Tara Walton

Technical Community Specialist – Independent, USA

Having spent nearly a decade as an Automation Developer writing test cases and delivering automated results for clients, I recently moved into the community side of DevOps when I found Salesforce. My automations have mainly been frameworks of my own design in C# and other backend languages, but I know just enough Javascript to be dangerous. When I’m not achievement hunting, I like to complete RCA on software bugs and failed relationships. I have dual degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science, know how to do some classic ballroom dancing, love Dungeons and Dragons, and enjoy sharing my knowledge at global conferences.

Alexandru Cusmaru

Test Team Lead – Siemens Mobility, Germany

Alex is a passionate tester with more than 13 years of experience in testing, integrating and validating safety-related railway software and systems.

In the past, he was the responsible for the validation of operation and control software and the integration of train control systems. Currently, he leads a team of testers and validators for Siemens Mobility in Braunschweig and is constantly looking for new ways to improve test skills, processes and activities.

In his spare time, Alex is also a crowd tester, an American football fan and always looking for a new hoppy IPA to “test”.

Ard Kramer

Quality Consultant – OrangeCrest, Netherlands

 Ard is a software tester from the Netherlands, and he is working for OrangeCrest Consulting. He calls himself a Qualisopher, which stands for someone “who loves truth and wisdom and at the same time is decisive to improve man and his environment”. This means he is interested in the world around us, to see what he can learn and apply in software testing. His dream is to participate, as a good qualisopher, in all kinds of projects such as sports, culture, or software testing. He enjoys projects that add value to our community, and wants to inspire others through cooperation, fun, and empathy, and hopefully bring light to someone’s life.

More sessions from this speaker

EuroSTAR 2023 Workshop

Make Yourself Future Proof while Improving your Soft Skills

14:00-15:45 Friday 16th June

Wim Decoutere

Learning & Development Expert – CTG, Belgium

Wim Decoutere started his testing career at CTG Belgium over 15 years ago and has been testing at a number of companies ever since, mostly in the financial sector. He’s passionate about teaching and feels at home when standing in front of a classroom. A couple of years ago, he became a full-time trainer, coaching and teaching about the wonderful world of testing but also ISTQB, IREB, IQBBA, test design techniques, soft skills, etc… As a veteran youth instructor with a passion for learning theories and people management, Wim is constantly looking for new ideas to improve his own performance and that of the entire testing team.

Michaël Pilaeten

Learning & Development Manager – CTG, Belgium

Breaking the system, helping to rebuild it, and providing advice and guidance on how to avoid problems. That’s me in a nutshell. With 17 years of experience in test consultancy in a variety of environments, I have seen the best (and worst) in software development. In my current role as Learning & Development Manager, I’m responsible for guiding our consultants, partners, and customers on their personal and professional path towards excellence. I’m chair of the ISTQB Agile workgroup and international keynote speaker (United Kingdom, France, Spain, Peru, Russia, Latvia, Denmark, Armenia, Romania, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg)

Ken Munro

Partner – Pen Test Partners, UK

IoT security is something of a conundrum. The team at Pen Test Partners publish independent research in to the security of numerous smart devices, exposing poor security practice by device manufacturers. Sadly, it’s often consumers that are the victims of this inattention to security.
Ken looks after vulnerability disclosure at Pen Test Partners and influences government policy on IoT cyber security. Whilst some disclosures are successful, the majority are a train wreck. Watching vendors try to ignore contact from researchers, fumble or try to silence the process led him to working with regulators in an effort to fix the problems at source. He considers carrot and stick are the only way to resolve smart product security.
The work of his team on My Friend Cayla, the vulnerable talking kids doll, was cited as one of the catalysts for California Senate Bill 327, regulating IoT security for California residents. He’s briefed US government departments and spoken at TEDx, DEF CON villages, RSA, Black Hat, BSides and numerous other security events. If you want his attention, just market your smart device as ‘unhackable’. Ken is also a member of the CVE Board.

Jo Dalton

Associate Partner – Pen Test Partners, UK

Jo has worked in Cyber Security for over 15 years and has co-ordinated thousands of assurance and testing projects with clients around the globe. Jo can easily translate areas of serious business risk into relatable topics, while demonstrating how they can be reduced or avoided. From the challenges of the unregulated IoT market to the dangers of remote working on trains; Jo has an informed opinion. Jo speaks publicly; and blogs on various channels on the wider issues of SCADA and ICS Risks, Security Awareness, IoT Security, Cyber Security involving Children and Family. She has spoken at a range of events e.g. EEMUA Industrial Cyber Security Seminar, IP EXPO Manchester, and StocExpo Europe.

