Curriculum Vitae

Available for development contracts now after a two-year break supervising and helping building work on rental flats.

Ideal location Norfolk, London or Thames valley but prepared to travel (clean driving licence and current passport).

From major developments for the largest Corporate clients to the smallest PC problems, nearly 40 years experience in the computing industry ensures I provide a timely and cost-effective service in the fields of support and development of Unix, PC and VMS systems.

I have been a contract programmer since 1986, working in the areas of system exploitation, open systems administration and application design and implementation for both traditional and graphical environments. My clients have ranged from a three-person software house to major water and electricity utilities, and my responsibilities from coding to leading a team of 15 programmers and defining their development methodology and quality assurance processes. Most of my contracts have been extended repeatedly and several clients have offered further contracts when they next have a development or support problem that requires my skills. Most contracts have been on-site but I have a proven record of productive work from home, delivering code and documentation (for both users and support staff) on time and of high quality. As a contractor, I believe knowledge and skills transfer to be an important part of any job, and I usually undertake informal training of client staff as well as providing support documentation. I can provide formal training as well.

Most contracts have been for system programming, usually user interface, communications and networking. My major skills are in C, developing and supporting IP systems on PC networks running Windows and on Unix, VMS and VME. I also work in C++ and Java, mostly in GUI development, and in SQL and HTML. I am a Certified Java Programmer and a Microsoft Certified Professional.

As a Chartered Engineer, I am committed to increasing the level of professionalism in the computer industry in general and in contracting in particular. I am a member of the British Computer Society, and have served as a Branch Chairman and on its Council, Membership Committee and Independent Contractors Specialist Group Committee.

Technical Summary.

Specific current skills:

• 15 years Unix system and application programming
• 11 years Unix system administration (HP/UX, Linux)
• 10 years SQL, PL/SQL, Pro*C (Oracle 7, 8 and 8i, mySQL)
• 20 years C Language (including compiler support)
• 11 years Java Language
• 15 years PC hardware and configuration
• 15 years MSDOS, Windows, Win32, Windows95, NT, W2000, XP as they were introduced
• 13 years PC Lotus & Microsoft applications (Office, Smartsuite)
• 8 years Web design and implementation

General system development skill areas:

• Communications and systems programming, systems administration.
• Inspection techniques, configuration management, development process design and standards.
• Technical writing (including occasional articles for popular science and computing magazines).

Qualifications and education.

• Member of British Computer Society.
• Chartered Engineer since BCS first joined Engineering Council.
• Eur. Ing. (Europe-wide equivalent of CEng) awarded by FEANI in late 96
• Certified Java programmer (passed SUN's v1.0 exam May 97).
• MSc Computer Science from City University, London (1974)
• BSc Physics (2nd Hons) from Manchester University (1968)
• Educated at the Perse School, Cambridge (O and A levels, to 1965).

Contract Employment Summary.

Permanent Employment Summary.

Professional Activities.

Active within the British Computer Society.

• Secretary of Independent Computer Contractors' specialist group from formation in 1989 until the 1997 AGM. Still on the Committee.
• Chairman of North Staffs branch in 1992.
• Elected member of council for two terms (1991 to 1997).
• Council representative on Membership Committee from 1995 to 1997.

Home Retail Group

General support and development of the Multimedia Database PC applications and batch processes that underlie the Argos and Homebase catalogue stores.

Personally responsible for:

• Support during the launch of Catalogue 69 and the installation of a major system upgrade ('SPODE')
• Development of a database purge program to reclaim 0.5TB of 'lost' temporary table space
• Developmen of image preview facility for online users
• Updates to the Wiki documentation

Emerald Developments

Developing games client for web-enabled mobile phones and server for Unix systems.

Personally responsible for:

• leading design team of three
• implementation of demonstration system in Java
• generation of test cases for game logic class

Convergys Ltd

Convergys Ltd

Convergys Ltd

ICS (UK) Ltd

Joined a small team customising the Geneva billing system for Energis NV, working on file customisation scripts and a database load script (all written in "perl" for an Oracle database) and breakout code for the Geneva account maintenance application (written in VB6).

