Featured Associates

Penny Orwick
Programmer Writer

Penny has been a programmer writer for Steyer since 2002. Before that, she worked for Openwave Systems, Apollo Computer, and DEC, and as a freelance writer and occasional programmer. She is lead author (with Guy Smith) of Developing Drivers with the Windows Driver Foundation (Microsoft Press, 2007) and has documented graphical user interfaces, hardware device interfaces, and pretty much everything in between.

Her current assignment is with Microsoft Research, where she gets to work with smart people on cool stuff. She likes Steyer because it offers the best of both worlds: the flexibility of freelancing from her home in Montana together with corporate perks and a professional office staff.

In other lives, she has taught writing and literature at the college level and has published short stories and poetry in obscure journals. Her educational background includes an M.F.A. from the University of Montana and a B.A. from Cornell University.

When she’s not tethered to the web, Penny skis, bikes, and reads. Last summer, she completed her first century (100-mile) bike ride — an accomplishment she’s inordinately proud of. She’s also a Master Gardener, a clumsy knitter, and a volunteer writing coach for Missoula secondary schools.

Alina Koldin
Technical Editor

Alina began her technical editing career 13 years ago at Microsoft, as a contract editor for Windows Driver Kit (WDK).  She was soon hired as an FTE and continued her work on WDK. In 2004, Alina joined the Language Excellence group as a Source Terminologist.  In 2005, she became a vendor with Steyer and, in that capacity, worked on a wide range of products as WDK, Microsoft Tag, Microsoft FlexGo, Refurbisher Preinstallation Kit (RPK), and other things that she can’t talk about. She is currently working on Utility Rate Service and Windows Embedded Device Manager in Embedded Systems and Services group. Being a Steyer associate allows her to concentrate on her work, knowing that Marty and his “can-do” team will take care of the rest.

Alina obtained a B.S. in Management Information Systems with a minor in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University. She worked as a technical analyst with Accenture before her career in technical editing.

When she is not editing, Alina enjoys writing scary stories, reading magical books, traveling, and being raised by her son — although not always in that order.

Guy Smith
Programmer Writer

Guy started his working life as a Geophysicist, and worked in the field for fourteen years, ten of them as a Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at St. Louis University. In 1995, he decided that spending the rest of his life in academia wasn’t very appealing, and he and his wife Liz packed up their cats and moved back to Seattle. Guy started his programming writing career with the Microsoft Interactive TV project and in the ensuing 9+ years, he worked on a variety of Microsoft SDKs, including Windows CE, Windows Shell, DirectX 8, and Avalon (which later became Windows Presentation Foundation).

In 2005, he started working with Steyer Associates on a variety of documentation projects for Windows Hardware Driver Central, including co-authoring “Developing Drivers with the Windows Driver Foundation” (Microsoft Press, 2007) with another Steyer writer, Penny Orwick. Recently, he has been writing documentation and samples for a variety of Microsoft Research teams, including Accelerator, DryadLINQ, Microsoft Biology Foundation, Infer.NET, and Kinect for Windows.

When he is not writing about software, Guy has entirely too many side interests. His primary avocation is early music; he plays Renaissance lute, theorbo, sackbut, and serpent in several local amateur groups. He is a former bicycle racer of rather unremarkable ability, but still enjoys passing 30-somethings on his vintage Bottecchia racing bike and riding with his wife on their tandem bicycle. He also enjoys woodworking, including making props for several Early Music Guild operas, and is a moderately serious cook.