Steve's Resume

Updated: May 7, 2004

All pictures are Copyright (c) 1986-1998 Vortex Research Inc. All Rights Reserved.
(The animated email gifs aren't mine)
This resume has been written (in most parts) without the names of past or present employers for the sake of their privacy.


 

Experience Overview

I suppose I should start by stating that I generally perform contract development. My business experience is rounded and from an entrepreneurial vantage, mainly in the areas of personnel and project management, and goal oriented management in research teams, technical and assembly staff. I have dealt with the government research grant structure in Canada, successfullyMeckanic in a Penguin Suit at 41 on numerous occasions, with the NRC. As well I have had some exposure to Stock Markets and OSC/SEC practices. Recently I have had a great deal exposure to corporate law in regard to contracts and Intellectual Property Rights. In the past I was required to wear many ‘hats' and consequently have uniform experience in general business operations, budgeting, sales projections, back project management, cash flow projections, business and personal taxes, SR&ED tax credit applications, University contracting, project quotations, cost estimation, gross margin analysis, investment prospectus and business plans to name a few.

Presently, I am running a small Recording Studio operation of about 1200 sq feet and 3 employees, that primarily produces Karaoke CD's in CD+g format. So, I have all of the concerns of a normal recording studio plus the additional requirements of synchronization. This of course entails the aquisition of additional licenses apart from the mechanical licenses. The research burden is also serioulsy increased as we must locate and obtain approvals from not only the song composers, but also the lyric writers. Our present repertoire is 40 CD's (400 songs) and covers a range of musical styles and genres. Our production quality is fantastic with extremely low noise thresholds and very wide dynamic range. I designed and built the studio myself and hand selected all of the equipment. It is MIDI controlled with a healthy mix of anolgue and digital instrumentation. Recording can be performed, real time to hard drive or to 4 track reel to reel tape. Five servers manage long term storage, internet access, web services and our Internet based VPN.

On the Internet and IT side, my experience begins in 1979 forward with BBS's and then exposure to Control Data Corporation and the Internet by way of my employer at that time. I have moved forward from a time when my greatest allies were a TTY43, a CBM, then an Apple II, all 3 with an acoustic couplers in the beginning. Long before IRC was replaced by ICQ and AIM, a time when only intelligent life swam in the sea of electrons. Since that time of course, technology has radically changed, as has the Internet. In the area of Internet application deployment over the past 3 years, I have worked with a wide range of server daemons. All of my integrated systems work has been NT4 and Sun Sparc servers aligned with Win95/98 and Win3.1x clients on TCP/IP 10/100BaseT/2 networks connecting to the Internet through dial-up, DSL, T3 or DS3/OC3 connections. I have also worked with the deployment of the TradeCaster Stock Market Trading system host and client applications. I use standard browsers such as Netscape 4.x, Internet Explorer 5.x and their associated plugins. Most of my web page authoring is pre-outlined in Page Composer and then any requisite Java or HTML script is added using Wordpad manually. I am possibly overzealous on security issues. Even on my own systems I run a very specific forward proxy plus additional tools to provide secure operations. This could be due to my military experience or just the fact that to me, it makes good sense. One of my favorite sayings is "Perfect paranoia is perfect awareness".

My primary choices of languages for coding is generally PDC Prolog, Prolog for Windows, Visual Prolog or Assembly. I am still however very familiar with Lisp, Delphi, C, C++, Visual Basic, Pascal, OCCAM (old transputer RISC engines). I have released a large number of simple to complex programs into BBS's and the Internet from 1980 to 1997. Some of my software has appeared bundled on CD-ROMS for resale. For documentation purposes, I use as a standard Word Perfect Suite 7 or Microsoft Office SR97 in both home and office. When I am required to develop hardware, I design the schematics using Orcad SDT/ESP/PCB and the PCB artwork using Tango PCB or PADS. The packaging design is accomplished using ACAD 12.

