Test Automation Meetup – March 2025

With over 20 years of experience in software testing and development, Marcel is passionate about simplifying and advancing test automation. At Wopee.io, he works to help teams adopt smarter, AI-driven approaches to testing, making automation more accessible and effective. Marcel enjoys sharing practical insights and exploring how technology can support teams in delivering high-quality software.

Marcus Merrell is a Principal Technical Advisor at Sauce Labs, where he uses his 25+ years in quality assurance & testing to advice companies on test strategy, automation architecture, and how to use automation to manage business risk rather than chasing meaningless metrics. An active member of the Selenium Project Leadership Committee, Marcus works to spread the word about the free & open web, and to help people separate hype from reality in our ever-changing world. He lives in California with his wife, and enjoys hiking, biking, and gaming.

With over 20 years of experience in QA automation, I am a passionate and skilled leader who can design, implement, and manage effective and efficient testing solutions for various domains and technologies. I have a proven track record of delivering high-quality results, reducing costs, and increasing productivity for my clients and employers.

As a Quality Assurance Manager at FreightVerify Inc, I managed a team of 13 SDETs on 1300+ test suites, reviewed and approved GitLab merge requests, provided historical progress reports in Allure, tracked projects and issues in Jira, performed candidate tech interviews, and achieved a quick win of nightly execution of four suites in three environments. Previously, as a Lead Software Test Engineer at Guaranteed Rate, I managed five automation projects with seven SDET resources using a common JavaScript WebdriverIO test framework, optimized manual testers setup time with an RPA custom loan creation tool, and accelerated late night production release with testRigor, a no-code testing tool that enabled me to write tests in plain English and find multiple defects in real time.

I am also an active and recognized contributor to the QA community, as a host and speaker of ZappleTech Test Automation Meetups, a game master of the British Computer Society’s Bug Bash, an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, a conference speaker at Automation Guild and other events, an instructor at the International Institute for Software Testing, and a runner up of the HP White Paper Award Contest for writing a paper on the hidden ROI of automated software testing. I am always eager to learn new skills, share my knowledge, and collaborate with other professionals in the field.