Amir Shani

Quality Engineering Lead – Meta, Israel

I’ve been in the field of QA for almost twenty years. As a Medic in the IDF I was leading the integration of new software into army clinics across Israel. After I finished my military service and had about a year of traveling in the east with my then girlfriend (current wife), I began studying my B.sc in CS. Parallel to my studies, I started working as a tester for a small tech company distributed across the US, UK, and Israel. Two years later I was leading their QA team, remotely managing testers in the UK. I’ve spent the following ten or so years jumping around a few Israeli startups, always building up new QA teams and maturing them.

Four and a half years ago I came upon an open QA Lead position at Facebook. Back then I knew that “Facebook has no QA”, so it was clear to me that it must be an interesting position. Since I joined Facebook, I have experienced the most intensive growth of my career. I supported amazing projects in the field of connectivity, working with telecom companies across developing markets in Africa, South America & South East Asia, to bring affordable high speed public wi-fi networks to unconnected and under-served regions and populations. I had to deal with new challenges in multiple disciplines, at a breakneck pace and at a scale few can imagine.

About a year ago I transitioned to supporting Facebook Financial products (now named Meta-Financial-Technologies) and building Meta’s central compliance, Risk and Care platform (Meta-Financial-Integrity). I am truly passionate about Quality and the effect a good QA team can have on the whole organization. On a personal note: I am a family man, married, father to three amazing and adorable agents of minor chaos. I am a huge animal lover, and an overall dork

Brijesh Deb

Principal Consultant – Infosys, Netherlands

Brijesh is an Agile Transformation Agent, who helps organizations achieve customer excellence, with a focus on delivering maximum value to customers, stakeholders, and teams. He emphasizes on cultural change driven by collaboration at all levels, to adapt the agile mindset and change. He has been mentoring several individuals across forums, and is a keen observer and learner who takes pride in sharing his knowledge.
He lives in the Netherlands. He’s a wordsmith and loves to write on social media, especially LinkedIn. He has a passion for anthropology and loves to study human behaviour.

Michael Bolton

Consulting Software Tester – DevelopSense, Canada

Michael Bolton is a consulting software tester and testing teacher who helps people to solve testing problems that they didn’t realize they could solve. In 2006, he became co-author (with James Bach) of Rapid Software Testing (RST), a methodology and mindset for testing software expertly and credibly in uncertain conditions and under extreme time pressure. Since then, he has flown over a million miles to teach RST in 35 countries on six continents.

Michael has over 30 years of experience testing, developing, managing, and writing about software. For over 20 years, he has led DevelopSense, a Toronto-based testing and development consultancy. Prior to that, he was with Quarterdeck Corporation for eight years, during which he managed the company’s flagship products and directed project and testing teams both in-house and around the world.

Contact Michael at michael@developsense.com, on Twitter @michaelbolton, or through his Web site, http://www.developsense.com.

More sessions from this speaker

EuroSTAR 2023 Half Day Tutorial

Measurement, Metrics, and Magic Numbers

09:00-12:30 Tuesday 13th June

Geosley Andrades

Director Product Evangelist – ACCELQ, India

Geosley is a Product Evangelist and Community Builder at ACCELQ. He is on a mission to unite the testing community and keeps himself busy leading the Q community – A Global Community of Test Automation Enthusiasts. Being passionate about continuous learning, Geosley loves to innovate the method of working, resulting in higher efficiency. He has approximately 15 years of experience in the software testing industry. He’s previously worked in companies such as JP Morgan Chase, BNP Paribas, Cornerstone OnDemand, and Infosys. Being a test automation enthusiast, he also holds a Certified Agile Leader and Certified Scrum Master accreditation from Scrum Alliance. He also possesses a Six Sigma Yellow Belt and ISTQB certification to his credit. The world of cloud computing fascinates him, and he’s an AWS Certified Solutions Architect and Cloud Practitioner. Geosley has been a speaker at various events organized by The Test Tribe, Test Master’s Academy, Agile Testing Alliance, SynapseQA, The Test Chat, Clavent, QA Tech Talks, and more.