Lydia Ash

Engineering Manager at Google

Greater Seattle Area

Current
  • Senior Engineering Manager at Google
Past
  • Lead Software Development Engineer in Test at Microsoft
  • Author of The Web Testing Companion at http://www.amazon.com/Web-Testing-Companion-Efficient-Effective/dp/0471430218
  • Project Specialist and QA Engineer at Endura
Connections
159 connections
Industry
Computer Software
Websites

Lydia Ash’s Summary

Lydia Ash’s Specialties:

Engineering management, shipping software, getting things done


Lydia Ash’s Experience

  • Senior Engineering Manager

    Google

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; GOOG; Internet industry)

    2005Present (4 years)

    Recruited by Google to build an engineering organization responsible for testing all products produced at the Seattle/Kirkland sites. Directed a cross-functional team developing, assessing, and improving software. Promoted and accepted management of testing in other engineering sites including all products in the Client business unit. Designed the organizational strategy for the New York and Boston test organizations. Managed significant number of concurrent project deliverables. Restructured organization to increase impact with constrained resources. Contributed to design of products developing testing strategies appropriate to each product, establishing release criteria, and providing direction. Established metrics for analyzing defect trends, measuring coverage, and monitoring progress.

    Products during Google tenure included:
    Desktop
    Toolbar
    Pack
    Maps (GeoData and pathing)
    Apps for Your Domain
    Gmail
    Talk
    Calendar
    Website Optimizer
    Webmaster Tools
    Various Ads projects

  • Lead Software Development Engineer in Test

    Microsoft

    (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; MSFT; Computer Software industry)

    19992005 (6 years)

    Technical lead for testing the Outlook Web Access product with direct ownership of the key features. Engaged in risk analysis, feature costing, test planning, and feature set decisions. Recruited by the NetDocs team to manage their testing strategy and test engineers for NetDocs Web Access. Managed individuals and mentored them to develop test plans and methodologies. Managed teams through product definition, design, and testing stages. Built the testing teams that owned the most visible areas of the Exchange 2003 release as well as many of the core features. After launching OWA 2003, merged the test engineering team into the Server and Tools Division. Managed two teams of development engineers focused on testing Outlook Web Access 12. Drove architecture reviews and testing for OWA 12. Recognized by senior management for impact via several promotions and awards.

    Products during Microsoft tenure included:
    Outlook Web Access
    Exchange
    Outlook
    NetDocs Web Access (unreleased)

  • Author of The Web Testing Companion

    http://www.amazon.com/Web-Testing-Companion-Efficient-Effective/dp/0471430218

    (Computer Software industry)

    20032003 (less than a year)

    Authored a highly respected book on testing web applications. This book is one of the foundation books given to new Google engineers.

  • Project Specialist and QA Engineer

    Endura

    (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Computer Software industry)

    19981999 (1 year)

    Project management specialist for Endura's support team. Improved communications and coordination with other departments, which led to accurate project planning and reduced elapsed issue resolution time by half. Delivered first usability assessment for the core functionality of Advanced Order Management Enterprise suite -- identifying many workflow redesigns to optimize user interactions. Asked to join the engineering team as a QA engineer. Planned testing, developed test scripts, and executed tests on Endura's suite of applications. Lead tester on automated regression test suite project.

    Products:
    Advanced Order Management Enterprise suite

  • Web Programmer

    State University of New York

    (Educational Institution; 10,001 or more employees; Higher Education industry)

    19951998 (3 years)

    Complete management of computing resources and personnel for the School of Art + Design. Worked with faculty members to design and develop multimedia courseware. Team member working with university committee to define, execute, and deliver the university's first planned website.

    Products during tenure included:
    Multimedia courseware
    Network administration
    Facility planning and management


Additional Information

Lydia Ash’s Websites:

Lydia Ash’s Interests:

Software, management, falconry

Lydia Ash’s Groups:

Forum for Women Entrepreneurs and Executives

Lydia Ash’s Honors:

Publications:
Author of "The Web Testing Companion"
This highly acclaimed book is one of the foundation books given to new Google engineers

Consulting expert for the book "Software Requirement Patterns"

Published paper for the Conference of the Association for Software Testing (CAST) – Large Scale Data Set Analysis

Presentations:
Conference Chair for GTAC 2008
Women in Leadership Symposium panelist
New York Test Engineering Forum panelist
Conference of the Association for Software Testing (CAST) - Data Set Analysis
QA SIG and CAST - Panelist for the Software Testing Exhibition
Society of Women Engineers - Working in the Innovation Factory
University of Washington - Essential Skills for Web Testers
Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference (PNSQC) - A Peek Inside Google's Innovation Factory
Google presentation - Network Analysis
Association for Women in Computing - AJAX in Action
Amazon.com's Engineering series - 5 Ways to Make Your Web Testing More Effective


Lydia Ash’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

  • career opportunities
  • consulting offers
  • new ventures
  • job inquiries
  • expertise requests
  • reference requests
  • getting back in touch

Public profile powered by: LinkedIn

Create a public profile: Sign In or Join Now

View Lydia Ash’s full profile:

  • See who you and Lydia Ash know in common
  • Get introduced to Lydia Ash
  • Contact Lydia Ash directly

View Full Profile