Joanna F. DeFranco

is assistant professor of software engineering and a member of the graduate faculty at The Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining Penn State, she held faculty positions at Cabrini College and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She also held a number of positions in industry and government, including as an electronics engineer for the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, PA, and as a software engineer at Motorola in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Dr. DeFranco received her BS in electrical engineering from Penn State, MS in computer engineering from Villanova University, and PhD in computer and information science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She is a member of ASEE and has had numerous publications in journals and conference proceedings. She is also on the curriculum advisory board for a local technical high school.

Phillip A. Laplante

is professor of software engineering and affiliate professor of information science and technology at The Pennsylvania State University. Before joining Penn State, he was a professor and senior academic administrator at several other colleges and universities.Prior to his academic career, Dr. Laplante spent nearly eight years as a software engineer and project manager working on avionics (including the Space Shuttle), CAD (Computer Aided Design), and software test systems. He was also director of business development for a boutique software consulting firm. He has authored or edited 27 books and more than 200 papers, articles, and editorials.

Dr. Laplante received his BS, MEng, and PhD degrees in computer science, electrical engineering, and computer science, respectively, from Stevens Institute of Technology and an MBA from the University of Colorado. He is a fellow of the IEEE and a member of numerous professional societies, program committees, and boards. He is consultant to Fortune 500 companies,