RAHD Oncology Products (no longer in business) has had a software development relationship with Dr. Michael Zeleznik for over ten years. During that time we have benefited from Mike's effort and skill on a broad spectrum of projects. These have ranged from small, well-bounded efforts to very large and complex solutions involving multiple participants. In every case I have found the following characteristics.

1. A wealth of knowledge is brought to every project with a talent for discerning how and when to apply these resources to each task.
   
   
2. Mike has the knack of intuitively realizing that a solid foundation is critical in every technology build project. He first seeks for the proper foundation elements and then assures that they are in place. This is the product of exceptionally good pre-planning skills and design architecting.
   
   
3. His work is carefully thought out and the effort is orchestrated to be efficient and orderly. Collaboration is sought from relevant resources so that the product is reflective of the solution envisioned by all principals.
   
   
4. The commitment is placed properly on finishing the project; not just doing the work. Consequently, the elements of good workmanship are evident. Excellent documentation, clean code, supporting scripts, and diagnostic tools are in place.

I have known Dr. Zeleznik for over thirty years and have always found that he has held himself to the highest professional standards. I have most recently worked closely with Dr. Zeleznik on the volume fusion product that was sold by RAHD Oncology Products, and has been used (and is still being used) in research projects at NYU Medical Center, the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden), and elsewhere.

Dr. Zeleznik's work ethic and sense of professionalism are outstanding. He is a very accomplished professional programmer as well as having a great understanding of the whole picture. He has been a co-author on many papers and has contributed to the tools used in the project, analyzing the data, and improving the exposition of the papers.

I have known Mike Zeleznik since the early 1970s when we were both undergraduate students in physics. We have cooperated on various projects over these years ranging from pioneering work on picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) in the early 1980s to a lot of work on volume fusion in the last decade. He has consistently applied his intelligence to solving real problems over a wide spectrum of areas. He works well with others and is also able to work independently.

Mike is not content to "just do the job", he really wants to understand what the real problem is, then create a good solution. When he starting working with one of the first EMI computed tomography (CT) scanners at New York University's Medical Center he became one of the first (if not the first) non-EMI employees to attend their internal course about this scanner. After this EMI starting sending their field technicians to him for training!

When he started working with IBM's data explorer (DX), he was the first user to develop commercial products upon their code base. The result was the outstanding visualization code that he developed for RAHD Oncology Products' radiation treatment planning system. Not only is Mike a very good software developer, but his code is a pleasure to read.

If you are looking for great solutions that combine knowledge of physics and computer science from visualization to networking and security, Mike is the person to go to.

I have worked with Michael for more than a year. He worked on some complex image processing algorithms and came up with some new techniques that enabled us to improve the quality of our service. If you are looking for an independent thinking high energy and smart technologist Micahael is the man.

Michael provided design, development, and operations for a high-reliability, scientific testing system. Michael's design and implementation has been in operations for more than 3 years and it continues to perform well and provide value to our research group.

Michael was hired by our company to produce an automated visualization pipeline that provided animations of seismic wavefield propagation on a continental scale. The data sources were waveforms from more than 400 seismic stations and the presentation required diligence in data preparation, color keying to data points, and generation of animation frames using a 3D graphics engine.

Michael quickly assessed the appropriate technologies for the job and submitted numerous working drafts for us to evaluate and re-scope as needed. Michael was always very responsive to our requirements changes as we were challenged by scientific and aesthetic demands for the product to be a success.

The end result was a fully automated movie generator that would capture data from a recent earthquake and make a movie available using open-source and accessible server-side solutions. Michael's product was demonstrated at the American Geophysical Union Fall meeting in December 2007 to scores of individuals and had seen much exposure in the scientific community.

Michael was invaluable in implementing the university's (University of Utah) campus network. He took the initiative when appropriate, was very versatile in the skills he applied to a variety of problems, and was extremely responsible in delivering results.

Mike displays an amazing attention to detail and has provided 100% dedication to excellence in all endeavors he has been associated with. I have known and worked with Mike for over the 30 years, so this is not an idle claim.

Mike at Saya Systems transformed my YOPA website from a disaster, created by a previous web developer, into a successful, working and manageable site.

My YOPA website was created less than a year ago (in 2004) by someone referred to me. His hourly rate was reasonable, but as it turned out I was billed for a lot of his learning curve. My simple site ended up costing a thousand dollars. Although it looked good, I soon discovered that (1) it was unmanageable, (2) it could not evolve with my business needs, and (3) it could not be seen by search engines! I communicated with a few different webmasters, and none of them could believe what a mess it was. They all felt that the site was a dead end, and had to be completely redeveloped from the ground up, which Saya Systems did.

Working with Mike has been an extremely positive learning experience. He took the time to examine the situation, assess the problems and my business needs, and then provide options and suggestions on how to proceed with the redevelopment. Rather than have me build a whole new site from scratch, as was suggested by the other webmasters, he helped keep the costs down by working with the original site, piece by piece, turning it into a professional, real working site. He instructed me about search engines and told me what I need to do to optimize the site, which I still have to work on.

He told me how I can make additions and changes to the site, requiring less work on his part, which also keeps my costs down. When I ask for something, he follows up quickly and provides a time frame for completion of the work. His explanations are concise and thorough, and he always offers alternatives and recommendations, which are usually improvements on what I asked for.

Mike is conscientious and knows how to build and maintain a site that works to whatever degree you need. He knows all of the intricacies behind the website you see on the computer. I've learned that just because a site looks good, it doesn't mean it is good!

Saya Systems customized a billing and payment schedule to fit my needs, which is not a common practice these days. It was greatly appreciated!

Since Saya Systems has taken over my web site, I feel confident I am actually in business and that my internet business will grow. Thanks Saya Systems!

When deciding on a web developer, don't rely on a friendly referral alone. Ask questions and take the time to check references! Make sure you understand how your site will be able to change and grow, to evolve with your business needs. Having to pay twice to get the job done right was an expensive lesson.

As a principal with Saya Systems, I work closely on web site design issues.

As the owner of Saya Treasures, I had a vision of how I wanted my own web site to look and feel. Working with Mike at Saya Systems, it turned out exactly as I wanted, and has demonstrated the flexibility to grow with my business, having undergone many changes since the first version. I also get good exposure through search tools like Yahoo (though getting into Google requires extensive cross linking, which I have not bothered with).

The entire site is driven from a database which contains all information on items, pricing, discounts, availability, display color schemes, and so on. I can easily manage this database, especially with the database integrity tools provided by Saya Systems.

I am especially pleased with the high quality images, which reflect the quality of my jewelry. Initially, Saya Systems handled all the photography and image processing. Now, with training from Saya Systems, I take most of the pictures, and Saya Systems handles the image processing to produce quality web images. There is much more to it than I ever imagined.