Michael Rys is program manager for SQL Server's XML Technologies. He also represents Microsoft Corp. in the W3C XML Query working group and the ANSI SQL standardization effort. He joined Microsoft in 1998 after performing research in the areas of object-oriented and semi-structured databases, multi-level transaction management, and distributed heterogeneous information integration at Stanford University (as post-doc) and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich where he earned his PhD.