Author: Van Simmons

Tony brings more than 30 years of experience delivering both enterprise solutions and commercial software products for industries, including pharma, financial services, publishing, marketing, utilities, and construction. Having founded seven businesses, served in C-level roles with several others, and performed technical and financial due-diligence for countless more, he has deep experience with startups and high-growth companies.

At About Objects, Tony’s role is crucial in overseeing delivery and execution. His broad expertise and leadership skills ensure that projects are not only delivered with high quality but also align with the strategic goals of the company and its clients.

Eric is a highly experienced professional with over 25 years of expertise in creating cutting-edge applications for startups and Fortune 500 companies in various industries such as finance, security, digital media, government, and hospitality. Previously, Eric worked as the Director of Engineering at RSA Security, where he led initiatives to combat online fraud.

At About Objects, Eric is responsible for driving innovation in our projects as well as managing client relationships to help ensure effective delivery of our services from project ideation through deployment. He also is currently focused on developing spatial computing apps for Apple Vision Pro and pushing technology boundaries.

Pierre is a proven technology executive with more than 30 years of experience building scalable distributed software systems in a variety of industries including cyber security, financial services, social media, ad networks, online marketing and health care. He has over two decades as a VP Engineering in high tech startup companies with successful exits to IPO and acquisitions. He stays current with leading edge technologies such as AI, data lakes, data streaming and SAAS platforms. Highly experienced in transforming R&D technology into commercial products and platforms.

With About Objects, Pierre works with customers focused on building data intensive and advanced technology platforms that innovate and transform business value delivery.

Robin has rich and diverse background in software development and program management spanning over two decades. After starting her career in satellite engineering she transitioned to technology consulting where she helped develop one of the first enterprise-level online billing software solutions. She further solidified her leadership and project management skills working on several significant corporate initiatives at a large financial institution.

Today, Robin is responsible for development, implementation and oversight of program and project management activities across the entire About Objects client portfolio and also manages the outreach and communications for the organization.

John is an established InfoSec leader and influencer, having worked in the government and private sectors for more than 30 years to help customers detect, respond, and recover from converged threats and incidents. At Verizon he spent six years leading the company’s security consulting services, systems integration, breach response, and cyber intelligence functions worldwide.

At About Objects, John leads the Government and Public Sector vertical where he works closely with clients to develop intelligence and all-domain awareness solutions that support defense, incident response, intelligence, crisis management, and business resiliency.

Greg grew up on a farm, worked as a seasonal fireman, and spent several years as a middle and high school teacher. He went on to become a lead architect at Fannie Mae where he led the design of critical financial applications supporting millions of monthly transactions.

Bringing 35 years of experience to his role, Greg serves as an architect and senior engineer for our team. Collaborating with clients across industries ranging from healthcare to digital media, he maintains a strong focus on the design and development of microservices.

Van has been programming in Objective-C for more than 25 years. Beginning on the original NeXT computers, he has followed the platform through its OpenStep, Mac OS/X, and current iOS iterations, writing apps for the financial, healthcare and consumer spaces in the process. With the announcement of the Swift programming language in 2014, he immediately converted all his projects to the platform.

Van’s current projects center on using Bluetooth LE and the Apple External Accessory Kit to connect iOS devices to platforms ranging from low-power beacons to mobile and aeronautics.

Our Cupertino classes are held at the Cupertino Hilton Garden Inn (across from Apple’s “spaceship” campus). We encourage you to book your room as early as possible as they tend to book up. You can also book at the Cupertino Marriott Courtyard next door. When booking, please ask for the Apple rate.

Less than an hour’s drive from Washington DC, our office is close to major roads and airports as well as shopping, dining, and Reston Town Center. For overnight visitors, we recommend The Hyatt Regency, which is only a short walk away. Other hotels are minutes away by car or bus. When booking a room, please ask for the About Objects rate. Call us: 571-346-7544

Bringing more than 30 years of senior IT leadership to the role, Marty is exceptionally versed in strategy, architecture, development, project management, and emerging technologies, including cloud and big data. While serving as Executive Vice President and CTO for NASD/FINRA, Marty provided strategic and operational oversight for all of FINRA’s application development and maintenance, architecture, and operations. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President of Fannie Mae’s Technology Management Center.

Bob draws upon more than 25 years of Fortune 500 IT management and technology-risk and controls experience. While overseeing the implementation of key strategic initiatives, his daily responsibilities include the planning and management of all financial, operational, business development, and consulting activities.

Previously, he served as Director of Application Development at Fannie Mae, where he led the design and delivery of complex development and technology initiatives. Along with his hands-on management of Objective-C and Java EE development projects, Bob has extensive experience leading cross-functional enterprise programs and implementing enterprise technology risk management solutions. He has consistently led the industry in codifying methodologies that ensure client expectations are met in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Jonathan’s expertise spans Swift, Objective-C, and Java programming and includes more than a decade of experience in Apple’s Cocoa frameworks. He has led numerous projects for Fortune 500 and Federal Government customers on a variety of platforms, including NeXTSTEP, OpenStep, OS X, and iOS, in addition to WebObjects and other Java EE web frameworks.

Jonathan has trained and mentored hundreds of Objective-C and Java developers and has written more than a dozen such courses. His classes consistently earn high praise from organizations, including Apple, Wells Fargo, NASA, Verisign, eBay, Lockheed Martin, and IBM. Having authored a range of books on software development, he is a sought-after industry speaker.

As a developer, author, mentor, and business architect, LeRoy has considerable expertise in Apple development technologies. He also brings leadership experience on Objective-C projects targeting the NeXTSTEP platform. He previously served as an independent consultant for AIG, Booz Allen, Capital One, Bally, Fannie Mae, and Sprint. His writings have been published in the Journal of Object-Oriented Programming and he is the co-author of Mastering JavaServer Faces (2005, Wiley).

With About Objects, LeRoy leads the architecture and software engineering best practice solutions where he works closely with clients to assess architecture, and methodology capabilities, particularly with mobile. He draws on decades of hands-on enterprise experience, guiding clients in the successful integration of emerging technologies.

With broad experience in IT management and software development, Bill has a proven track-record of industry success. Previously the CIO at BlackBox Logic, he oversaw efforts to develop a mortgage database consisting of 600M loan-level records. Prior to that, he managed enterprise software development projects, IT systems, and technology organizations at Fannie Mae and later assumed responsibility for the company’s entire Sarbanes/Oxley IT remediation effort.