations on creating global distributed Scrum teams.
A native Detroiter, Tom was graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Computer Engineering. He has co-founded, managed, and sold nine different start-ups over twenty years, including the professional service firm, Menlo Innovations LLC.
Thomas loves to write and teach and has taught thousands of professionals in Michigan and around the world secrets for building successful software engineering teams. He is also interested in the psychology of influence. His most recent book “Ultimate Guide to Facebook Advertising” was published in 2011 by the Entrepreneur Press.
Thomas lives in Ann Arbor Michigan and can typically be spotted feeding a large mob of squirrels that congregate daily on his deck. Sometimes he even feeds the birds.
Geri Schneider Winters, BA, MSCS, R.Hyp, R.Chi.C.
Contact: 412.567.3765
Geri has been working with agile software development techniques for almost twenty years. An adjunct instructor at Carnegie Mellon University, she is currently spending most of her time with Tom mentoring large corporations on creating global distributed Scrum teams.
Geri has an MS in Computer Science from Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. She spent two years teaching undergraduate Computer Science classes for Northern Arizona University before joining Lockheed Missiles and Space as a Senior Scientific Programming Analyst. Her next adventure was Rational Software from 1991 until 1997. This was a formative period for Rational with the emergence of UML and RUP, and the time when Geri started using Agile practices.
Geri founded Wyyzzk, Inc. in June 1997 to continue training and mentoring in good Agile practices. She is also a managing partner of Personal Strength Indicator (PSI). She is the primary author of the popular book “Applying Use Cases: A Practical Guide” as well as the author of many, many blog posts, papers, and classes on software engineering practices and business. Geri is certified as a Scrum Master, 1 Hour Mastermind Director, ChiNosis Practitioner, PSI Coach, and Hypnotist. Feeling sleepy yet? In addition to all that, Geri is a mentor for Girls of Steel, FIRST Robotics team 3504, an all girls high school robotics team.
Geri has this to say about Waterfall and Agile:
I have been a developer and requirements writer on Waterfall projects. I have been a Product Owner, Team Member (architect, designer, developer), and Scrum Master for Agile projects, as well as teaching and mentoring in Agile practices. I find Waterfall to be tedious, boring, and slow. Agile is fast, fun, and effective, so I use Agile for the work of my companies.