Don Tipton of 9th Street Codewerx graduated from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. While there, his specialty in electromagnetics and work with the Fiber and Electro-Optic Research Center there afforded him the opportunity to work on a variety of projects. These included software design for in situ process monitoring and speckle interferometric image analysis in the MathWorks' MatLab suite.

In 1995 Don began work at Lucent Technologies as a Member of Technical Staff. While there, his work included design of several software components in National Instruments' LabView package for long term fiber reliability measurements. It also involved designing a software controlled automated system for optical fiber fusion, components of which were granted patents.

In 1999, Don received his Sun Java Certification, earning perfect scoring in language structure, event handling, threads, graphics, and user interface sections. He immediately put this knowledge to use by forming 9th Street Codewerx, the premier independent consulting firm, for Java development and Object research.

At 9th Street Codewerx, Don designed and developed large scale consumer based applications for the Stereo Shop of Rochester, NY and Building Block Software of Webster, NY. These utilized strong Object and pattern architecture principles, and stressed ease of use, simplicity, and refined user interface experience.

In his spare time, Don keeps up with desktop OS and hardware developments, enjoys painting in oils and acrylics, physical fitness, and staying abreast of advances in physical sciences and technologies.