Quality Assurance Software
Resume:
Michael Gorman
Natick, MA 01760
**********@*****.***
Summary
I am an experienced technical executive who played a key leadership role in the successful transitioning of a
small start-up company into a technology leader in the Educational Publishing & Technology field. I possess
nearly 20 years of experience in professional software development, a keen business sense that allows me to
see and participate well beyond the borders of the Engineering team, and a powerful ability to help both
individuals and the organization as a whole strive for and achieve greater success.
Core Competencies
I have mastered real-world Project Management skills through 7+ years in Technical Management. I excel at
juggling multiple concurrent projects and teams, and I am a “big picture” thinker who intuitively balances
technology and business needs in proposed solutions. I routinely come in under-budget on projects and have
a proven track record of identifying, recruiting, & fostering key talent. I’ve spearheaded development efforts
ranging from single-person to 30+ person project teams comprised of a mix of in-house, remote, &
outsourced resources. I’ve worked on and overseen development of desktop and web-based software
applications, firmware and embedded systems, and hardware products, all from initial concept through to
shipping product. I am routinely called on to negotiate third-party contracts due to a proven track record of
achieving more favorable terms than the business & legal teams who are normally tasked with this
responsibility. I’ve been repeatedly asked to save failing projects and have a perfect track record of success
in such efforts. The products I have developed have won multiple awards and United States Patents and I
have a well-rounded understanding of US Patent Law as it relates to computer software, hardware, and
business methodologies. My skills as a high-level Software Architect have been honed and refined from
years of real-world experience in demanding development environments, giving me an extremely high level
of attention to detail and a particular focus on the importance of fault tolerance and scalability as a guiding
principle, not merely an afterthought.
In terms of technologies I have wide and deep experience in all of the following:
Microsoft Windows, Microsoft IIS, COM, DCOM, .NET, Win32, MFC, DirectX, WinForms, WPF, Windows
Services, Mac OS X, Carbon, Cocoa, Foundation, AppKit, WebKit, UIKit, Linux, Apache, ATL, STL, C, C+
+, C#, Objective-C, Visual Basic, Java, SQL, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Tomcat, web services, SaaS,
cloud computing, cloud storage, HTML, CSS, ASP, JSP, JavaScript, AJAX, Ruby, Rails, PHP, StarTeam,
Perforce, CVS, Subversion, Jira, FogBugz, & much more.
Professional Experience
Vice President of Engineering, Cambium Learning Technologies
Natick, MA -- Since September 2006
• Core member of the Cambium Learning Technologies Executive Management Team responsible for
setting strategic priorities in all areas of the business (Development, Sales, Marketing, Training,
Technical Support, Customer Service, and Operations).
• Team size and department budget were doubled during my tenure after the products we developed
resulted in a 56% revenue increase during the same period.
• Turned distressed/failed projects inherited from other teams into successes for the department and
the company as a whole.
• Oversaw migration of flagship legacy products to new platforms and paradigms.
• Extensive experience with desktop, web-based, and embedded software, as well as hardware
products.
I have a strong business focus and am highly skilled at coordinating complex efforts among various
departments within the company to achieve higher-level strategic goals. I work closely with the Sales and
Marketing Teams as well as third-party resellers to help close strategic large sales opportunities on a regular
basis. I regularly participate in efforts to help focus and drive the Sales Team to achieve and exceed their
goals.
During my tenure as Vice President of Engineering I have grown the Engineering team from 6 to 12 full-time
employees, increased our operating budget from $1.2M to $2.5M, and developed products that helped drive a
revenue increase from $14M to $25M. I initiated the migration of desktop software applications to web-
based applications and supporting cloud-based ecosystems. I carried out the integration of bicoastal
development teams with different cultures and development methodologies (Waterfall vs. Agile) into a
unified team. I implemented a rotating team structure where all members of the team work on all the
company's products, decreasing dependence on specific resources by eliminating "specialists" and increasing
job satisfaction and interest on the Engineering and Quality Assurance teams. This also helped achieve
shorter times between cross-product releases, resulting in more frequent revenue spikes as new products come
to market.
I worked closely with the publishing arm of the company to develop the Cambium Learning Assessment
System, a curriculum-integrated web-based assessment product. This project had floundered for over two
years without a release before being assigned to me by the CEO. A successful v1.0 release followed four
months later with multiple successful follow-up releases. I personally led the design of the enterprise-scale
database powering the system.
I am responsible for product strategy, budget management, staffing, team building, developing high-level
software architecture, and overseeing day-to-day Software Development, Engineering, Quality Assurance,
and Documentation efforts for multiple software and hardware product lines. I have extensive experience
launching new products and managing ongoing development of existing products utilizing diverse languages,
tools, and technologies. I am solely responsible for competitive analysis and protecting the company's patent
and intellectual property portfolio, as well as conducting periodic reviews of existing and potential
intellectual property claims. I have extensive experience negotiating contracts with third-party technology
suppliers. Most importantly, I have a proven track record of working with and relating to technical staff at all
levels with a highly successful and accessible management style, and of inspiring those around me to work
for and achieve greater success than they themselves thought possible. I strongly believe that even the most
successful among us should continually strive to do better, and I work hard to instill that same belief in my
colleagues.
