Joel Henry, PhD.

Joel Henry has worked in the field of software engineering for more than twenty years, mostly as a software project manager, technical lead, or software engineer. Throughout, he has concentrated on real-world issues involved in building software products for people who need them.

After receiving a PhD in Computer Science from Virginia Tech, where he focused on quantitative software process improvement, Joel moved to academia.

Always drawn to commercial software development, Joel worked before, during, and since his graduate studies on commercial software projects. These projects involved EPA air quality (stored on tape!), expert systems, Naval weapons systems, Air Force aircraft, wind tunnels, software engineering tools, aerospace vehicles, and factory control systems.

Joel has not driven a dotcom company to huge initial stock offerings but has rowed an aluminum boat 61 miles around Yellowstone Lake. Putting this same work ethic into his software engineering projects, he has put valuable software products in the hands of those who needed them on time and within budget even though they didn’t bring him fame or fortune.

Joel has worked in both the academic and commercial software worlds, observing, recording, and evaluating tools, techniques, and culture in each. He prides himself on leveraging information and experience from academic and commercial environments, mixed with the wisdom of his father and grandfather, to improve both worlds.