Personally responsible for:

• reworking an event customisation script in "perl" to increase throughput by a factor of 30
• designing, implementing, documenting and testing a bill customisation script in "perl"
• designing, implementing, documenting and testing an ActiveX DLL in Visual Basic for use as a Geneva CAM breakout implementing postcode lookup and address completion using ADO to access an Oracle database
• designing, implementing, documenting and testing a data loader in "perl" to load the Government-supplied postcode database to support the address completion DLL

Various Web and Training assignments

During this period I have

• built a Linux-based firewall for a small site in London
• completed introductory courses to become an instructor for Learning Tree
• delivered training for Learning Tree
• completed commercial web sites for local businesses (see, e.g. "http://www.norfolk4x4.demon.co.uk/")
• completed the requirements specification for the "PER" support subsystem for the BCS

Geneva Technology Ltd

Part of a team customising the Geneva billing system to meet specific customer requirements and supporting existing customisation code. First contract ran to end of September, followed by a break and a new contract in November.

• Design of customisation programs in response to supplied requirements
• Detailed design and implementation of customised loader for major Czeck customer.
• Detailed design and implementation of call write-off application for major British customer.
• Support of billing processor for major Italian customer.
• Coding to given designs
• Unit test, documentation, build.

Convergys

Rewriting file loader and generation programs for Transfer Accounting Package ("TAP", international standard in mobile telephone industry) to support move from text-based ("TAP.1") files to ASN.1 ("TAP.3") standard.

• Detailed low-level design of loader
• Construction of ASN.1 grammar analyser
• Coding TAP loader in C, Pro*C and Unix shell
• Designing and writing unit test programs and general test tools.
• Documentation.

National Grid Company

Taken on as development programmer in SPICE project (Based on Dec Alpha, VMS, Oracle, C and Pro*C), initially to write an RPC server interface for PCs running PowerBuilder using DCE. Put in charge of Applications development team (8 to 12 members) after 1 month. Extended team's use of formal methods. Ran integration team as well for nearly a year (total varying around 15 people). From Jan 99, with product delivered, moved to support unit.

• Introduction of formal inspections and formal unit testing
• Management of quality process including code and document inspections
• Day-to-day team leading and longer term scheduling including code estimation
• Defect management throughout application
• Recruitment, induction, coaching of team members
• Development and maintenance of RPC server interface for PCs and server job management code.
• Integration test and delivery to system test
• Administration, maintenance and support of NT/SQL server-based support tools.

Cellnet (again)

Part of small team enhancing billing application to handle a three-fold increase in call rates and provide a small increase in functionality. Renewed to work in general support and development. Lead designer for major re-write of suite. Lead designer/implementor for major extension of operator interface. Extended team's use of formal methods.

• Design of new interface to allow community of machines to be operated from single screen via UDP message daemon. Member of implementation team (of two)
• Design of program (in Pro*C) to replace the major Call Data Collection components (in IEF). Member of implementation team (of three)
• Design and implementation of SQL scripts for database conversion
• Design of test strategy and suites for overall regression testing and integration tests for TP
• Design and construction of automated delivery route for new code
• Configuration management and all Unix system administration of HP development machine
• Introduction of formal inspections

Southern Electric

Implementing client/server link (C++ DLL) from PowerBuilder application on PC with OS/2 and Windows to database class on DEC Alpha with OSF/1 linked via tcp and udp sockets to server daemon.

• Design and implementation of the server daemon, client dll and Windows login protocol and graphical user interface in C++

Cellnet

Automating product control and build mechanism for medium-scale development team.

• Design and implementation of a software configuration management and automated build system written in shell scripts and based around rcs and a product definition file
• General Unix system administration

British Telecom

Porting a proprietary X.25/EDI communications protocol package from Unix to VME.

• Design and implementation of shared-store link connecting X.25 handler to the rest of the application, and of test procedures for link
• Porting protocol handler and construction of test harness, later adopted as a standard unit tester by the originators of the code
• Installation of X.25 cards and drivers in test harness PCs and design of configuration allowing simultaneous access to X.25 and Novell networks using DR M-DOS.

