Douglas C. Schmidt is a Professor of Computer Science, Associate Chair of the Computer Science and Engineering program, and a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Software Integrated Systems, all at Vanderbilt University. He has also been the Chief Technology Officer for the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, where he was responsible for directing the technical vision and strategic R&D investments.

Dr. Schmidt has published 10 books and more than 500 technical papers on software-related topics, including patterns, optimization techniques, and empirical analyses of object-oriented frameworks and domain-specific modeling environments that facilitate the development of distributed real-time and embedded (DRE) middleware and mission-critical applications running over data networks and embedded system interconnects.

Dr. Schmidt has also led the development of ACE, TAO, and CIAO for the past two decades. These technologies are pattern-oriented DRE middleware frameworks used successfully by thousands of companies and agencies worldwide in many domains, including national defense and security, datacom/telecom, financial services, medical engineering, and massively multiplayer online gaming.