We are pleased to welcome Sean Leslie, who joins ACS as a programmer in the Product Development group led by Howie Brooks.  Sean is a recent graduate of Florida International University in Miami, Florida, and earned a degree in computer science there.  Sean has always been interested in computers, although his early interest was focused on playing games on them (something he still likes to do).

Sean grew up in Miami, but with both parents employed by major airlines, the family did a lot of traveling including many trips up and down the east coast, and treks to Vancouver, Seattle, Mt. St. Helens and the Gulf Coast.

After graduating from college, Sean looked for a job in the computer game development field, but did not find that to his liking.  He came to Michigan when his girlfriend got a job here and joined ACS a few months after that.  Sean is proud that he survived his first Michigan winter, and he is confident that he can weather more.

Sean lives in Ann Arbor and is getting to know the area.  When he isn't working, Sean enjoys movies—especially documentaries, and hopes to return to a previous pastime, fine-scale models.  As a software engineer, it's an unwritten law that he is hooked on computer games—and he is—but another of Sean's hobbies is a little more unusual.  He enjoys cross-stitching, especially as a way to pass the time on long road trips.

We welcome Sean, with all his varied talents, to the ACS family.

We are pleased to welcome Rob Elliott, who joins ACS as a programmer in the Product Development group led by Howie Brooks.  Rob is a graduate of the University of Michigan: Dearborn, where he earned a degree in Computer and Information Science (CISI).  Rob grew up in Holly, Michigan, where he wrestled, ran Cross Country, and was a vital member of the Quiz Bowl team. Rob has four much older siblings, so was raised essentially an only child, with strong logical influence from his father.

Since childhood Rob has seen through the eyes of a scientist, always exploring and seeking to understand the world around him. His family has a long history of engineering, and he follows suit with ease. Rob appreciates the multiplication of effort that computers make possible; the fact that he can spend a relatively small amount of time programming something that when implemented, will save its users huge amounts of time and effort.

Rob put himself through college with small programming jobs before settling in at a Southfield-based software development company. There he developed intra-office communication management software, used by hundreds of call centers and government agencies. He spent three years there before coming to ACS on the recommendation and encouragement of John Moore, an old college friend who has worked at ACS since 2005.

Rob met his wife and long-time sweetheart Anna in college. They recently celebrated their third wedding anniversary, having been wed on 07/07/07 —clearly a lucky date.  When he's not working, Rob enjoys trying new things and pushing himself to leave his comfort zone. Whether they are foods, sports, music, or friends, Rob tries to keep an open mind. He has typical geek interests in technical gadgets, computers, gaming, but also enjoys a good book, conversation, adventuring, or even Japanese anime. Rob finds a particular fascination in artificial intelligence, and how well or poorly it evolves to mimic the human existence. He feels the more computers come to resemble us, the better we are able to define our own uniqueness.

We are glad that Rob has brought his intelligence—real or artificial—to ACS and we welcome him.