Industry Standard Software (again)

Systems design/implementation.

To Aug. 91, in a collaboration with ICL and Network Systems Ltd to provide HYPERchannel connections for ICL Series 39 mainframes. Personally responsible for porting the major application, Bulk File Exchange (BFX) and operator and system manager interfaces, and for documentation.

Performed maintenance on the VME/X C compiler to prepare for X/Open branding.

To Oct. 92, designed and implemented subsystems to give Unix and DOS programs access to VME data in TPMS service keyed files and IDMS databases via RPC over UDP/IP through Sun NFS and the ISS product EXS. Installed on initial customer site (EEC Luxembourg). Maintained test VME service including preparation of site procedures manual and VME and VME/X upgrades.

ICL

Systems Programmer, working with CHOTS secure office applications team for ICL in Bracknell. Responsible for design and implementation of a spooler that could follow a network authentication protocol. Implemented in S3 as a sponsor VM plus an interceptor, replacing RSI (ETM and COSMAN) interfaces to provide a completely general 'virtual lineprinter'.

Industry Standard Software

Systems Programmer

To June 89, implemented raw-mode UNIX device driver for ICL VNS system to read and write VME serial files at block level.

To Dec 89, in a collaboration with ICL to provide a simple form-filling interface for VME SCL commands, based on ICL VisionMaster product. Part of team of three. Implemented an early prototype as a demonstrator. Implemented automatic screen-generation tools in Turbo and ICL Pascal. Implemented validation suite.

Centre For Industries

Application / Service programmer in a joint venture to produce a package for use in application management, disaster planning, security and recovery. Responsible for concept, design, coding, integration, testing, packaging and documentation. Implemented in Turbo Pascal and SCL, with a little COBOL. Also made several marketing trips and sales presentations, plus a 2-week exercise at Welsh Water Authority to install the application and package initial services.

North West Water Authority

Various positions, including Technical Support programmer, operations support consultant, filestore design consultant.

Initial contract to design and implement transition to partitioned filestore and Eagle discs from controlling-file based FDS640.

Extended to Mar 87 for work with Operations Support unit writing and introducing manual and SCL procedures for change management and control and for filestore resilience.

Extended to Sept. 87 as leader of a project to establish disaster recovery procedures and package the major applications to allow easy movement between machines for load balancing.

Contract extended to July 88 to help redefine role of Operations Support unit, to provide training and coaching with SCL writing, to introduce defect analysis for job failures and to establishing coding standards and operational architecture for batch jobs to ease current operational problems.

ICL

78 to 81: Diagnostic programmer. Supporting VME/B operating system (including on-site customer support) and working on design, specification and implementation of diagnostic tools.

Oct. 81: Support Unit Team leader. One of three people organising a new VME support centre in Kidsgrove; then led team of 4 supporting file maintenance code.

July 83: Support Strategist. Joined small team defining company strategy for support of VME on future hardware (Series 39). Designed necessary changes to operating system and software tools to support the strategy, then assisted in implementation.

Sept. 84, joined VME strategy team (OSTC) permanently as strategist responsible for support mechanisms and tools for all Mainframe Systems products, with main focus on Series 39. Briefly responsible for High Security Option.

Galsgow University Computer Service

System Programmer, based at Regional Computer Centre at Edinburgh.

General programming duties, including support of VME/B and VME/K and associated compilers, and design and implementation of spooler code and parts of a job scheduling system, a communications interface and the underlying support code for the Scientific Jobber. Worked on Computer Board working party on networking. Performed liaison duties between Universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Strathclyde.

Oxford University Computing Service

Software support programmer.

General programming duties, including

• support of George 3 and 4
• compiler support (Algol, Fortran, Algol68, BCPL)
• one day a week in User Advisory Service

GEC Computers

Started as materials physicist working on thick-film packaging of high-density microcircuits. Subsequently moved to logic design, including store interface of machine eventually marketed as the GEC 2050.