RBCS, Inc. is led by Rex Black, principal consultant and published expert in software, hardware, and systems testing. In addition to our principal consultants, RBCS works with skilled trainers comprised of certified test engineers and managers.
Rex Black, President
 With a quarter-century of software and systems engineering experience, Rex Black is president and principal consultant of RBCS, Inc., a leader in software, hardware, and systems testing. Rex specializes in working with clients on engagements small, medium, and large to ensure complete satisfaction and positive ROI. He is the most prolific author practicing in the field of software testing today. His popular book, Managing the Testing Process, has sold over 25,000 copies around the world, including Japanese, Chinese, and Indian releases. Rex has also written three other books on testing - Critical Testing Processes, Foundations of Software Testing, and Pragmatic Software Testing - which have also sold thousands of copies, including Hebrew, Indian, Japanese and Russian editions.
In addition, he has written numerous articles and papers and has presented at hundreds of conferences and workshops around the world. Rex is the president of the International Software Testing Qualifications Board and the immediate past President of the American Software Testing Qualifications Board.
Laurel Becker, Vice President
 As Vice President of RBCS, Inc., Laurel Becker is responsible for the company's day to day operations and helps manage each client relationship. Having a strong background in human behavior and psychometric testing, Laurel focuses on usability studies, human factors testing, and consulting team dynamics. She helps clients narrow the gap between their products and human behavior and needs. In addition, Laurel recruits and places highly skilled QA and Test professionals to meet each individual client's unique needs. Laurel works closely with the company's Principal Consultant to ensure the best job fit between the client and the employee.
Laurel received a bachelor of arts degree in psychology from UCLA and a masters of education with a specialty in counseling and guidance from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Prior to joining RBCS, Laurel worked in the fields of clinical and research-oriented application of human behavior skills. Laurel is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a member of the Texas Counseling Association.
Barton Layne, Consultant
As a Senior Test Engineer, Barton Layne creates and executes test plans, test cases, and automation frameworks for performance and stress tests. In his over 18 years of experience in testing hardware and software applications, Barton has set up, staffed, and managed testing projects for clients in industries including: energy, pharmaceuticals, insurance, state agencies, telecommunications, finance, accounting, computer manufacturing, poultry processing and distribution, custom manufacturing, and test laboratories.
Barton has developed highly-structured testing processes and procedures using both pre-packaged and open source tools. His adaptability, attention to detail, and analytical ability are valuable assets to any organization. In addition, he has co-authored and contributed articles and papers on performance testing.
Jose Mata, Consultant
Jose has been in the software and system test arena for almost two decades, much of it as a consultant for small and large corporations such as Motorola, Dell, IBM, Texas Instruments, and Compaq. Jose is ISTQB Foundation Level certified. His breadth of experience has afforded him the ability to assimilate information rapidly, and within a competitive context. With a Bachelor of Arts (and an improbable minor in electrical engineering) from the University of Texas at Austin, he started his career as a technical writer, before moving to software testing in 1987.
In addition to his technical skills, Jose's communication skills are superb, which help bridge the gap between the technical and user-experienced worlds. Jose is conversational in Spanish and French and knows a smattering of other languages and cultures, which adds to his experience with language localization issues. In his spare time, Jose is also a writer and an award-winning filmmaker.
Judy McKay, Consultant
Judy McKay has spent the last 20 years working in the high-tech industry with particular focus on software quality assurance. She has managed departments, encompassing all aspects of the software lifecycle including requirements design and analysis, software development, database design, software quality assurance, software testing, technical support, configuration management, and technical publications. Her career has spanned across commercial software companies, aerospace, foreign-owned R&D and various Internet companies. In addition, Judy conducts training seminars nationwide. Her well-accepted, enjoyable and informative courses are based on the real world application of practical data.
Jamie Mitchell, Consultant
Jamie has worked as tester, automator, and tool developer for many organizations of all sizes, both as an employee and consultant. He is a pioneer in the test automation field, working with many different commercial test automation tools since Windows 3.0, as well as developing and maintaining custom test tools for several other platforms. In his role as Principal Technical Consultant at Test & Automation Consulting LLC, Jamie is responsible for developing and implementing testing and automation initiatives for a range of clients. He also provides training, mentoring, and expert technical support.
Jamie holds a Master of Computer Science degree from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA, as well as QAI and ISTQB testing certifications. He has been a regular speaker at several international conferences, including QAI, STAR, and PSQT.
Patricia McQuaid, Consultant
Patricia McQuaid, Ph.D., has been involved in the software field for over 3 decades. Patricia is the President and co-founder of the American Software Testing Qualifications Board (ASTQB), and is ISTQB Foundation Level certified. She is a Professor of Information Systems in a
College of
Business at a university in the United States. She has a doctorate in Computer Science and Engineering, an MBA, an undergraduate degree in Accounting, and is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA). Patricia is a member of IEEE, and a Senior Member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ). She is an Associate Editor for the ASQ Software Quality Professional journal, and is on ASQ’s Software Division Council. She was a contributing author to Volumes I and II of the Fundamental Concepts for the Software Quality Engineer book (ASQ Quality Press). She is the Associate Director for the Fourth World Congress for Software Quality (4WCSQ), and was the Program Chair for the Americas for the 2WCSQ (Japan-2000) and the 3WCSQ (Germany-2005). She is a frequent speaker at national and international software quality and software testing conferences. |