Many of the areas I have operated within performing Research and Development are considered fringe or state of the art, depending on which scientist you speak with on which particular day. In the area of communications I have developed a potentially pragmatic approach to the negation of light speed delays using Einstein Podolsky Rosen Solutions. A possible method of compressing the spatial distance between any two points by opening an classical emulation of a quantum Einstein Rosen gateway. This work is presently in a Canadian university and was originally put forward in 1996, contracted formally in 1997. A second area is Bose Einstein Condensate technology for energy generation and molecular level structure modification using adiabatic reactions. Something like a supercollider in reverse or a Tokamak reactor, that fits on your desktop. I have found through experimentation that it inadvertently works as an excellent credit card eraser at a distance due to the high energy magnetic fields. Other areas I have also worked on are precession frequency based Gas Excitation systems to increase combustion temperatures, Cellular Signature based Medical Instruments to analyze dysfunctional or failing organs and Ferro Polymers/Absorbers for applications potentially relating to Stealth systems. The previous technologies were funded in part by the NRC and/or the private sector. I have done work on gravity interferometry using lasers, and have designed High Energy Plasma and Laser systems.

There has been a large amount of conventional development work as well in PLC's, VFI's, VFD's, PFC's, Security and Data Acquisition systems, and RSA plus modified encryption algorithms following the original FIPS 46 and 81 standards for government and military applications. I provided R & D assistance in the area of Nanotechnology based productization of thin films for high energy density storage materials. In a similar vein, examining the potential for DNA similar (enhanced helix) silicon auto replication and growth of sub-micron products, nano-structured communications and other devices. I have also worked on Inertial Drive Systems and the mathematical mechanics of directed force that might be used in space transport applications. At one point, long ago, I even provided reverse engineering and failure testing devices to the old SDI, for the purposes of cyclic stress testing of their embedded processors to analyze code release.

My manufacturing, system engineering and integration for process and analytical applications has been on large scale water quality systems for thermal and nuclear generating stations, research and emulation, and building automation systems. From an electronic vantage only, military security systems, NT 4 server systems and high power laser targeting and (wireless) line of sight communications systems. On network applications, for LAN (Ethernet) and WAN (dedicated line and Internet) systems using AC/DC PLM, Radio Link and Optical transception as well as conventional wire applications using ThinNet and 10/100BaseT.

Beneficial Hobbies

My music experience is primarily in MIDI file composing, sequencing and re-engineering. I operate with Cakewalk XL 2004, but I can also easily use Cubase, Big Noise, MidiSoft and many others. The hardware I am presently using, are Hoontech and SoundBlaster 16/24 bit DSP products. For individual track composing I have a Yamaha PSR-730 synthesizer, a Kawai FS-800 synthesizer and a MidiComposer/Roland Sequencer. Recording is done on professional equipment and Plextor CD-R/W drives. I have a large mixing board, but have designed other specialized equipment to make recording sessions a little easier. I tend to cut a few free demo disc's a year for friends who know artists who are trying to get started.

Our network is comprised of three NT4 Servers, a Sun Sparc Server (UNIX), a Linux Redhat Server, a Windows NT4 Workstation and nine other Windows clients. Network medium is a mix of 100/1000BaseTx running across a 24 port patch and 24 ports of switches.

I have been both an amateur and professional photographer. My choice of camera's are Minolta X-7A and XG-1 bodies. I have and use lenses ranging from 17 mm through to 500 mm mirror and a 600 mm Vivitar telephoto. When doing special effects I use the Hoyarex filter system. My video recording is done using a Hitachi VM-4400A with expanded visual bandwidth for taping normal VL, close IR and UV. The digital photography I handle using 1 to 3 mpixel Kodak products with 32 to 128 meg RAM modules. I am well experienced in touch-ups, cutouts, photographic enhancements and special effects using Picture It, Thumbs, Corel 8, Paint Pro, Picture Easy 3 and others.

Goals

Presently I wish to shift my career base slightly moving it from one of intensive R&D to more business or studio management, information technology and Internet systems management or startups. I believe this will allow me some latitude in expanding my intellectual horizons and will apply my past experience to future endeavors. The knowledge I have gained in the past is applicable to me at deskoperations in informational systems with the addition of a slight shift in thinking. I have started back into Unix after 20 years. My first step was the installation of a Sun Sparc on my internal network, loaded with Solaris, Next Step and Linux. I prefer diversity in operating systems and have added Linux to my present server farm.

