JEFF DALTON:
 
JEFF DALTON




 
 
 
 
 
Founder and President of Broadsword in Waterford. Dalton has more than 25 years of software development and process improvement experience. He is a partner with the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University where he is a capability maturity model® integration (CMMI) lead appraiser and instructor. Dalton earlier worked for such firms as Electronic Data Systems and Ernst & Young, where he specialized in the application of process models, such as CMMI, as frameworks for software process improvement. Dalton created Agile CMMI, a methodology for designing, deploying, and benefiting from innovative processes that produce improved software. Founded in 2004, Broadsword’s clients include companies in the automotive, energy, defense, aerospace, and software industries in seven states. He received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Johns Hopkins University. Dalton is an instrument-rated pilot and experimental airplane builder and is active on several boards including the Interlochen Center for the Arts Corporate Council.


WHERE BORN: "New York."

MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS: "After my family, Ray Kurzweil, a futurist who writes a lot of books."

LAST BOOK READ: "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond."

WORDS THAT DESCRIBE ME: "Persistent, optimistic, curious."

WHERE MY FIELD/INDUSTRY IS HEADED: "I think about this a lot. If we think that outsourcing is a problem now, wait until China gets up to speed with millions of skilled workers. The only way to compete is if the U.S. can get our skilled workforce up to speed and find innovative processes as opposed to trying to work harder and cheaper than everyone else. That is the next frontier in the technology industry."

FAVORITE TECHNOLOGICAL GADGET: "That’s easy. Our house is almost completely powered by renewable energy with windmills and solar panels, so those are my favorite toys to play with."

FAVORITE PLACE: "Interlochen, Michigan."

FAVORITE HOBBIES: "I have way too many of those. I wish I had more time. Experimental aircraft building -- I’m building an airplane in my garage -- and woodworking."

FAVORITE FOOD: "Authentic Mexican food."

MY HIDDEN TALENT: "I’m a musician and went to college for music. I play the bass and piano."

HOW I WANT TO BE REMEMBERED: "In terms of my career and technology, as someone who really helped software engineering unlock the power of real innovative processes and changed the way we think about delivering software using these processes."

Grant Thornton Website At the annual awards reception in April 2009, one Leader & Innovator from the previous 12 months will be selected as the Grant Thornton Leader & Innovator of the Year.