Summary

Twenty years experience in software and systems engineering.  Expertise in space flight systems, weapons systems, broadband networks, communications protocols, digital video/imagery, and digital signal processing. 

Goals

To apply my extensive software engineering and analytical skills to the creation of technically advanced systems. 

Education

M.S., Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1986.

Additional graduate course work in EE and Physics, George Mason University, 1988-1992.

B.S., Economics, The Pennsylvania State University, 1982.

Work History

Consultant                                                                                      October, 1991 - Present

Critical Software Systems is my self-owned consulting practice.  Since its creation, I have used my depth and breadth of technical skills to meet my clients’ needs for high-reliability solutions.  Taking a systems engineering approach to software development results in a rapid and robust development process.  Major projects in my core business areas are listed below:

Spacecraft: System engineering, ground and flight software development, payload interfacing, test and integration of low-earth orbit and geosynchronous spacecraft. Missions include NASA Lewis and Clark, Air Force STEP and APEX programs, the Orbview commercial imaging satellites and the Orbital Sciences Corporation Star-2 systems including NStar and Galaxy-12. Flight software lead on the OSC/Northrop Grumman team for the NASA Orbital Space Plane program.

Weapons Systems: Software systems engineering and software development on a U.S. Navy upgrade to the AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare system.

Digital Video Systems: Set-top box software development for direct broadcast and Internet convergence applications including DirecTV, AOLTV and TeleTV.  Experience with MPEG, HTML, client-side JavaScript programming, smart cards and middleware. 

Communications and Networking: Mathematical modeling, design and implementation of digital and RF communications protocols for serial, network and space-to-ground links. Embedded software development for Internet protocols (TCP/IP, SNMP).  Design and implementation of performance analysis systems for ATM, frame relay and wireless networks, including MIB design, data collection, warehousing and reporting.

Workstation Software: Object-oriented design and development of multi-tier software using C++, Java, VB, and scripting languages on Windows and Unix/Linux.  Applications include spacecraft command and telemetry processors, 1553 and 488 bus interfaces, network, parallel and serial communications interfaces and other utility programs.

Systems Engineering: Requirements analysis, test plans and procedures, configuration management, user and programmer documentation, user training, deployment and operations support in all application areas. Hands-on troubleshooting using digital oscilloscopes, logic analyzers, in-circuit and on-circuit emulators, spectrum analyzers and bitstream generators.  Setup of test beds and lab facilities, including network and telco wiring, routers, hubs, power supplies, and simulators. 

Timeline of Major Clients and Products:

Orbital Sciences Corporation, including CTA Space Systems              Oct 1991 – Apr 1992,

(space flight systems/software engineering)                                         Mar 1995 – Mar 1999,

                                                                                                              Nov 2001 – Present

General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems                                   Feb 2003 – Present

(weapons systems software engineering)

Liberate Technologies (interactive TV middleware)                              Mar 2000 – Oct 2001

Hughes Network Systems (TV set-top box software)                          Mar 2000 – Sep 2001

IMCI Technologies (network performance analysis software)              Mar 1999 – Mar 2000

TeleTV (TV set-top box software)                                                       Jan 1995 – Mar 1995

Northrop Grumman Space Technology, formerly TRW                       May 1992 – Dec 1994

(space flight software)

Digital System Resources, Inc., Fairfax, VA                               February, 1988 - October, 1991

Software development and systems engineering of digital signal processing (DSP) systems for active sonar, infrared and space-based systems. 

BTG, Inc., Vienna, VA                                                                       April, 1985 - February, 1988

Multi-source SIGINT correlation, fusion and tracking software development. 

American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC                      January, 1983 - April, 1985

Statistical analysis, database design and programming.

Programming Languages

C++, C, Java, Visual Basic, JavaScript, Tcl, PL/SQL, Assembly.

Embedded Processors, Bus Architectures and Real-Time Operating Systems

Intel Architecture (IA): 80x86-Pentium (VRTX, VxWorks); Motorola PowerPC (VxWorks), 68xxx (DAVID, OS/9); Intel i860, R3000 (VxWorks); ADSP 21xx, 1750A, ARM (µC/OS).

Communications

TCP/IP, SNMP, MIB, PPP, HTTP, SDLC, MPEG, IEEE-488, MIL-STD-1553.

Workstations and Operating Systems

Windows; Linux; Sun (Solaris); HP (HP-UX); IBM RS/6000 (AIX); VAX (VMS).

Environments, Applications and Databases

MS .NET, Tornado, Matlab, Mathematica, MathCAD, Oracle, Access, HP OpenView, Tivoli NetView, LiveConnect, UML, XML, CORE, Rational, PVCS, CVS, SAS, SPSS.

Clearance

U.S. Citizen. Clearance held; details available upon request.