Personal

I have just finished writing a novel, it was completed recently and I am in the process of organizing its publication. As hobbies, I fish, sail, play ping pong and pool and as noted am a photographer. My subject range is mainly scenery and wildlife. I have however, shot models, provided portfolios, generated pictures for advertising and product layouts and have had three shows.


Employment History Follows



VRI Production Studios
Division of Vortex Research Inc. 
(Canada)

Position: Director
September 2002 to present

Duties and Responsibilities,

  • Contract Negotiation with Publishers, Agents and Recording Artists
  • Copyright Ownership and License Research
  • Network Administration (5 servers, 10 clients, 1.55 terrabytes)
  • Webpage Design
  • Studio Management (3 people)
  • Midi Sequencing using Roland, Yamaha, Kawai Synths and Cakewalk
  • Lyric Synchronization to produce CD+g Karaoke CD's
  • Studio Operation and Live Recording
  • License Auditing and Sales Volume Tracking
  • e-commerce Store Management
  • e-commerce Accounting
  • e-commerce based shipping
  • Preliminary Real Time VPN Licensing Application Development for the Internet

Vortex Research Inc
(Canada)
Position : Director, Research and Development
October 1990 to Present

Duties and Responsibilities,

Contract - 2002
(Newly placed technology company on the stock market - ongoing)
(completed Dec, 2002)

  • Design and development of modem/telecommunications products
  • PCB Design, gerber generation and prototyping
  • Device cost analysis
  • Data Mining for device selections

Contract - 2000
(Great High technology start-up company - ongoing)
(ongoing until August 2002)

  • Mechanical design of lighting, aspiration systems, growth chambers, etc. (patentable)
  • Device and product development
  • Patent writing (water cooled jackets, aspirators, transport blocks, processes)
  • Drawing generation for construction by machine shop
  • "Hands On" prototyping using mills, lathes, etc., constructing and testing my own devices
  • Development of Computer Controlled HPS and Metal Hallide Light Systems (patentable)
  • System and Process Integration for Airoponic/Hydroponic Products (patentable)
  • Co-generation system analysis (eventual implimentation)
  • Network Administration and Support/Maintenance (NT4 and Linux)
  • Application implimentation on management and support tools, and internet access


Contract - 1999 to 2000
(Underwater ROV/Submarine firm)

  • Hardware/Software/Firmware Consulting.
  • Design and development of Data Acquisition and Control Systems Hardware (80C196NT based).
  • Design of PCB's Artwork.
  • Contract work on Variable Frequency Inverter and Power factor Controller development.
  • Contract work on Underwater Vehicles, High Energy Power Supplies development.
  • Products developed using  the EVM-80C196KR Rev 2, Emulator, 80C196 Simulator and OTPROM programmer.
  • Technical Manual writing and schematic drawing.


Contract - 1999
(Large IT firm)

  • Design, Development and Deployment of NT 4 Internet Domain Server Systems and application specific servers using TCP/IP protocol on a 100BaseT network linked to dual DS3's.
  • Design, Development and Deployment of HTTP/FTP/POP3/IRC/ICQ Groupware Servers and Application Software.
  • Design, Development and Implementation of Secure LAN/WAN Systems, Proxy and Firewall Systems using Wingate and other Proxies.
  • Implementation of firewall based TCP mapping and UDP associations for client to host software operation.
  • Host and Client Level Software configuration and testing.
  • Technical and Systems Planning Reporting and Implementation.
  • Technical Team Management, Reporting and systems handover.
  • Third Party Software Application Integration.
  • System Size: More than 100 secure clients and servers linked to more than 150 servers on the Internet with over 45 WAN clients, 300k+ Internet clients.

