Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference - interview with president Philip Lew

On October 14th, 2025 I attended the Pacific Northwest Software Quality Conference - their 43rd year! It’s the longest running conference dedicated to software quality.

I sat down with president Philip Lew to learn more. Phil’s association with the conference began back in 2012, as a presenter. He was invited back in 2014, at which point he started volunteering. In 2015 he was invited to the board, later became program chair, and then president in 2022, after the pandemic. PNSQC is a nonprofit organization. Phil runs his own company offering software testing services, and has been in the industry for 25 years.

One standout distinction for the PNSQC is they have a lot of returning attendees - over 50%. In fact, one of the attendees at the conference was on her 29th conference. Phil attributes this unique quality because of the strong community feel, and relationships attendees develop. Another differentiator is they offer young professionals an opportunity to present on a small scale with poster papers - usually something you would see at an academic conference. Think science fair.

Also, there is a paper available for download with every talk, and all presentations are recorded and offered for free online.

One of PNSQC’s main goals are on increasing diversity - diversity of professional domains and age ranges. This is the first year they are hosting a robotics dance off with high school students, which brings in the embedded software and IoT crowd, for example.

PNSQC is hosting an upcoming event in January called a quality jam - an evening of lightning talks, free for the community. This is usually on a Thursday, followed by free workshops on Friday. Be on the lookout!