People

Paul Anderson, President, Chief Technology Officer

Paul Anderson is responsible for the day-to-day operations of PDQ, as well as serving as its Chief Technology Officer. Paul has been a principal in the design and development of PDQ-Explore, and co-founded PDQ with his father, Albert Anderson, in 1993. Paul has been active with computers since 1976. Over the course of many computer projects, he has developed deep expertise in analog/digital circuit design, VLSI design, assembly language interrupts, device drivers, microkernel and monolithic operating systems, compiler design, parallel (SMP) computing, cluster computing, client/server systems, and other technologies. Paul received a B.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan as well as a M.S. in Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan.

Albert F. Anderson, Ph.D., Director of Research

Albert Anderson, Ph.D., co-founded PDQ with his son Paul in 1993. Together they developed PDQ-Explore, a data management and analysis system for massive data sets. Initial funding came from a series of small business grants from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). Albert Anderson currently heads PDQ's research efforts on the handling of massive data sets, including work on re-sampling, confidentiality and privacy issues in census data, and expert systems based on semantic networks and case-based reasoning to facilitate access to the information.

A pioneer in Social Science computing, Albert joined the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center (PSC) in 1972 where he served as co-head of the data processing department, focusing on large data sets such as the U.S. Census public use microdata samples (PUMS). Albert retired from the University of Michigan in 1996 and dedicates his time as Director of Research at PDQ. Albert holds a B.S. in General Engineering from Iowa State University, a M.S. in Sociology from Iowa State University, and a Ph.D. in Rural Sociology from Iowa State University.

Jack Arnold, Acting Director of Commercial Applications

Jack Arnold specializes in the integration, analysis and reporting of Automotive Quality Information from the manufacturing plant floor through to the retail customer experience. He has been working with PDQ since 2002. Jack has extensive experience in quality measurement system development, quality performance analysis and management reporting. With PDQ, Jack's work has focused on TREAD Act Reporting and Analysis and Automotive Warranty Analysis Systems.

Prior to working with PDQ, Jack spent 32 years with General Motors in a variety of Quality and Engineering assignments. This experience concluded with ten years directing the development and management of various Quality Performance Measurement Systems as a member of the Corporate Quality and Reliability Staff. Jack received a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Ohio State University as well as a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Ohio State University. He has also received Quality Engineer Certification from the American Society for Quality.

Heather Branton, Data Specialist

Heather works with PDQ clients on a variety of data analysis and custom research efforts frequently involving very large public data sets. Her work includes performing custom extracts and reports, creating documentation materials, and the design and development of Web-based applications, including graphical displays. She also is responsible for converting newly released public data files into PDQ-Explore. Heather is part of PDQ's client training team and has led a number of training sessions for PDQ. Heather received a B.A. in Sociology from Baylor University and is a Doctoral Candidate in Sociology at the University of Michigan.

Lisa Gubachy

Susan O'Connor, Acting Vice President of Marketing

Susan is responsible for all company marketing functions, including brand and marketing strategies as well as public relations and marketing communications. She joined PDQ in 2005 and brings over 13 years of technology marketing experience. Prior to her work at PDQ, she held marketing management positions for Fortune 500 and start-up organizations, including Netscape/AOL, Laszlo Systems and Lotus Development. She possesses a successful track record in launching emerging technologies to the commercial marketplace. Susan graduated cum laude from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Arts in Russian/East European Studies.

Patrick Rady, Services Manager

Patrick currently manages all client and internal support and training services for PDQ, ensuring a quality response to clients, partners and internal employees. In a prior position at PDQ, Patrick served as the PDQ-Explore product manager. In this role he managed the team that developed the commercial version of PDQ-Explore, building upon initial grant-related project work for the NIH. Patrick continues to assist with product roadmap decisions from a services perspective. Patrick holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Michigan. He is currently pursuing an associates degree in computer forensics.