Thomas Florek holds the title of lead software developer in the Research & Development division at ETS. He attended the State University of New York at Buffalo from 1981 to 1985 as an undergraduate and graduated with a B.S. in computer science.
Since joining ETS in 1987, he has worked on a great variety of projects with durations ranging from 1 week to several years. He has contributed to these projects in a variety of ways, from consulting and advising to assisting with the data analysis phase of large projects or the development of large systems. He was lead programming architect on several ETS products, including the TOEFL® free practice, the TOEFL® Essentials™ practice questions, TOEFL LanguEdge, Foundational Assessments of Competencies for Teaching, TOEFL sampler, TOEFL administrative tutorials, CLEP® tutorials, CLEP sampler, and the PDQ Profile™ series.
He has led the programming development for many research projects. He led the programming effort to develop the ABC Tool for remotely gathering data about emotion during a test situation. He is also a two-time winner of the programming competition at the TAAC developer’s conference for interactive learning software.
Recent work involves developing a platform for test delivery on iPad devices specifically geared to blind and disabled users. He also developed an interactive iPad installation, which is on permanent display at the Princeton Public Library, a program and database for the creation of a weekly radio program for the Pacifica Radio Network, and similar software to create half-hour television shows used by Princeton Community Television.
He has also developed and edited video projects for ETS and for various charities in New Jersey. His video work has been featured at international festivals such as Aspen ShortsFest, Garden State Film Festival, ReelHeart Film Festival, and the New Jersey International Film Festival. In 2021, he remotely hosted Geekfest Toronto, a Canadian festival of science and technology films.
In 1995, he was awarded a patent for his work on the development of a learning system for nonnative English speakers.