We are happy to announce our 2023-2024 VIPs! This year we have a great group of individuals from a wide variety of technical backgrounds. Dave Calkins (@dave.calkins ), James Truax (@jamestruax , and Jens Mueller (@jm1) are returning this year. We also have some new faces for this year’s program including Liyona Bonakdar (@liyona.bonakdar), Rajesh Bhartiya (@rajesh.bhartiya), and Shawn Golden (@shawn.g).
HOOPS VIPs
Dave Calkins
Dave has been a VIP since the beginning of our VIP Program. Dave is a software engineer with over 22 years of development experience. He works as a Software Architect at Hexagon Metrology and is based in Pennsylvania. He has a passion for sharing knowledge and his love of HOOPS products.
James Truax
James is another long-time VIP! He is a Senior Engineer at ThermoAnalytics based in Calumet, Michigan. For the past 22+ years, he has worked with ThermoAnalytics to develop thermal simulation software. He currently uses HOOPS Visualize.Liyona Bonakdar
Liyona is one of our new VIPs, and he uses HOOPS Exchange, HOOPS Publish and HOOPS Visualize through his work at Simcon. He is a Software Engineer with over six years of experience. Liyona is a strong engineering professional with a Master of Science (M.Sc.) focused in Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering from the University of Kassel.Rajesh Bhartiya
Rajesh is also a new VIP for this year! However, he has been in the engineering software industry for 25+ years! Previously he worked at Tech Soft 3D developing new products, among other things. Rajesh is the founder and CEO of ProtoTech Solutions and Services, where he helps companies develop advanced engineering applications. He is settled in Pune, India with his wife and two kids. Rajesh enjoys his time most when he is designing and developing software. He is a voracious reader and an adventure nut. He has summited Kilimanjaro, cycled 600 kms in the Andes to Machu-Picchu and ran Antarctica and Everest full marathons.OEM VIPs
Jens Mueller
Jens joined the VIP Program last year and is returning this year. He is the inventor and chief developer of AutoSTAGE as well as founder and CEO of the AutoSTAGE GmbH company, based in western Germany. Since 2007, the AutoSTAGE application has been present in the German trade show, theater and event industry as a plug-in for AutoCAD. In 2015, AutoSTAGE has been released as a stand-alone application based on AutoCAD OEM, with great response in the market. In addition to his creative development work, he likes to travel with his family, do sports or relax with a read.Shawn Golden
Shawn is a new VIP this year but he's a familiar face to many here in our OEM community. He has been a part of Microvellum for 7 years. He’s worked as a Quality Assurance specialist since 2021 and is very familiar with AutoCAD and AutoCAD OEM, which Microvellum has leveraged as part of their solution for intelligent cabinet design. Prior to his current role, Shawn was Head of Technical Support at Microvellum and has over 10 years of technical support experience.Again, a big welcome to both our returning and new VIPs! Please give them a virtual round of applause.