Education and training

Education

Postgraduate and early work experience

• Postgraduate work in the Physics department at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.

  • as a Research Student using a Finite Element analysis FORTRAN program to design the support structure of a multiple-objective telescope,
  • as an Experimental Officer designing Electronic Instruments in the Low Temperature Laboratory working on contact electrification (static electricity). Designed an Electrometer capable of measuring currents as low as 2 electrons/sec for use in vacuum systems.

  

• Employed by International Computers Ltd for 18 months as a Technical Programmer.

  Writing in ALGOL and ALGOL68 on a 1906 worked on development of a silicon-level Circuit Simulation system for ECL ASICS,
  • Designed an advanced mathematical model for an integrated transistor. Solved a 2nd order homogenous differential equation, the only time I really used degree level maths 'in anger'. In the process came to a thorough understanding of what makes transistors tick.
  • Worked on improving fast numerical analysis methods.
  • Interfaced ICL LSI logic design system to Ferranti ASIC manufacturing process. Wrote software, shuttled tapes between sites, supervised tests.
  • As a user, diagnosed a fault on the mainframe when it developed a bit-sigificant error in the floating point unit.

  

• In 1977 joined a contract agency and took several six-month contract Technical Programming jobs.

  • In a dyestuffs works programmed a computer controlled plant scrubbing stack-gas using Kent K70 (PDP8) programmed in Assembler and Basic-like proprietary language. Much walking around the site and some high climbs up the plant investigating malfunctioning instruments. Exciting experiences included bursting a pipe through a programming error and escaping from a cloud of (someone else's) ammonia gas.
  • Supported a pipeline drafting system on IBM370 programmed in FORTRAN.

  

• Worked on contract for Shell Oil as Technical Author and Systems Programmer until 1982.

  In the latter part of this period I worked part time while developing my engineering business.
  • Wrote, edited and published in-house software manuals
  • Documented extensive 'heritage' library software in FORTRAN, COBOL and ASSEMBLER.
  • Worked as a senior programmer in the general software team supporting central library and operating system on UNIVAC 1100 systems.
  • Designed and published File Security system to Shell group.
  • Diagnosed, and took responsibility for recovery from, a parity-undetected data corrupting fault on a disk controller on Shell's international central computer network
  • Wrote and tested modified disk formatting system in proprietary macro language to optimise disk usage.
  • Installed, modified and tested Assembler communications software for UNIVAC - IBM link-up