James T. Heires is a fifteen-year veteran of the software industry, the majority with Rockwell Collins, Inc. His professional experiences include design of Electronic Flight Instrumentation Systems (EFIS), Engine Indicator and Crew Alerting Systems (EICAS), Flight Management Systems (FMS), and consumer electronics. Five years of software process improvement followed, illuminated by the achievement of SEI CMM Level III in two Rockwell Collins business units. Recently, James is working to improve the state-of-the-practice of project management through parametric cost estimation and quantitative tracking techniques.