Director of Engineering, Cambium Learning Technologies
Natick, MA -- January 2004 - September 2006
• Responsible for long-term strategy for the company’s flagship product line.
• Personally responsible for the architecture of all products.
• Led efforts to move the company’s flagship product into a potentially 8x larger market.
• Initiated the successful transition to a more modern technology platform for all products.
One of my first initiatives as Director of Engineerring was to institute a 3-year plan to transition Kurzweil
3000 to a mainstream education product, potentially opening up a market that was 8 times the size of the
then-current target audience. I also implemented a plan to standardize the division’s products on a new
development platform, Microsoft’s .NET, allowing for increased code and resource sharing between desktop
and web-based application development efforts.
My increased responsibilities included overseeing the entire Kurzweil 3000 product line from conception to
manufacturing and setting long-term goals and strategy for the Kurzweil 3000 product line. In addition, more
business-oriented tasks such as identifying third-party software suppliers and engaging in contract
negotiations came under my direction, and I was able to quickly secure more favorable rates and terms for
some key third-party contract renewals. I was also responsible for setting and enforcing licensing terms of all
Kurzweil 3000 software products.
On a more day-to-day basis I directly managed a larger team of Engineers, worked directly with the
Marketing, Sales, Quality Assurance, Technical Support, Documentation, and Training departments on a
regular basis to ensure our software products met the needs of all departments, schedules reflected business
realities and Sales cycles, and to ensure customers’ expectations and needs were met. I also took on a more
prominent at trade shows and ran technical presentations both internally and externally.
Program Manager, Kurzweil Educational Systems
Bedford, MA -- April 2003 - January 2004
I was asked to manage the Kurzweil 3000 for Macintosh product line, which had been struggling under the
previous management for three years without a release. I immediately implemented changes in the Kurzweil
3000 for Macintosh project strategy and workflow that resulted in releasing a product within 6 months of
coming on board. I was the sole author of and oversaw implementation of a long-term plan for the direction
of the Macintosh project and a roadmap of features for subsequent releases.
Senior Software Engineer
Kurzweil Educational Systems, Bedford, MA -- January 2002 - April 2003
Lernout & Hauspie, Bedford, MA -- November 2000 - January 2002
Kurzweil Educational Systems, Waltham, MA -- January - November 2000
I was the sole architect and developer of the Kurzweil 3000 Network Edition, a TCP/IP Client/Server
application. This software was developed as part of Kurzweil Educational System’s push into larger school
districts and was a key strategic platform for the company’s future. I was also the sole architect and
developer of the Kurzweil 3000 “License to Go” functionality, which allows an institution to loan out licenses
for a specified period of time without requiring access to the network. I was the sole architect and developer
of the encryption schemes used in the company's flexible software licensing systems.
Software Engineer, Kurzweil Educational Systems
Waltham, MA -- September 1996 - January 2000
I was recruited to develop Kurzweil 3000, a Windows-based, multiple-award-winning compensatory reading
software application for students with mild to severe reading disabilities. This product remains the company's
flagship product to this day. I was the sixth employee at what ultimately became a very successful start-up
company, founded by Raymond Kurzweil in 1996. I released Version 1 of Kurzweil 3000 within four months
of joining the company using languages and technologies I had little to no prior experience with. I went on to
become the User Interface and Networking expert as the development team grew around me. I developed,
selected, and utilized advanced technologies including scanning, imaging, OCR, voice recognition, voice
synthesis, and lexical parsing. I successfully integrated various popular applications (MS Office, Internet
Explorer, etc.) with the company’s software. I worked directly with customers and resellers to resolve
complex technical issues. I am the inventor of patented technologies related to the software.
Programmer / Analyst, SDK Healthcare Information Systems
Brighton, MA -- August 1992 - September 1996
I was responsible for the design and implementation of healthcare applications using Windows GUI front
ends and MUMPS back-end databases. I was the sole architect and developer of the Flex-Screen system,
which allowed clients to extend the company’s software to suit their own medical and financial data-
collection and reporting needs. In addition I launched a training program to teach low-level graphical skills
to help modernize the look and feel of the company's software to the existing Engineering staff.
Education
Merrimack College, North Andover, MA
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, Minor in Mathematics, June 1992
Multiple Professional Advancement courses in advanced technologies
Awards and Patents
• Kurzweil 3000 holds multiple patents and has several more pending.
• Kurzweil 3000 has won multiple awards, including:
o ComputerEd Gazette named Kurzweil 3000 version 12 the 2010 EDDIE Award Winner in
the “High School Special Education Software” category
o Tech & Learning gave Kurzweil 3000 version 12 a 2010 “Award of Excellence” for being
one of the best education offerings of the year
o ComputerEd Gazette named Kurzweil 3000 the 2005 EDDIE Award Winner in the “Special
Education (Reading)” Category
o The Software & Information Industry Association named Kurzweil 3000 the 2004 Codie
Award Winner in the "Best Educational Special Needs Solution" category
o Technology & Learning Magazine gave Kurzweil 3000 the 2003 Award of Excellence in
the “Special Education and ESL” category
o The Parents’ Choice Foundation gave Kurzweil 3000 the 1998 Parents' Choice Gold Award
for “Best Software”
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