LabKey brings proven commercial software design and development experience to bear on the computing problems that scientists face.
The LabKey team has worked together for 12 years in lead technical roles at Microsoft, Westside, and BEA Systems. Our core expertise is in commercial-quality software development. We collaborate with biologists, immunologists, and bioinformaticists to build and support systems that process and manage biomedical research data.
Matthew
Bellew
Matthew Bellew began his career at Microsoft leading the
team that developed QJet, the query processor for Microsoft Access. He
migrated QJet into SQL-Server and later led the SQL-Server languages
team. In 1999 he co-founded Westside with Mark Igra and George
Snelling, where he served as CTO and lead developer. When BEA Systems
purchased Westside in 2001, Matt became Director, Development on BEA
WebLogic Workshop. He joined the Hutch in 2003 working for Martin
McIntosh, where he built the STEDI MS2 analysis and viewing engine.
Matt graduated from Harvard in 1989.
Brian Connolly
Brian Connolly first worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute, where he built computers and networks flexible enough to work
both in the lab and out at sea onboard research vessels. Brian's varied
experience ranges from designing the datacenter infrastructure of Westside.com
to being the Technical Architect for Cray Inc's IT department to being the
Project Manager responsible for successfully satisfying all the requirements
for Sarbanes Oxley Act compliance within Cray Inc's IT department. Before
joining LabKey, Brian worked at Microsoft designing software tools and
consulting engagements to help Microsoft's largest customers operate their IT
infrastructures more efficiently and for less cost. He holds a Bachelor's
degree in Physics from Hartwick College and a Master's degree in Coastal
Oceanography from SUNY at Stonybrook. Brian is also ITIL certified.
Josh Eckels
Josh Eckels is experienced in security-related projects,
client-side end user applications, and server-side development. Prior
to joining LabKey, Josh worked most recently on Amazon.com's data
warehouse, developing the software that schedules and executes loading
and querying of more than 30 terabytes of data. Before that, he was the
team lead for the debugger for BEA System's WebLogic Workshop. At
LabKey, he focuses on mass spectrometry, experimental annotations, and
general infrastructure. Josh has a BS in Computer Engineering from
Northwestern University.
Jess Garms
Jess Garms is co-author of the book Professional Java Security,
published by Wrox Press. He wrote the first domestically available open-source
Java implementation of the RSA encryption algorithm when it was released into
the public domain in 2000. He has worked extensively in the field of computer
security and cryptography, including secure communications, digital document
signing, and security management. Prior to working at LabKey Software, Garms
worked for BEA Systems as a senior manager on WebLogic Workshop and as a project
lead for the open source Eclipse project. He has been granted 2 patents, and has
6 patents pending.
Peter Hussey
Peter Hussey worked at IBM from 1983 to 1987 in
technical sales, then joined Microsoft in 1989 where he led the program
management team on the first two Microsoft-developed releases of SQL
Server. Peter joined Westside as a partner in 1999, where he designed
the security and data access layers of the Westside platform. He joined
BEA after Westside was acquired as Director Product Management,
WebLogic Workshop. Peter's primary expertise lies in architecting
efficient, scalable use of relational databases from application
programs. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics from Dartmouth and an
MBA from Harvard.
Mark Igra
Mark Igra led the development of EndNote version 1.0 in
1988, which remains the leading citation management tool more than 16
years later. He joined Microsoft in 1989 where he was Lead Designer on
Visual Basic 1.0, Visual Basic for Applications, COM Automation, and
Excel. With George Snelling and Matt Bellew, Mark founded Westside
where he was the lead software designer. After BEA acquired Westside,
Mark became Director of Program Management for BEA WebLogic Workshop, a
software development tool which won a variety of industry awards. Mark
joined Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in September 2003 where
he has been working on a software platform for the Cancer Center's
early detection initiative. He graduated in Computer Science from the
University of California, Berkeley.
Ren Lis
As Office Manager, Ren Lis handles both invoicing and
accounting while simultaneously taking care of the essential details
that keep LabKey running smoothly. In her free moments, she studies
furniture design at The Evergreen State College and builds functional
art. Her professional experience spans accounting, legal support,
project management and technical writing. She has managed accounting
at several local firms, including Pioneer Newspapers, Satisfied Sport,
Inc. and First Nationwide Automotive Assurance.
Karl Lum
Karl began his career at Boeing where he developed flight control software
for Boeing's military projects. He also worked for WRQ as the development
manager for the Reflection X Windows team and later helped develop Nimble
Technology's data integration suite. At BEA, he worked with many of the
LabKey staff as a member of the Weblogic Workshop team. Karl earned his
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington, where he
studied both computer science and engineering.
Elizabeth Nelson
Elizabeth Nelson completed her Ph.D. in Biological
Sciences at Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station,
where she used statistical models
for turbulent mixing to address questions in marine conservation
biology. After completing her Ph.D.,
Elizabeth joined Microsoft as a Program Manager and worked on the
first release of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), part of the
.NET Framework. Elizabeth also holds a B.S. in Civil & Environmental
Engineering from Stanford University.
Britt Piehler
Britt Piehler joined Westside in 1999, where he earned his
stripes as the company's most junior developer. After Westside was
acquired by BEA Systems in 2002, he became the lead developer and
manager of the Weblogic Workshop source editor team. Britt moved on to
Amazon.com in 2004, where he learned the joys and sorrows of very large
databases as a team lead in the company's Data Warehouse. He joined
LabKey in August, 2005, where he now serves as Development Manager.
Britt holds a BA from Carleton College, where he double-majored in
Mathematics and Computer Science.
Adam Rauch
Adam Rauch joined Microsoft in 1989 as a Program Manager,
leading the design and development of the first two versions of Visual
Basic. He was Group Program Manager for NetMeeting, Microsoft's
Internet conferencing client, and Passport, Microsoft's distributed
Internet authentication system. Adam joined the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center in 2003 where he developed a repository and analysis
system for all tandem mass spectrometry data. Adam holds a
BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University, and strokes a
wicked bass for the Shed
Boys.
George Snelling
George Snelling joined Microsoft in 1992 as a software
designer for Microsoft Access. He held various design and management
roles at Microsoft including Group Program Manager, Office. With Matt
Bellew and Mark Igra he co-founded Westside in 1999, chaired by Paul
Maritz, where he was CEO. After BEA acquired Westside, he served as
Director, Engineering and Product Management, WebLogic Workshop. At
LabKey, George manages the business. He holds BS degrees in computer
science and economics from Duke and an MBA from Stanford. (home page)
Dave Stearns
Dave Stearns began his software career in 1991 developing
client/server information systems for the Information Technology Group
at Microsoft. In 1995, he moved to the Developer Tools division at Microsoft,
where he designed and managed the various data access libraries shipped with
Visual Basic and the other Developer Studio languages. In 1997, he moved
to the newly-created Office Web Components Group, where he designed and
managed various data analysis features. Dave left Microsoft in 2000,
eventually moving to Scotland, where he designed and implemented Televisual
Data Ltd's Asset Content Management System. Dave received a BA in Information
Systems from Pacific Lutheran University and a PhD in the History of
Technology from The University of Edinburgh.
Extended Team
In addition to the people listed here, LabKey draws on a large network of trusted professional colleagues, all of whom we have worked with for years. These colleagues bring skills in software development, testing, project management, documentation, graphics design, network operations, and training. All are available for reference.