Members:

James D. Brown - L-3 Communications, Chair

Mike Hansen - Preston School District

Dr. Ed Harris - Weber State University - IST Department Chair

Timothy Martin - Hill Air Force Base

Bron McCall - Flying J

Dave Norwood - Trusted Network Solutions

Peggy Peterson - WSU Student

Russ Reed - Market Star

 Advisory Board Member Biographies

James D. Brown - Chairman

Jim is the Chief Network Engineer and Technologist for the Information Technology organization of the L-3 Communications - Communications Systems West Division located in Salt Lake City, Utah. Jim has a strong background in the application of computer equipment, network architectures and integrated Information systems.

He has a Bachelor's of Science degree in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from Utah State University. Jim's career involved working as a digital design engineer and manager for many years with a heavy involvement in advanced military peripheral computer equipment and network communications design. He has also held several positions at both a divisional and corporate level as an Engineering Department Manager, Staff Engineer, and Director.
As a corporate director, Jim had the responsible to travel to many different divisions and coordinate the generation of Technical Automation plans. These plans defined business goals and how automation and Information Technology was to be used to meet their objectives.

Jim has designed and implemented several large scale Wide Area Networks (WAN) including Unisys.com, Unisysdsd.com, Paramax.com, L-3com.com.

He has participated in various community and academic activities as a member of the Brigham Young University, Alliance with Industry (Engineering) program and member of the Utah State University, Business Information Systems Advisory Council. He has also given many Engineering and Information Technology presentations at various local and national seminars/symposiums. He also has been a guest lecture at several local high schools, colleges, universities and civic clubs.

Jim has given many years of voluntary service as the Business Technology Consultant to the Preston School District in Preston, Idaho helping them to design, implement and maintain their current network and technology infrastructure.

Mike Hansen - Technology Coordinator for Preston School District, Preston, Idaho

Ed Harris - WSU - IST Department Chair

Dr. Ed Harris is an Associate Professor and the Department Chair in Information Systems & Technologies at Weber State University (WSU).  He earned a BS in Physics & Math, an MBA with an emphasis in finance, and a Ph.D. in Business Information Systems.  Before becoming a professor he worked in industry for several years as the owner of a auto/RV dealership, a medical supply company, and a vice president of a computer software company.  After completing his MBA in 1987 he went to work at the College of Eastern Utah as the Director of the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and 20% time teaching finance, accounting, and several computer courses. 

In 1989 he was offered a job at Southern Utah University (SUU) as the director of the SBDC, and tenure-track professor.  Thirteen wonderful years were spent at SUU where he was awarded rank promotion, tenure, and a sabbatical leave to complete his Ph.D. at Utah State University.  In 2001 he accepted a college position in Kentucky (still his favorite place to live) where he spent 4 years until accepting his present position at WSU in 2005. 

His scholarship interests are centered around computer networking, and has presented many papers at regional, national, and international academic conferences.  He has also published several articles in academic journals, with others in progress.  In the past three years Ed has written  grants to purchase IST computers totaling $102,016.  Given the changing nature of the computer industry, he constantly attends conferences, training workshops, and holds several computer certifications.

Dr. Harris’ favorite thing about being a professor is the tremendous delight, and energy he gains from working with the bright, dedicated students at WSU.  He loves anything related to technology, and if it accomplishes a worthwhile task that is even better; but technology for technology sake is still amazing.

Timothy Martin - Hill Air Force Base

Bron McCall

Bron is responsible for all aspects of information technology at Flying J, a $16 billion leading retailer of diesel fuel in North America. Ranked 17^th on the Forbes largest privately held companies list, Flying J employs over 16,500 people, across 257 retail locations in the US and Canada, 2 oil refineries and a petroleum pipeline.

As Chief Information Officer, McCall implements IT systems considered as strategic business tools for competitive advantage. Under McCall’s leadership, Flying J has instituted best practices to automate the supply chain with systems unparalleled in the retail and petroleum industries.

Prior to his current assignment, Mr. McCall headed up the application development process at Flying J. In this capacity he was responsible for developing applications to automate CRM, Liquid Product Movement (LPM), Supply Chain, ERP and e-commerce.

Mr. McCall joined Flying J in 2000 as project manager to introduce next generation systems based on Java and relational databases. This foundation is the basis for all new systems development at Flying J.

Prior to joining Flying J, Mr. McCall was the Director of Applications Development for Incomnet Communications, a telecommunications company based in Irvine, California. He was primarily responsible for billing, provisioning and 24x7 customer care applications for this long distance reseller.

Mr. McCall began his IT career in 1990 at Loral Aerospace in San Jose, California, where he held various positions in the IT department. As project lead, he worked on purchasing, manufacturing resource planning (MRP) and quality assurance applications which were used by multiple Loral divisions including Space, Aeronautics and Satellite.

Mr. McCall holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from DeVry Institute of Technology Pomona, CA.

Dave Norwood

 
Dave Norwood is founder and President of Trusted Network Solution. TNS provides high-end computer network equipment and services to small and medium businesses. Dave leads by example which has created a company culture based on integrity and communication. This allowed TNS to become a leading network infrastructure and security value added reseller.

Dave’s career includes extensive management experience working for the largest grocery store in Wisconsin as the Assistant Store Manager and Buyer. In 1996, he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Management Information Systems from the University of Wisconsin. Dave then left his successful retail career to move into the technology industry. He joined the Enterprise Networking Team of a Fortune 500 company, Northwestern Mutual.

Dave earned multiple technical certifications while working as a systems engineer. Dave has earned his Microsoft® Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE®), Certified NetWare® Engineer (CNE®), Cisco® Certified Network Associate (CCNA®), Juniper Networks® Certified Internet Associate (JNCIA®), and other industry certifications.

After five years with Northwestern Mutual, Dave relocated to Salt Lake City. Dave joined a local start-up venture as a Technical Account Executive. Dave was a key team member who helped this start-up become a successful Value Added Reseller.

Dave graduated in May of 2005 with an MBA from the David Eccles School of Business – University of Utah. Dave completed a dual focus of Entrepreneurship and Information Systems. Dave’s business and management skills, coupled with a strong technical background, have allowed him to successfully launch and grow TNS. In addition to leading the company, Dave interfaces with the community through membership with the Utah Technology Council, University of Utah Business and Technology Roundtable, and holds a seat on the Weber State University IST Advisory Board.

Peggy Petersen - IST Student, Weber State University

Peggy's professional experience began in 1991 when she began working as a network manager for KUTV, Channel 2, in Salt Lake City, where her duties included network management, systems programming, and general technical support. After working in this position for 5 years, she continued her career at Video Projects, Inc., where she developed and implemented their order processing system. This involved taking a system previously done with paper and floppy disks and developing a seamless process where the information flowed from order taker to order fulfiller to customer service.

After taking time off to raise her family, Peggy returned to Weber State University to obtain her bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Technology. She is currently a senior at WSU, maintains a 4.0 grade point average, and plans to graduate in December, 2008. In addition to completing her education, Peggy also works as a web developer for Silver Pixel Media, a marketing firm located in West Jordan, Utah.

Russ Reed - Director, Data Management, MarketStar