Tek Spikes are run by a seasoned and professional set of Groovy, Ruby and Java trainers, authors, speakers and open source contributors. You'll be getting instruction from known authors and technologist that have practical experience.

Tek Spikes works with local User Groups to also leverage the local talent and promote the use of the technology.

Scott Davis

Scott Davis is the founder of ThirstyHead, a training company that specializes in Groovy and Grails training. Scott published one of the first public websites implemented in Grails in 2006 and has been actively working with the technology ever since. Author of the book Groovy Recipes: Greasing the Wheels of Java and two ongoing IBM developerWorks article series (Mastering Grails and Practically Groovy), Scott writes extensively about how Groovy and Grails are the future of Java development. Scott teaches public and private classes on Groovy and Grails for start-ups and Fortune 100 companies. He is the co-founder of the Groovy/Grails Experience conference and is a regular presenter on the international technical conference circuit (including No Fluff Just Stuff). In 2008, Scott was voted the top Rock Star at JavaOne for his talk "Groovy, the Red Pill : How to blow the mind of a buttoned-down Java developer".

Brian Sam-Bodden

Brian Sam-Bodden is an author and recognized international speaker that has spent over twelve years working with object technologies, with an emphasis on the Java platform and in recent times falling in love with Ruby. He holds dual bachelor degrees from Ohio Wesleyan University in computer science and physics and is the president and chief software architect for Integrallis, where he focuses on building great applications with Java and Ruby. Brian has worked as an architect, developer, mentor, and trainer for several Fortune 500 companies in the tax, insurance, retail sciences, telecommunications, distribution, banking, finance, aviation, and scientific data management industries. As an independent consultant, he has promoted the use of open source in the industry by educating his clients on the cost benefits and productivity gains they can achieve. He is a frequent speaker at user groups and conferences nationally and abroad. Brian is the author of Beginning POJOs: Spring, Hibernate, JBoss and Tapestry and has also co-authored the Apress Java title Enterprise Java Development on a Budget: Leveraging Java Open Source Technologies.

Joseph Faisal Nusairat

Joseph Faisal Nusairat, author of Beginning JBoss Seam and co-author Beginning Groovy and Grails: From Novice to Professional, is a Java developer who has been working full time in the Columbus Ohio area since 1998, primarily focused on Java development. His career has taken him into a variety of Fortune 500 industries including military applications, data centers, banking, internet security, pharmaceuticals, and insurance. Joseph is particularly fond of open source projects and tries to use as much open source software as possible when working with clients. Joseph is a graduate of Ohio University with dual degrees in Computer Science and Microbiology with a minor in Chemistry. Currently, Joseph works as a Senior Partner at Integrallis. In his off-hours he enjoys watching body building and Broadway musicals, but not at the same time.

Raju Gandhi

Raju Gandhi is a Java developer and a language geek. He has been writing software for the better part of nine years in several industries such as education, finance, construction and the manufacturing sector. Raju has a graduate degree in Industrial Engineering from Ohio University and is currently a Senior Consultant with Integrallis.