Aaron Smith
Aaron has worked in the IT industry, both in the UK and Australia, for over 14 years with over 12 of those years in Software Testing. He has gained experience testing in a diverse mix of industries including Insurance, Manufacturing and Marine Surveying. Aaron is currently an Executive Test Manager at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia where he manages both the Colonial First State Investments and Global Asset Management Test Teams. He has also recently taken on responsibility for the management of the Banks Test Process Improvement initiatives.
Since completing his ISEB Foundation certification in 1998, Aaron has gained a real passion for the practice of Software Testing in general, and more specifically in the areas of Process Improvement and Developing the Capabilities of the future generation of Test Professionals.
In addition to the ISEB/ISTQB Foundation, Aaron also holds both the ISTQB Advanced Test Manager and Test Analyst certificates.
Cath Fawcet
Cath is a Senior Test Analyst at Planit, with over ten years’ experience in IT. During this time she has held roles in software testing, test automation, Unix administration and IT support. The variety of technical roles has given her a solid foundation of knowledge across a range of technologies, tools and infrastructures.
Striving for efficiency and quality, Cath is always keen to learn more and find better ways to test. She enjoys helping people by sharing knowledge and fostering enthusiasm for testing.
Cath holds a Bachelor of Computer Systems Engineering (Hons) degree and the ISTQB Foundation and Advanced Test Analyst Certifications.
Cheryl Downes
Cheryl is an ISTQB Certified Advanced Test Manager with over 15 years’ IT experience and a certified ScrumMaster. Her testing career has involved both strategic and hands on involvement in all phases of the software development life cycle and she has a passion for developing Agile opportunities through collaboration with business and IT.
With a strong track record in improving the overall testing process on a variety of technical platforms and in industries including Banking, Superannuation, Utilities, Insurance, and Media, Cheryl is committed to increasing the visibility and value of testing.
As a test professional she strives to:
• deliver faster, better testing services and outcomes
• collaborate with peers and remove siloed thinking
• continually learn and implement improvements
• understand her stakeholders and customers
• contribute to upskilling others
• improve the reputation of testing
• decrease the cost of testing through reduction of waste, increased
reusability and better efficiency
In recent times Cheryl has taken on the challenge of testing in the mobile arena for iOS and Android and leverages her strengths in liaising, communicating and engaging with business stakeholders, internal IT personnel and external client representatives to deliver the best possible outcomes for business.
Farid Vaswani
Farid is a Test Manager with University of Auckland. Farid has been in the IT industry for more than 10 years and specialises in technical testing and continuous improvement for software testers. Farid believes that to be counted as a competent tester, one should always be learning more about the craft of testing.
Farid has experience working on variety of industry domains such as utilities, travel, vending systems and education. He has also worked on various technologies such as Microsoft, Java, Oracle and PeopleSoft, to name a few.
He is regularly involved in various testing communities and takes on every available opportunity to return to the community what he has learnt from his seniors and peers in the industry. He is also a keen learner himself and never steps back from learning the latest tricks of the trade from others.
Jules Robinson
Jules has 13 years' IT experience, with 11 years' specialising in software testing. She began her career as a trainee analyst/programmer for CSC in 1998 during the throes of the 'millennium bug', a project with very little programming and a whole lot of testing. Although becoming a team leader once Y2K was over, she insisted on doing some 'proper programming' before finally admitting testing was what she enjoyed most. Jules has worked mainly in the financial services sector in the UK, including Flemings, Royal Bank of Scotland, State Street Bank and Trust, Santander, Lloyds TSB and has fulfilled a wide range of roles from Technical Tester through to Test Manager and Test Consultant. She is currently the Quality Assurance Manager at the Insurance Commission of WA in Perth.
Prior to her IT career, Jules worked in education. She taught Psychology to 16-19 year olds and undergraduates, she was Chief Examiner for a UK public exam board and a member of the Further Education Development Agency with a particular interest in the use of computers in teaching. She has a commitment to lifelong learning and has ISEB Foundation and ISTQB Advanced Test Manager certification.
Marie Walsh
Marie is a Senior Program Test Manager with over 13 years’ experience in IT. Currently an independent contractor, she has worked on high profile projects for organisations including Microsoft, Suncorp, CSIRO, Centrelink, and the Queensland Police Service.
During her career, Marie has worked as a Technical Tester, Test Automation Specialist, Business and Systems Analyst, Test Manager, Release and Implementation Manager, Change Manager and Problem Manager. Her experience spans many industry sectors, including finance, telecommunications, and government, and a range of technologies, methodologies and disciplines.
Marie’s career focus is on the testing discipline, and her diverse roles have provided her with a solid understanding of the importance of testing within IT project lifecycles.
Marie is a keen advocate of testing, and regularly attends IT community group meetings to grow professionally and to promote the benefits of testing. Her passion is to improve the image of testing, and to work with teams to build testing processes that are flexible, adaptable, and effective in improving software quality.
Marie is based in Brisbane, Australia.
Matt Mansell: Accreditation Officer
Matt Mansell is the Enterprise Test Manager for the New Zealand Government Technology Services. This group within the Department of Internal Affairs is a provider of IT leadership to the New Zealand Government community. In this role Matt works to leverage the benefits of an ‘All of Government’ approach to testing to maximise the effectiveness of testing for the New Zealand Government.
Matt is a proponent of building Testing as a profession and so has delivered papers on developing test professionals and risk based testing at conferences in New Zealand and Australia. Matt is also representing Government Technology Services and Standards New Zealand on the development of the ISO/IEC 29119 Standard for Software Testing.
Matt has worked in both the public and private sectors delivering high quality testing solutions. Matt holds the ISTQB Advanced Test Analyst certificate.
Nigel Saunders: Accreditation Officer
Nigel is a professional Test Manager, an ISEB (ISTQB) qualified senior software tester, and is a Senior Test Consultant with Planit Test Management Solutions with over 12 years' experience within the testing and quality assurance field. Nigel has delivered numerous projects where he has been responsible for developing the testing processes and leading the testing teams and is dedicated to providing a quality product within tight project deadlines. Nigel has in-depth experience in applying testing methodologies within structured and iterative project environments. His skills in delivering testing projects, be this managing user acceptance projects, through day-to-day system testing, to more technical integration testing projects, has Nigel held in the highest regard by his peers and customers. Nigel has developed a strong competency in delivering and implementing projects across a variety of industries.
