Engineering background
Two degrees from Georgia Tech: a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering.
20+ years of intense experience in system, project and operations engineering
Advanced mathematics (calculus, trigonometry, statistics, etc.), basic mechanical structures (statics, kinematics), signal analysis (non-linearities, harmonic distortion).
Specific experience in communications engineering (especially RF and satellite), data communications protocols (IP, SNMP, obscure old serial formats).
Many years of experience in architecting, building and maintaining a massively complex monitor and control (M&C) system used to monitor business critical transmission assets and control news gathering assets. See the employment history page for details.
Technology experience: Monitor and Control Systems
Technology experience: Data Communications / Computing Systems
Technology experience: RF Engineering
Technology experience: Video Compression and Transport
Science fundamentals
I have the general literacy in physics and chemistry that one would expect from getting through Georgia Tech.
In particular, my chemistry literacy has stayed fresh by virtue of my personal interest in two fields: battery technology and astrobiology.
I am comfortable with the jargon of science and data analysis — SI units, isotopes, hysteresis, and so on.
Personal interests in engineering and science
Professional society memberships
Professional societies provide me with the bigger picture, and as I transition into the energy / power sector I will be seeking out more such organizations with which I can expand my knowledge and get more involved with the local community of engineers in the field. IEEE membership is particularly valuable as it gives me access to the standards documents that not only provide specific design guidance, but also provide general background on technologies, and I fully expect I’ll be studying the standards docs relevant to the technology niche I settle into.
In 2001 I became a state-licensed Professional Engineer (Georgia PE027026), and I have officially maintained that license in the years since. However, I have not practiced as a PE, and I do not think it would be appropriate for me to leverage it at this point (e.g. be the PE of record that signs off on power designs). Instead, I see the license as objective evidence for you that I am a dedicated engineer, eager to get the work right and certainly to take public safety seriously.
I have an OSHA 10-hour certification, and am pursuing a NABCEP PV Installer certification (40-hour course in Advanced PV System Design has been completed).
I am somewhat familiar with the academic research process (grants, papers, posters, journals, conferences) mostly from following planetary science (e.g. the LPSC, AAS DPS and AGU conferences) and watching how those research projects and missions play out.
I have a conversational knowledge of German; I lived in Germany for a year as a teenager (attending German high school) and have a couple dozen German relatives that I’m close to.
I’m ready to undertake a crash course in your specific technology and the related scientific underpinnings. I’ll devour industry journals to understand jargon and trends, and will seek to attend conferences (on own dime and time if necessary).
If there’s a certification that is a must-have for your position, let me know and I’ll look into it.