Joel Adler has held information systems management and executive positions at Unisys, CertainTeed Corporation, Coopers & Lybrand (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), and the University of Pennsylvania. He is the founder and president of University Informatics Associates Inc. (www.uia-inc.com), and a principal at Ascendigm LLC (www.ascendigm.com). UIA provides IT strategy consulting services and develops custom software for the distribution and manufacturing industries. Ascendigm is a working consortium of senior business-technology professionals that accelerates the application of technology through a unique commercialization methodology. Mr. Adler's career has focused on systems and product development, IT strategy, and IT management and education. He has a Ph.D. in operations research from the Wharton School and an MS in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. His clients include AmeriGas, Amtrak, Conrail, GlaxoSmithKline, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, ICI Americas, International Service Systems, Lukens Steel (now Allegheny Technologies Incorporated), Quantum Chemical Corporation, R&B Corporation, Reliance Standard Life Insurance, Weston Solutions, Inc., and Zeneca Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca). He can be reached at j-adler at uia-inc.com.