Software Testing Blog

After several weeks of intense deliberation, we are delighted to announce the winners of the 2010 uTester of the Year Awards. In its second year, the uTester of the Year program recognizes the very best testers in the uTest community; those who consistently outperform across numerous fronts such as paid uTest projects, Crash Courses, and forums to name a few. The winners were selected by our community management team and project managers, who have the privilege of working closely with an extremely talented community of professional testers.

Top honors for the 2010 awards goes to Brian Rock from Austin, Texas – capturing the Most Valuable Tester award for the second year in a row (two for two!). Brian joined uTest in early 2009, and brings 10+ years of software engineering experience (on top of his Bachelors and Masters degrees) to our community. Over the course of the year, Brian expanded on his success from the prior year by venturing into special projects, some of which include test automation, test case creation, and performance engineering.

In comparison to his comments from the 2009 uTester of the Year award, he had this to say about his more recent experience with uTest in the past year:

There is no doubt that 2010 was an outstanding year. Without a doubt, uTest matured leaps and bounds over the previous year. As a result, the complexity of the projects that I have been involved in has also increased significantly. This has given me various new opportunities, such as developing some rather complex automation frameworks, in addition to honing my exploratory testing skills. In the past year I have had the opportunity to write frameworks in four different languages for various customers and applications. Having that level of exposure to so many technologies is extremely valuable and the experience has been utterly exciting!

In addition to project-related work, I’ve also been involved in mentoring and coaching junior testers in the community. These experiences are invaluable and have allowed me to work on my soft skills of team building and management. And as a forums moderator, it has been exciting to be the catalyst behind spirited debates and insightful discussion on the uTest forums. I have benefited from the interaction with testers from around the world and being able to share insights and opinions, and hope that I have also helped testers within the community to see some of the issues affecting our trade in different lights.

All in all, 2010 with uTest was a truly rewarding experience and I look forward to continued growth and opportunities for 2011.

The complete list of winners is shown below:

• Most Valuable Tester: Brian R.

• Top Load and Performance Expert: William R.
• Top Test Automation Expert: Brian R.
• Top Test Case Creation Expert: Teresa B.
• Top Manual Testing Expert: John K.
• Top Usability Expert: Inge D.

• Top Tester: Amit K.
• Top Tester: Atul A.
• Top Tester: Dominique M.
• Top Tester: Eureka L.
• Top Tester: Federico C.
• Top Tester: Giovanni P.
• Top Tester: Jet L.
• Top Tester: Leung G.
• Top Tester: Nicola S.
• Top Tester: Pedro G.
• Top Tester: Roman T.
• Top Tester: Santhosh T.
• Top Tester: Sweety R.
• Top Tester: Thiago F.
• Top Tester: Travis H.

We’d like to congratulate and thank all of our 2010 winners! As much as 2010 was an improvement upon 2009, we expect even bigger and better things this year. The competition for the 2011 awards has already begun, and we’re already laying out the groundwork to identify top talent for both new and veteran uTesters! Remember, it’s your performance for the current year that matters so now is the best time to engage and outperform!