Duane Doutel

Duane came to computer science more than 30 years ago from a career as an electrician, the last few years of which were spent in a very cold and demanding climate. His forte even then was in design and troubleshooting, a love of which he took with him to software development when he left the electrical trade.

He has never forgotten his debt to a much-loved and greatly respected, now-deceased father-in-law, a TRW Service Rep, who brought home an old Vector 4 CPM machine to tinker with in his basement. It had on it a line editor, a Z80 assembler, and no manuals. Duane was so taken with the potential of the machine that he bought a book on Z80 assembly language, and two months later was born his first computer program; it moved a line drawing of a Klingon D7 Battlecruiser across the screen from left to right, wrapping around when it hit the right side.

Not long after, he spent a hellish night 40 feet up a pole with a -40F wind chill factor, rigging heaters for heavy equipment used to mine and haul chemicals. By the time he got back in the shop, he was so cold, his jaws wouldn't stop chattering long enough to complain. That night, he made the decision that it was time to use his GI Bill benefit, and the following morning, Duane resigned, registered for classes at Weber State College (a major in ComSci and a minor in Mathematics), and never looked back.

Designing and building software systems is Duane's calling and his passion, even after more than 30 years doing it, and mastering new software technologies is some of the most fun he's ever had.