Contract - 1998 to 1999
(Underwater ROV/Submarine firm)

  • Design and development of Data Acquisition and Control Systems Hardware (80C196NT based).
  • Design of PCB's Artwork.
  • Design of embedded processor firmware in assembly language.
  • Design of embedded processor OTPROM programmer for the 80C196NT.
  • Contract work for Underwater Vehicles, Data Acquisition and Control Systems.
  • Delivered on time and on budget.
  • Products developed using  the EVM-80C196KR Rev 2, Emulator, 80C196 Simulator and OTPROM programmer.
  • Technical Manual writing and schematic drawing.

Contract - 1998
(Health Management firm on stock market)

  • Design, Development and Deployment of NT 4 Internet Domain Server Systems and application specific servers using TCP/IP protocol on a 100BaseT network linked to dual DS3's.
  • Design, Development and Deployment of Intranet and Extranet Application Software.
  • Design, Development and Implementation of Dcom applications, Security and Firewall Systems.
  • Design, Development and Implementation of Secure WAN Systems.
  • Technical and Systems Planning Reporting and Implementation.
  • Technical Team Management and Reporting.
  • Third Party Software Application Integration.
  • Third Party Contract Management and Liaison.
  • Web Presentation Management and Approvals.

Contract - 1997 to 1998
(High technology R&D firm)

  •  Development of Internet based solutions, Intranets, Extranets using NT 4 platforms.
  •  Development of LAN and WAN solutions using the Internet and Dedicated Line Systems.
  •  Web Page development in HTML and Java.
  •  Windows NT 4 server configuration, maintenance and systems integration.
  •  Secure communications, 40 bit (Soft), 64 bit (FIPS RSA), 128 bit (Hard) and 256 bit.
  •  Design and Management of Wingate 2.1d and other proxy based solutions.
  •  Installations, Applications and OS Upgrades.
  •  Virus Removal and Anti Virus Protection.
  •  Client and Server hardware Repair and Upgrades.
  •  Project Management, Costing Analysis, Proposals and Quotations.
  •  Technical, Business Plan and Operative Manual writing.


Officer, Director, Shareholder and contract - 1995 to 1997
(High technology R&D firm)

  • University Project Co-Ordination and Contract development.
  • Project and Contract Management.
  • Proof of Concept Prototyping and Product Development, Prototype testing and analysis.
  • Sub Contractor Management.
  • Investor Relations and Investment Acquisition.
  • Patent application writing and submission.
  • Costing Analysis and Budget reporting, Proposals and Quotations, Business Plan generation.
  • Advertising, Marketing Plan and Information generation.
  • Systems Integration, Pentium platforms.
  • Software and Hardware Installation, Upgrades and Repair.
  • Technical Manual writing and schematic drawing.

Multiple Public and Private Sector Contracts - 1990 to 1995

  • Proposal, Workplan and Quotation generation for R&D Projects.
  • Project and Sub-Contractor Management.
  • Project Reporting and Abstract generation.
  • Company government reporting and taxes.
  • Development of Data Acquisition and reporting software for PC/XT/AT systems. Firmware required changes to PIC processor routines to repair time overflow problems. System uses dynamically reconfigurable database, graphics oriented routines, I2C serial communications from XT/AT/Pentium parallel port to target device and has complete diagnostics and data manipulation routines. Product now being sold worldwide.
  • Development of a serial to 3 channel A/D converter system for Underwater ROV firm. Complete design/development, prototyping and software. Rush job, delivered on schedule in 5 days.
  • Development of specialized tunneling Scalar wave detector.
  • Development of a new mode of communications system using distance compression (EPR solutions) which may also be used for biological systems monitoring applications. Presently under development at the University of Toronto since January 1997.
  • Preliminary development of Great Lakes Remediation Project software and hardware including demo software and silt/depth sensing systems. Successfully demonstrated in Lake Ontario.
  • Development of WAN system used for the purposes of utilization of extended dynamic reconfigurable database structures, XT/AT Based, developed in PDC Prolog 3.3.
  • Development of Brain Entrainment/Sleep Therapy equipment. Preliminary performance testing monitored on our Grass 8 -10D (electroencephalogram) over a 4 week period.
  • Product development of PLC/SCADA/DATAQ systems using XDS-22 and EVM77C82.
  • Development of an i8096 behavioral model, per specifications written to simulate operation of user generated object/source code in IBM environment. (1150k in exe's) System written in PDC Prolog using lookup tabling and database, inference engines.
  • Development of Mass Decelerator/Adiabatic Reactor to examine BEC's.
  • Development of client specified medical devices.
  • Development of client specified water treatment systems.
  • Instruction of Electricians in Network hardware, installation and wiring (at college).
  • Federal Grant program (NRC/IRAP, GREEN, etc.) acquisition and management including preliminary Project Management, Costing Analysis, Proposals and Quotations.
  • Technical Manual writing and schematic drawing.


