Rick LaPlante

Rick has one of the most impressive technical backgrounds in software development and technology with a rich history in compilers, operating systems and technology frameworks.

He served as General Manager of Microsoft’s Enterprise Tools team and led the engineering team in the delivery of enterprise-ready software tools around the world, enabling customers to build global-class applications on top of Windows and the .NET Framework.

Rick joined Microsoft in 1988, where he held a variety of positions including Software Design Engineer and Group Program Manager for the C++ compiler product line, and Development Manager of Microsoft's Internal Tools engineering team.

Rick has written and lectured extensively on topics such as software development lifecycles and Visual Studio .NET. Currently, Rick is teaching robotics to a bunch of lucky high schoolers in Texas.