We are happy to welcome Mark Sauter as a full-time employee, in the Implementation and Engineering Services group led by Karl Davis.  Mark worked at ACS previously as a summer intern before he graduated from Grand Valley State University this past May.

Mark earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from Grand Valley, although his first major was actually creative writing.  He enjoys the problem-solving aspects of computer programming and the satisfaction of building something from the ground up and then seeing it in action.

Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Mark recently got married to another Ann Arbor-ite, and the couple makes their home in their native town. Mark and Lauren have known each other since they were four years old, as their families were friends and attended the same church.  The two only began dating in college, however, and got married last January.

When he's not working, Mark enjoys playing hockey and other sports, as well as playing the guitar and the violin.  Occasional computer games make their way into the schedule as well.

We—and that includes older brother Paul Sauter, also an ACS engineer--are pleased to welcome Mark to the ACS family.

It's all too common for Michiganders to decide to desert their home state once they have had a taste of sunnier climes.  But not Stan Bisgaier.  No, he is one of a select few that chose to come back from sunny Florida– Gainesville, to be exact–to live and work in Michigan.  And we are very glad he did!

Although born in New Jersey, Stan moved to Ann Arbor with his family when he was a kid.  He didn't stray far from home when he enrolled at the University of Michigan, where he earned his undergraduate degree in computer engineering.  Stan worked at several programming internships and, after graduation, he took a job with a game development company, where he worked for about a year.  Stan then decided to go to graduate school and headed down south to Gainesville.  Stan earned his Master's degree in computer engineering from the University of Florida, but decided that he wanted to return to Michigan.  He did, and joined ACS in 2005. 

In his five years here, Stan has worked with Matt Varblow on various web development, ecommerce, capsule and client website projects, but most of his time has been spent as a developer in the Product Development group led by Howie Brooks.  He has done work for several clients including Bayard, CDS Global and Agora, in such Advantage areas as customer service, direct debit, conference and event, and reprints. Some of his assignments have involved collaborative projects with the QA and Documentation teams. Through it all, Stan displays a calm and capable demeanor.

Ev Acton, manager of the ACS Support Center, comments:  "I REALLY like working with Stan.  He's so good with the clients, and is very thorough."

Although he is interested in the systems area, Stan enjoys development the most.  "Howie is a great boss," says Stan.  "He does a good job of balancing assignments so that no one gets too overwhelmed.  And I'm continually impressed with how smart he is."

Stan likes to approach a new feature looking for how he can incorporate creativity into his design.  He enjoys having an influence on the evolution of Advantage. 

 "Stan is very thorough and good at identifying potential problems with a design.  He works well on his own but never hesitates to involve others when a consensus is needed," says Howie.  "He is always quick to respond to questions that arise during client testing and QA."

Stan's colleague Alan Cherney has this to say about him:  "I really appreciate Stan.  Having him just over the wall (we're cubicle neighbors) is extremely convenient when I need to take advantage of his technically sound opinion or advice.  Additionally, he's just a friendly guy who likes good coffee, plays a solid game of wallyball, and laughs at good jokes.  Who doesn't enjoy a coworker like that?"

Stan currently lives in Ann Arbor and, in his leisure time, enjoys snow skiing—preferably out West or in Canada—and baseball, and likes to keep up on the latest technical and science journals.  He also likes to play video games, watch movies and listen to music. 

Although Dave Rees is a 17-year veteran at ACS, the years are not consecutive.  He was first hired as a new college graduate in 1988.  He worked at ACS (then T & B Computing) for two years in the Trackstar group, a product line that has since been phased out.  He left ACS for a few years and, in the interim, he worked at Unisys and then at a small software company that developed electronic communication software for auto manufacturers and their vendors. 

Dave returned to ACS in 1995 and joined the development group led by Karl Davis.  He did a lot of work with Farm Journal, as well as other clients, and then became a lead engineer, working on implementation projects such as Weekly Reader, Massachusetts Medical Society and National Auto Research.

A couple of years ago, Dave moved to the technical support team, led by Linda Lorenz.  He likes dealing with client issues and enjoys learning new functionality and ways of doing things.  Currently, he spends most of his time on Bayard Presse and has studied French in order to communicate with the people there. He appreciates the fact that ACS is a small enough company that he can see a project through from start to finish and he feels a great sense of satisfaction in doing so.

Evelyn Acton, Support Center manager, enjoys working with him.  "Dave is a man of many words," she says.  "The good news is that they are good words.  He communicates well both with clients and ACS staff.  Our clients always enjoy their exchanges with Dave.  I'm glad he's on the team."

The son of an IBM engineer, in a family that moved a lot, Dave enrolled in the computer science program at the University of Minnesota.  At first, he enjoyed all his classes EXCEPT computer science and thought that he might pursue something else.  He took a break from college, came to Michigan and worked for a time, and decided that computers were indeed what he wanted to study.  He returned to school, at Eastern Michigan University this time, and finished his degree in computer science.  He tossed in some accounting classes along the way, which have served him well working with the accounting functionality in Advantage.

Co-worker Bryan Varblow has this to say about him:  "Dave is dedicated to finding a solution to any problem which comes his way.  Whether it's a quick task or a long term project, you can always count on the fact that Dave will see it through to completion until the client is satisfied that their needs have been fully met.  While Dave is solving the issue du jour, he also brings a positive attitude which encourages all those around him."

Dave and his wife, Shelley, have three children: Emma, 20, a sophomore in college, Matt, 17, a senior in high school and Gabe, 16, a high school sophomore.  The family lives in Redford Township and Dave and Shelley are heavily involved in the worship ministry at their church.  When the kids were younger, Dave spent much of his free time with his sons in Boy Scout activities.  He is proud that Matt has achieved Eagle Scout status and Gabe is very close to it.  Dave's other leisure-time interests include singing in the church worship band, reading up on his Welsh heritage (the family was able to spend two weeks in Wales a few years ago and would love to go back), exercising and tinkering with new technology.

A fun-loving guy with a great sense of humor, Dave has enlivened the ACS office over the years with a ready smile, his non-stop flow of puns, and an ever-changing collection of toys and novelties in his cubicle. Dave has twice served as the emcee at the ACS Christmas party, entertaining employees and guests with his humorous banter.  But when it comes to his job, he's plenty serious.