Michael Wales is a Senior Associate with Kforce Government Solutions, currently serving as the Lead Developer for some of the most critical Department of Defense web-based intelligence analytics applications. Michael’s 13 years of web development experience, prior military service, Top Secret clearance and first-hand knowledge of DoD information systems and business practices have made him one of the most highly sought after developers within the government sector.

Michael developed his first website, despite his father’s disapproval, in 1997. Upon the release of PHP 3 in 1998, Michael dove into the development of dynamic websites with database backends. It was at this point he knew this was his calling in life and he began developing websites as a professional freelancer.

Since that time, Michael’s profound thirst for knowledge has driven him to other languages (Python, Ruby, JavaScript, Java and C#), other related disciplines (fully normalized relational database management in MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL and SQLite), web development theory (semantic markup, Section 508 compliance and agile development practices) and emerging platforms and technologies (HTML5, CSS3 and mobile devices). Additionally he holds both CompTIA Security+ and EXIN ITIL v3 Foundations certifications.

Michael has been recognized professionally as a 2009 General Dynamics Engineering & Innovation Award Nominee, the 2005 and 2006 Communications & Information Airman of the Year, the first CodeIgniter Community Chieftain and was invited to speak at Augusta CodeCamp 2009 and RefreshAugusta.

He is currently living in San Antonio, TX, with his daughter, Tiara.