Karen began her career in 1981 as a medical transcriptionist for a group of radiologists in the Dayton area and continued transcribing for local dermatologists as well before shifting gears and joining the University of Dayton Research Institute (1987). At UDRI, Karen was employed with both the Aerospace Mechanics and Structural Integrity divisions, respectively, as the group and division secretaries. It was here that Karen was first introduced to software applications, including word processing and database programs. It was also here that she first met Mike whose wife Peggy worked in that group as a research engineer.
In 1992, Karen transferred to the Department of Biology at the University of Dayton as the departmental secretary. Five years later, Karen left UD to raise her two children. She mentioned this in passing to Mike during a phone call and he issued an immediate invitation to join us.
Karen joined American Computational in January 1998, on a part-time basis. Not as a secretary but as an engineer supporting our database application development efforts. Her background in desktop tools gave her the experience necessary to develop forms and reports. She quickly learned the tricks of the trade and has begun to roll some simple code. Although she doesn't yet have the experience necessary to design from scratch, she shows promise to becoming a full-fledged software engineer.