The People Behind nTier - Java Training, Mentoring and Consulting

Ed Lance Ed Lance has more than 10 years of industry experience as a developer, project lead, technical trainer and manager. A constant student himself, Ed is a Sun Certified Java Programmer, has Bachelor’s of Science in Management and Communications and is working on a Master’s in Computer Information Technology. In addition to occasional consulting work, Ed keeps his coding skills sharp writing courseware and hands-on labs His passion is learning, discussing and teaching Java, Eclipse, Object Oriented Principles and Practices, and related topics. Ed also has a wide variety of business experience including 15 years in the restaurant industry, owning and operating a couple of small businesses, managing a medical practice and helping to start a pharmaceutical research company.

Derek Parsons Derek Parsons has, over the last 20 years, worked for some of the largest companies in the UK and USA. Apart form his considerable technical prowess; he brings real world experience to the class room as a developer, project manager and architect. Despite graduating for the University of London and obtaining a doctorate at the University of Hull, Derek has been the perpetual student, obtaining numerous technical certifications in java and project management and is a current PMP. Since becoming a full time trainer, Derek has pushed himself to adopt some of the newer technical frameworks, to ensure that he remains up to date with industry trends. He brings his distinct “British” sense of humor to the classroom to support the communication of key aspects, giving the students a unique experience.

Jim Harmon Jim Harmon is a lead instructor based Chicago. He is an experienced developer and has spent a majority of his career building large-scale online applications at Accenture and at several Web-centric consulting firms. He now specializes in training Java developers to be more productive by using the latest technologies and frameworks. Jim has provided training for Fortune 500 companies and large private and governmental organizations including Knight Ridder Newspapers and the State of Wisconsin. He lectures extensively throughout the United States and Canada.

Tom Fulton Tom Fulton is an experienced developer and trainer with a diverse and extensive background in software development. His first development experience was with Coleco Industries, in which he acted as Project Leader and Game Designer for 13 arcade games. As Director of Software Development at Corliss Data Systems he directed the design and development of credit collection software, and later became Director of Computer Services for Corliss Credit Services, using the same software he was responsible for developing. As an Account Manager at Command Systems, Tom worked on a variety of software systems in C and Pascal involving the utility industry and early multimedia projects for the insurance industry. For the last 16 years Tom has devoted his time to course development and training, while continuing to work in the software industry as a consultant.

Tad Buhman Tad Buhman has been in the software industry for over 20 years. He was CEO of a software consulting and contracting company from 1990-2000. Tad has also worked in corporate America in finance, capital markets and banking. He has a background in developing specific curriculum for corporate clients that has helped him focus training to optimize usable knowledge gained and retained by clients.