Russ Helfand
Summary
Developer of web sites, software tools and frameworks using Silverlight, ASP.NET, HTML, CSS, C#, VB.NET
and related web and database-related technologies.
Professional experience
Microsoft Corp. via Excell Data Corp.
Feb 2007 - Present
WebMaster
Lead (and often sole) WebMaster for some of Microsoft's premier web sites:
http://www.microsoft.com/silverlight
http://www.microsoft.com/expression
http://www.microsoft.com/design
Groovy bits
Dec 2005 - Feb 2007
Partner
Provide consulting services to web teams and technology leaders alike.
Microsoft Corp.
June 2004 - Dec 2005
Program Manager
Research and prototype futuristic web sites using emerging technologies like
Atlas and
Vista.
-
Helped create Atlas. Built the first large-scale
web app (a wiki) with it to help expose weaknesses in the Atlas framework.
-
Developed a prototype framework that blended
ASP.NET (web technology) and
Vista (desktop technnology).
Macromedia, Inc.
Oct 1999 - June 2004
Principal Engineer
Develop Dreamweaver
and define key aspects of its architecture. Provide guidance throughout the company
on opportunities to improve integration with web technologies being developed by
Microsoft.
- Research where Dreamweaver can facilitate development of sites using ASP.NET "Whidbey."
- Act as technical liaison between the Dreamweaver team and Microsoft (primarily working
with Scott Guthrie, Nikhil Kothari and Mark Anders).
- Evangelize ASP.NET by contributing to forums, writing tech notes and occasionally speaking at conferences.
- Led the CSS team (Dreamweaver MX 2004). Identified authoring patterns to be optimized.
Designed and implemented the heuristics that allow Dreamweaver to generate and use
CSS rather than font tags. Supervised design and development of all features pertaining
to CSS management.
- Led the ASP.NET team (Dreamweaver MX). Defined the overall solution. Invented the
tags to encapsulate database access, page binding, etc. Supervised development of
tag and web service introspection, rendering (using designer interfaces), WSDL proxy
generation, etc.
- Led the ASP team, UI czar (Dreamweaver 4.0 "UltraDev").
Elemental Software, Inc.
Dec 1997 - Oct 1999
Senior Software Engineer
Developed code and architecture for Drumbeat, a tool for creating web sites using ASP and HTML.
- Enabled Drumbeat to host and introspect ActiveX/COM components.
- Created rulers and guides for CSS positioning, in collaboration with Microsoft.
- Prototyped Boomerang: a next generation ASP authoring tool based on the Trident
design surface.
Animated Images, Inc.
Nov 1994 - Mar 1997
Programmer
Developed a MFC-based CAD program for apparel design: C++, SQL, ActiveX.
Biosym Technologies, Inc.
Mar 1989 - Sep 1993
Manager
Developed a
CAD program for chemical design (biotech): SGI graphics, compute-intensive
calculations
of molecular surfaces and binding fields in 3D.
VideoCipher Corp.
Feb 1987 - Mar 1989
Group Leader
Simulated the logic to be used on Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) chips for encoding
and decoding audio/video transmission.
Calma Co.
May 1984 - Feb 1987
Programmer
Developed CAD programs
to be used in a broad range of industries: specialized in 2D and 3D rendering transformations.
Personal Development
Researcher
ethno-botany (Nepal).
Sep - Oct 1993
High school teacher
physics (Costa Rica).
Mar - Jun 1994
Manager eco-tourism
(Costa Rica).
Jun - Aug 1994 and Mar - Aug 1997
Webmaster conservation
(Ecuador).
Aug 1999 - Present
Education
B.S., Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI), 1984
Contact Information