Experience

Tenetics, LLC Columbia, MD 2014-Present
Founder, Managing Director
Tenetics specializes in IoT and the design of software and wireless telemetry products for agriculture.  Tenetics also provides consulting and design services for diverse industrial applications with clients producing opto-electronic anti-counterfeiting devices, smoke suppression systems, utility metering, and more.

Axiometric, LLC Columbia, MD 2004-2014
Founder, Managing Director
Axiometric specialized in high redundancy ad-hoc wireless mesh networks for industrial monitoring and control applications. Axiometric’s proprietary MeshPlus® networking has been deployed in hundreds of thousands of utility metering devices nationwide and internationally.  Axiometric’s MeshPlus technology and utility metering products were sold in the Fall of 2014 to a large US meter manufacturer.

• Authored key intellectual property
• Recruited and directed multidisciplinary team of US employees, contractors, and international contractors.
• Brought initial products to market and customer trial within 6 months
• Designed and implemented RF, power, analog, and digital hardware including design, schematic, layout, and supervising contract manufacture and testing.
• Designed and implemented embedded software including OS, network protocols, forward error correction (FEC) and encryption algorithms.
• Designed and implemented Java network monitoring, GIS, and control systems.
• Sales, marketing, and investor relations.
• Wrote and negotiated patent and trademark applications and key contracts.
• US Patent 7782804 – Remote wireless activation and communication
• US Patent 8126488 – Wireless communication system and related methods
• US Patent 8351409 – Timing Synchronization in Wireless Mesh Networks
• US Patent 8428558 – System and method for routing in a wireless mesh network
• US Patent 8428630 – Wireless communication system and related methods (CIP)

CIENA Corporation Linthicum, MD 1996 (pre-IPO) – 2004
Director, Software Development (11/01- 10/04)
CIENA produces leading-edge fiber-optic telecommunications equipment. I was responsible for all areas of software development, integration, and testing for CIENA’s $1.2 billion CoreStream product line. CoreStream is a multi-bay system with hundreds of processors carrying real-time data for thousands of kilometers at terabit rates.

• Managed 50 engineers, managers, and directors with an annual budget of over $8 million.
• Instituted project management to reduce overruns from 6 months to 2 weeks within first year and delivered on-time thereafter while maintaining aggressive schedules and high quality
• Reduced team size by 33% after 18 months through improved efficiencies and practices
• Integrated geographically diverse teams using collaboration technologies and team/trust building
• Introduced management best practices including: clearly defined roles; performance-based incentives; streamlined processes; extensive training and team building
• Instituted software best practices including: coding standards, code reviews and inspections, pair programming, code quality metrics, OOP, design standards and reviews, unit and integration testing, test automation, and software configuration management
• Instituted procedures to comply with ISO-9001, TL-9000 while maintaining focus on ROI and without adding significant overhead
• US Patent 7,962,588 Method and system for managing optical network elements

Manager, Network Management Software (11/99 – 11/01)

• Managed 11 software developers responsible for all embedded network management.
• Software subject matter expert (SME) for division
• Led re-architecture to dramatically improve quality and efficiency: a 6 month development effort permanently reduced maintenance staff by 50%
• Delivered a scalable Java management platform that de-coupled network management software from hardware deliveries improving time-to-market, lowering costs, and generating revenue
• Responsible for recruiting, hiring, budgeting, and strategic and architectural planning

Principal Engineer (11/98 – 11/99)

• Software lead for team of 6 software engineers responsible for embedded network management
• Started internship program at CIENA and supervised software interns

Lead Engineer (12/96-11/98)

• Designed and developed real-time embedded and network management software

GRCI Telecommunications Division Columbia, MD 1995 – 1996
Senior Software Engineer
GRCI developed leading-edge fiber-optic telecommunications equipment for international and US commercial and defense customers. The OSU product line carried and performed real-time data manipulation at hundreds of megabits per second.

• Software technical lead for development of SONET telecommunications products
• Delivered software on-schedule, within budget, and with best-in-class quality
• Developed protocol stacks, network management, communications drivers, and board-support
• Directly responsible for design, implementation, scheduling, tasking, and reviewing all work performed by 8 engineers in two locations

Public Broadcasting Service and National DataCast Inc 1991 – 1995
Data Communications Engineer
PBS is a national television network; National Datacast, Inc. is a commercial subsidiary of PBS responsible for generating revenue from spare capacity in the PBS satellite and broadcast system.

• Designed and developed software and mixed-signal, multi-processor hardware to deliver high-speed data (data-over video) over the PBS satellite and terrestrial broadcast network
• Authored RFPs, managed competitive bids, and negotiated and supervised $1M contract manufacture, test, and delivery of product
• Chaired EIA/NAB working groups for National Data Broadcasting Committee (NDBC) Technical Requirements Working Group and Data Transmission Protocol Working Group. Authored standards document

• Represented PBS in national standards committees including EIA-608 (Closed Captioning)

DataWatch and Digital Engineering New York 1989 – 1991
Consultant

• Enterprise software development, software and IT consulting
• Developed embedded medical device hardware and software

Semaphore, Inc New York 1985 – 1989
Co-Founder
Semaphore produced vertical market software for architects, engineers, and designers.

• Hired, trained, and managed software developers and sales staff
• Managed professional services team allowing company to self-fund

Technical Experience

• Engineering team management
• Project management with focus on agile process
• IoT: LoRa, Sub-GHz FSK, LoRaWAN, wireless mesh, cellular, MQTT, RESTful APIs, design of battery-powered sensors and solar/cellular gateways.
• Embedded Systems: telecommunications, fiber optics, industrial, systems interfacing
• User Interfaces: JSF/PrimeFaces, Swing, Java FX, MySQL, GIS
• Electronics: Digital and analog circuits, PCB layout, sub-GHz wireless, power management, high reliability systems
• Languages: C, C++, Java, assembler (various).
• Processors: Cortex/ARM, x86, 68K, PPC.
• Tools: Gnu tool-chain, SVN, Git, CVS, ClearCase, Doxygen, JProbe, JUnit, CppUnit, Eagle, SPICE, VHDL, oscilloscopes, logic, spectrum, and network analyzers.
• Networking: TCP/IP, OSI, HDLC, I2C, SNMP, TL1, TMN/GDMO, CMIP/CMISE, REST.

Education

Johns Hopkins University – MS Computer Science, 1999
University of Maryland – BS Computer Science, 1989