Research and Development Firm
(South Africa)
Position : Director, Research and Development
November 88 to October 90

Duties and Responsibilities,

  • Design of processor based products, Prototyping, Testing and Debugging.
  • Design of Flash A/D converter systems and Block Amplifiers.
  • Design of SCADA/DCADA/DATAQ/PLC products and sensory devices.
  • Design of Custom Application based Firmware and Software.
  • Design of Encryption standard based on supportable hardware engines.
  • Implementation and construction of secure networks for DND.
  • Product planning & Management of the R&D team (3-8 engineers).
  • Consulting and Lecturing for Military Services.
  • Private Tutoring in Accounting Systems, Word Processor, Spreadsheet and Database use.
  • Products developed using SBE-96, EVM77C82, EVM320 and AT's.
  • Technical Manual writing and schematic drawing.


Military Contractor and Research Firm
(South Africa)
Position : Chief R&D Engineer and R&D Manager
December 86 to October 88

Duties and Responsibilities,

  • Design and Development of processor based Security products.
  • Prototyping & Testing/Debugging for Data Acquisition and Distributed control systems.
  • Development of Artificially Intelligent Learning Systems.
  • Design of Network sharing printer router/server for 9 users.
  • Software development in Prolog, Assembler, C, & Pascal.
  • Management of R&D Lab, Assembly Lab and all projects (T1/T2's, Bs & Ms Engineers, 4 people in R&D, 14 people in Assembly, 10 people in manufacturing).
  • Long range planning of new products.
  • Specification, Tender and Technical Manual writing.
  • Contract, product, project estimating & management.
  • Presentations and Consulting for Security and other products used in tracking and targeting.
  • Consulting and development services for Accelerated Particle and  Plasma Systems.
  • Interfacing of main computer systems with RF links to remote Data Acquisition systems.
  • Hardware for Broadband voice/data operation.
  • System and Cable installation commissioning for video monitoring and data communications systems (short/medium distance, 10 km max.).
  • Key Point (Military) Security Operations and Management.
  • Instructing other company Software Engineers in Prolog.
  • Instructing company personnel in application software packages.
  • Products developed using EVM320, SBE-96, HP64000 & AT's.


Motor Controls Development and Manufacturing Firm
(Canada)
Position : R&D Engineering Manager
August 84 to October 86

Duties and Responsibilities,

  • Design of Variable Frequency Inverter (8097 based) product and we acted as a Beta test site for Intel during development for the 8097 processor product.
  • Design of Optical Matrix, (10k by 10k, 16 bit elements) for satellite imaging.
  • Encryption system development and failure testing for secure processors.
  • Software design performed strictly in assembler (TMS7xxx code).
  • Satellite equipment installation, configuration and setup.
  • Development of a single chip object code downloading system.
  • OCD system for failure testing of embedded code processors.
  • Products developed using EVM7000, XDS-22, PC/XT computers, Isis, System IV, ISIS and PDP development systems.
  • Technical Manual writing and schematic drawing.


