Ben Hunter

 

Location:

Auckland – New Zealand

Job Title:

Consultant – Microsoft New Zealand

Time with Microsoft:

2 years

Special Powers:

I see dead pixels

Favourite food:

Thai

Favourite film:

Quiet Earth

Bio:

 

I focus on  engagements around Windows Vista and Windows Server design and deployment, with a dash of Virtualization on the side. I work closely with other consultants and the Redmond-based teams to develop deployment best practices. I also speak frequently at both TechEd and Microsoft Deployment related events.

Unlike Richard Smith I don’t have any spare time :-( Between working for Microsoft and two young children my days are full.

Richard Smith

Location:

Birmingham – United Kingdom

Job Title:

Senior Consultant – Microsoft Consulting Services

Time with Microsoft:

4 years

Special Powers:

Playing a mean piano and taking a top landscape photograph (at the same time!)

Favourite food:

Sausage and Mash

Favourite film:

Die Hard - the first and the best of the quadtrilogy in my humble opinion

Bio:

 

I have worked in the IT industry for over 20 years, and I enjoy working within a cross-sector environment at Microsoft. I deliver engagements around Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 design and deployment, but have previously delivered consultancy services in Windows Server 2003, Active Directory design, Exchange 2000/2003 and SharePoint Portal Server.  I speak frequently at both TechEd and Microsoft Deployment related events.

In my spare time (not that I have much of that :-) I enjoy writing and producing musical theatre, digital photography, music and video production and anything to do with using technology for creative means.

Richard Trusson

Location:

Leeds – United Kingdom

Job Title:

Senior Consultant – Microsoft Consulting Services

Time with Microsoft:

10 years

Special Powers:

Flying stunt kites and SCUBA dive to 50m+ (not at the same time!)

Favourite food:

Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Roast Potatoes and some vegetables

Favourite film:

Stickmen or maybe its Pulp Fiction or maybe The Big Blue or maybe Blues Brothers; some great music in that one.

Depends who is asking and what mood I’m in! ;-)

Bio:

 

I have worked in IT for 20 years since graduating with a Communications Engineering Degree from Leeds. After a brief sabbatical – a year cycling around Nepal, India, Pakistan, China, Australia and New Zealand I joined MS New Zealand nearly 10 years ago. Initially focusing on Active Directory and DNS design I quickly moved to back to the area I love and everyone else depends on – deployment!

I returned to the UK six years ago and continued to focus on highly automated deployment solutions across the whole Microsoft product family. Recently focusing on Vista and Windows Server 2008.

I hold a patent for a deployment methodology and I also speak frequently at both TechEd and Microsoft Deployment related events.

My spare  time is currently taken up with my young family and caving or diving with my friends. When not doing that I am trying to re-learn a musical instrument.

 

Daniel Oxley

 

Location:

Madrid - Spain

Job Title:

Consultant – Microsoft Consulting Services

Time with Microsoft:

1.5 years

Special Powers:

I can play all the Metallica and Megadeth guitar solos note-perfect with my air guitar

Favourite food:

English: Cheeseburger  -  Spanish: A tapas of Jamón Ibérico and Queso Manchego

Favourite film:

Hunt for Red October

Bio:

 

I have been breaking and then fixing computers since I was 8, and doing it professionally for the last 12 years.  Working at Microsoft is good fun, especially in such a talented team as the one I am in as I get to learn something new every single day.

I deliver projects on a broad range of areas, but my specialties are in the deployment of Windows XP/Vista, Active Directory/Group Policy, and scripting.

Although I live in Spain, I am in fact British.  I have been in Madrid for the last 4½ years and absolutely love it; I think it must be the combination of almost year-round sunny days, great food and cold beer!  In my spare time I enjoy watching a good film, seeing new sights in Spain, a good lunch on a terrace in the sun, or having a nice peaceful siesta in the shade.

 

Michael Murgolo

 

Location:

New Jersey – USA

Job Title:

Senior Consultant – Microsoft Consulting Services

Time with Microsoft:

8+ years

Special Powers:

Creating Elevation Powertoys and other cool scripts

Favourite food:

Shrimp Fra Diavolo from Enza's Ristorante in Hawthorne, NJ

Favourite film:

Tie: Star Wars (the original) and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Bio:

 

I focus on operating systems, deployment, network services, Active Directory, systems management, automation, and patch management. Most of my recent engagements have been in the area of OS deployment and migration.  I have worked in the IT industry for over 11 years.  In my previous life I worked as a Mechanical Engineer in the areas of product development and machine/tooling design.

I moonlight periodically as a Contributing Editor (authoring and reviewing articles) for TechNet Magazine.

In my spare time I enjoy anything having to do with the accurate reproduction of audio and video for music listening and home theater.  Always calibrate your equipment and use matched loudspeakers for all channels!

 

Aly Shivji

Location:

New York City – USA

Job Title:

Consultant – Microsoft Consulting Services

Time with Microsoft:

2.5 years

Special Powers:

Evading deportation to Canada (although I have legal status...no really I do!)

Favourite food:

Coca Cola

Favourite film:

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

Bio:

 

I focus on automation of large scale Windows Server and Client deployments in various industries. I have a degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toronto and a Masters of Electrical Engineering from Cornell University. I have been working in IT\Engineering for 5 years as a technical trainer, automation engineeer and a Consultant.

In my borrowed spare time, I like to play soccer and write. Although, I work in New York City, I am Canadian and watch hockey religiously.