Team

Cantina has built a partnership of professionals who love technology, want to work on interesting projects, and use best of breed technologies and methodologies to deliver projects efficiently by applying best practices and “common sense” to the business problem at hand. At Cantina, we focus on superb delivery of technology solutions that achieve business results.

Meet our team of experts:

Matt Chisholm	Matt has 1.5 years in the social network space as the CTO of PawSpot.com and over 8 years experience in technology architecture and development as a consultant for Molecular and Edgewater Technology. His client list ranges from consumer-oriented organizations such as Staples, Pearson Education, and Mathworks to high-tech organizations such as Analog Devices and Endeca to major financial institutions such as UBS, JP Morgan, and the Financial Times. Matt holds a Bachelors of Science in Computer Systems Engineering from Boston University.

Adam Stachelek	Adam has over 8 years experience in web application design and architecture as well as experience in multimedia production (audio and video) and delivery. He was a consultant at Molecular providing technical analysis, design, architecture, and implementation services for clients ranging from real estate organizations to large healthcare providers including Colliers International, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Fallon Community Community Health Plan. Adam holds a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst as well as a Diploma in Sound Design for Visual Media from the Vancouver Film School.

Chris Lamothe	Chris is rounding out nearly a decade of interactive development experience that includes several award-winning multimedia projects. Most recently at the Harvard Business School, Chris was instrumental in moving forward the adoption, impact and effectiveness of e-learning and courseware as a vital component of the HBS curriculum. Prior to this, Chris too was a consultant with Molecular where he was instrumental in developing some of the very first Rich Internet Applications. Clients included Yankee Candle, Showtime Networks, Cognos, Analog Devices, Fleet Bank, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Deutsche Bank, Fidelity Investments, and Harvard Business School Publishing. Chris holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emerson College.

Steve Pember	Steve brings over 6 years of experience in a variety of computing fields. The majority of his experience is in developing rich web applications, and he has extensively studied machine learning, data mining, and social network analysis. Over the years he has worked as a Systems Engineer for Radview Software, an IT Systems Analyst / Developer for Communispace Corp., and a Web Developer for Tufts University. Steve holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Trinity College in Hartford, CT as well as a Masters of Science in Computer Science from Tufts University.

Mark Hewitt	Mark Hewitt is the SVP, Sales & Marketing at Cantina Consulting. As such, he is responsible for providing leadership and coordination of Cantina’s sales and marketing functions. Mark is chartered with developing and implementing the sales and marketing growth strategy, analyzing/monitoring results against goals, and providing guidance for future company direction. Mark brings a wealth of experience in strategic planning and executing, and knowledge of contracting, negotiating, and change management. Prior to joining Cantina Consulting, Mark worked in various direct sales and sales management capacities at companies including Molecular, Collaborative Consulting, and Forrester Research. Mark is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and served in the US Army as a Cavalry Officer.

David Fox	David has over 11 years of experience in all phases of web application design and architecture on all major platforms. This includes rich internet applications and Flash development. Prior to Cantina, David worked as Director of Technology for Crunch Brand Communications, Senior Web Developer for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Lead UI Developer for NewsHunter, Manager of Interactive Services for Greco Ethridge Group, and Web Developer for FasTV. David holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Massachsetts College of Art.

Ben Menoza	A User Experience professional of over nine years, Ben Menoza has designed and produced user interfaces for companies in the e-commerce, financial, and media & entertainment industries, among others. As a consultant with Optaros and Molecular, he worked with a number of diverse clients, including: US Oncology, Sam’s Club, Travelocity, Limited Brands, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, and Bank of America. Ben holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems and Mass Communications from Quinnipiac University in Hamden, CT.

Greg Brown	Greg has been writing software professionally for nearly 15 years and has developed an expertise in a wide range of rich client-enabling technologies including Java, Flash, Flex, and AJAX. His previous positions include architecture roles at VMware, WebEx, and Molecular, and he is currently the architect and lead developer of Apache Pivot, a Java-based rich client platform. He has written a number of articles for leading technical publications including O’Reilly & Associates and IBM developerWorks, and holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Matt Venables	Matt has written software professionally for over 7 years. He spent the early part of his career developing web applications using PHP and Flash, before moving on to writing security software for IBM Mainframes. After two years in the security field, Matt rediscovered his passion for web application development. He jumped in head first using Ruby on Rails, which has been his specialty for the past several years, and hasn’t looked back. Matt holds a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Boston College.

Cyrus Beer	Cyrus has over 7 years experience in web development and consulting. Prior to joining Cantina, Cyrus was a consultant at Molecular, Inc. working for clients ranging from Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA to MFS to Staples. Cyrus holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Alec Francesconi	Alec is Project Management Principal and brings a decade of internet consulting experience to Cantina Consulting. Prior to joining Cantina, Alec was with Molecular and Edgewater Technologies where he managed initiatives for clients such as Nikon, Delta Dental, BlueCross BlueShield, Seligman Data and Fidelity Investments and also has designed and implemented in-depth internet business strategies for organizations such as the Project Management Institute, Nikon and Arrow Electronics. In his spare time, Alec is active as a musician and an audio engineer and has both film and music engineering credits to his name. Alec is also the Vice-Chair of the Boston section of the Audio Engineering Society (AES). Alec holds a BA from McGill University in Political Science and History and a diploma in Audio Production from the Center of Digital Imaging Arts at Boston University.