Analytical Instrumentation Design and Manufacturing Firm
(Canada)
Position : Project Engineer/Regional Engineer (for Canada)
August 80 to July 84

Duties and Responsibilities,

  • Managed or performed all design drafting required which sometimes involved drafting subcontractors.
  • Management of Panel Shop, Purchasing and Q.A. personnel (7 people) and Q.A. system.
  • Management of 'out of province' contracts through our Alberta Panel Shop and Office.
  • Assisted in Commissioning and Customer Training.
  • Submitted designs (pneumatic and hydromechanical) for patenting by the company (head office).
  • Quoted all contracts and submitted them to our salesman.
  • Involved in or managed all technical site meetings.
  • Co-Ordinated service, commissioning and installation personnel.
  • Design and development of Analytical Sampling Systems for toxic, noble, explosive and corrosive gases and liquids. This includes gas chromatography, flame ionization detection, thermal conductivity, non-dispersive infrared analysis, chemically related photoluminescence, pH, conductivity, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, particulate analysis, paramagnetic oxygen, etc.
  • Development of Q.A. Manual to CSA Z299.2, adopted by head office for worldwide use at CSA Z299.3.
  • Technical Manual writing and analytical schematic and flow system drawing.


Electronic Process Systems Integration and Repair Firm
(Canada)
Position : Electronic Technician
December 79 to July 80

Duties and Responsibilities,

  • Board level analogue and digital troubleshooting and repair.
  • Field service of analytical instruments (pH, NDIR, TC, FID, radioactive density, etc.).
  • Time quotations and estimates for internal and field work.
  • Project time management.


HVAC Systems Integration and Installation Firm
(Canada)
Position : Application Specialist, Project Manager and Expert Systems Analyst
August 75 to December 79

Duties and Responsibilities

  • Design and drafting of HVAC systems.
  • Job quotations and estimates for sales department for new contracts.
  • Technical Manual writing and schematic drawing.
  • Building Automation Project management
  • Managed one draftsperson.
  • Assisted in the restart up of the Fire Alarm and EVAC division as a field technician.
  • Analysis & Design of Expert Systems for project management and inventory control through Control Data Time Shared Systems.


Employment Consulting Firm
(Canada)
Position: Junior to Intermediate Draftsman
September 73 to August 75

Company Types:

  • Automotive and Heavy Vehicle Manufacturer, Mechanical Drafting
  • Waste Water Treatment Systems Product manufacturer, Mechanical Drafting
  • Poured Concrete Contractor, Civil and Mechanical Drafting
  • Home and Cottage Manufacturer and Contractor, Architectural Drafting


Presentations, Lectures and Teaching

Milwaukee (1978)

  • Correct HVAC implementation (Branch Manager for Group).
  • Enthalpy Analysis and Control using Pneumatic Computers.

Toronto (1979)

  • Fire and EVAC System Customer Training (various company clients)

Toronto (1982)

  • Assisted a Professor at College in the taping and demonstration of a Catalytic Bed Analysis System (that I had designed) for a Channel 11 presentation on his research work. System was built by my employers firm and designed, developed and commissioned by myself. Also, I was the key presenter in the taping, he stayed in the background and asked questions, I demonstrated the system and  took most of the video heat.

Johannesburg, Pretoria, South Africa (1986 to 1990)

  • Implementation of Advanced Security & Surveillance Systems.
  • Security Practices and Implementation for Military Bases.
  • High Energy Lethal/non-Lethal Deterrent and Detection Systems.
  • Encrypted Networking via existing UHF/VHF Transponders.
  • The use of 10 watt lasers in security and LOS Communications.
  • Demonstration, Low Level Semiconductor Laser Array System, 10 watt.
  • Tracking, Telemetry and Targeting for Advanced Cognitive Systems.
  • Theoretical Design of 1 to 10 megawatt 200 & 1500 nm Particle Systems.
  • Laser Arrays, Micro spacing, Magnetics and Nuclear Containment.
  • Theory, Methods and Operative uses of Power Line Communications.
  • Simple Network Protocol using PLM Network communications.

Etobicoke (1991)

  • Teaching Electricians Network Hardware and Wiring Installation at a local college.



Other information concerning myself will be supplied on request. This would include;
  • Developed Products.
  • Military Experience.
  • Managed or Associated Projects.
  • References, both Corporate and personal.




Pager: (416) 462-7112
ICQ # 4569541