Matt Behrens
Birthday: May 31
Occupation: Supervisor of Quixtar IT Infrastructure. A employee of Quixtar for 7 years, Matt has worked his way up from Senior System Specialist on the Server team to his current position. He pioneered the Windows Longhorn initiative at Quixtar seeing an opportunity for our Infrastructure group to get on board early and engineer our web application to provide better services to our customers.
Background: Matt is a resident of Grand Rapids, MI. He has been working in the IT industry for 16 years and is a graduate of Michigan Technological University with a degree in Electrical Engineering - Computers and Communications; also receiving a MBA from Grand Valley State University in Finance. Matt has been working with Microsoft technologies since Windows NT Server 3.1 and has achieved MCSE and MCP+I certifications.
Interests: Technology in general, DVR, Jeeps, 4x4, Pinball Machines, Baseball, Detroit Tigers, Football, Hockey.
Bill Kerker
Birthday: August 17
Occupation: IT guy with over 10 years here at Amway/Quixtar. I've done everything from COBOL on an IBM Mainframe to Microsoft .NET web development in my many years working in the IT industry. But currently, I'm more involved in the Project Management and Business Analyst aspects of the job. I was one of the original developers of the Quixtar website and an inventor of the Ditto Delivery application. Author of the "Original" Quixtar IT Blog (http://quixtaritblog.typepad.com/).
Background: Born and raised in the New York City area. Attended Ohio University and received degrees in Computer Science and Political Science. Later, I received a degree in Business Management from Davenport University. I also hold a United States Soccer Federation National "D" License and a USA Volleyball CAP I coaching certification.
Interests: Coaching and playing both Soccer and Volleyball. Watching movies on my big screen TV. Woodworking and home improvement wannabe.
Brett Selleck
Birthday: April 3
Interests: 4 Wheeling (trucks not quads), Metal Fabrication, Hunting, Fishing, Music, Technology, Science, Computers
About Me: I grew up in a small Mid-Michigan town that revolved around the auto industry. After graduating High School it was obvious that there was not much for the town to offer me and I moved to Grand Rapids to work and attend Grand Valley State University. I graduated with a Degree in Computer Science in 2000 but had been employed as a DBA, and previously a Software Developer, in the Grand Rapids area for 2 years prior to graduating. I came to Quixtar in the Fall of 2001 and quickly fell in love with this company.
2000 was a busy year as that is the year I married my beautiful wife Jackie. We have not crossed the bridge to having children yet, but it is right around the corner.
I am currently enrolled back at Grand Valley State University as a Computer Science Masters Candidate. My emphasis' are in Object Oriented Development and Database Technologies. My spare time is consumed with working on my truck. It is a 1988 Toyota 4Runner that is setup to go about anywhere I want. I spend a couple of weekends a year running the dunes at Silver Lake in Mears Michigan and some time pounding the trails in and around the Houghton Lake Michigan area.
Brett Folkert
Occuption
I am a Software Architect at Quixtar. The nature of my job and our environment means I have to be fluent in many disparate technologies on a daily basis. I like to think of it as "controlled chaos". I constantly strive to improve our architecture and ensure that wherever possible the underlying technology is transparent to our users. You probably won't notice my handiwork unless you look at the system design, but behind the scenes a lot of thought and hard work goes into making the site perform to our standards.
Background
My IT experience prior to Quixtar was primarily in consulting. I have worked with the U.S. Navy, dotcom startups and Fortune 500 companies. I consulted for Amway in years past (technical lead on GBISLink) before joining the team here at Quixtar. I hold both Master's and Bachelor of Science degrees in Computer Science. My thesis on neural networking/satellite imagery was published in the International Journal of Remote Sensing.
Interests
I have passions for wine, mountain biking and ancient history. If you want to discuss Cicero over a fine Bordeaux, look no further. I'm also married with two precocious daughters whom I adore. As if work and family weren't enough to keep me busy, I'm also attending law school in the evening.