During my 17 years as a software systems engineer, I had the opportunity to fill many roles across a variety of projects. My curiosity, adaptability, and problem-solving skills allowed me to quickly acclimate and make a meaningful impact on each project.
Biometrics Systems
As a subcontractor working for various government agencies, I performed engineering and development on several biometric identification systems. These systems take in biometrics such as fingerprints, palm prints, facial photographs, and iris images and run them through a matching process to identify unknown persons or verify the identity of known persons.
- As a software manager, I led a team of 5 developers to build and deploy a “green field” biometrics system for a military customer.
- I was the primary author of the technical design portion of the winning proposal.
- I was responsible for defining and tracking work items, maintaining the source code repository, leading stand-up meetings, preparing releases, creating and updating documentation, and reporting to project management.
- I coordinated work among the development, test, training, quality assurance, and management teams.
- As part of a research and development effort, I developed software to aggregate biometric match scores (multi-modal fusion) using a variety of algorithms. I also executed performance tests and analyzed the results.
- As a systems engineer for a fielded multi-modal biometrics system, I assisted with the implementation of Agile processes, evaluated change requests, coordinated documentation updates, and maintained the system requirements.
- I analyzed a biometrics case management tool for requirements compliance, then planned a development roadmap for replacement software.
Positive Train Control
As a subcontractor working for Bombardier, I performed systems engineering and software development for the deployment of positive train control (PTC) on the Long Island Railroad and Metro North Railroad.
- I led a team of 3 developers to create test software conforming to a set of standard message protocols.
- I updated and enhanced an existing simulator to match protocol changes and allow for hardware in-the-loop execution.
- I updated and enhanced an existing automated text execution engine.
- I assisted with maintenance of the system requirements, and assessed interface specifications and message descriptions for compliance.
Custom Processor Emulation
As a subcontractor working for the Independent Test Capability (ITC) group at NASA’s Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V) facility, I developed a custom processor board implementation for the open-source emulator QEMU. The goal of this project was to enable high-fidelity simulation of spacecraft software without a hardware rig or expensive, proprietary device emulation software.
- Developed and demonstrated a QEMU device model for the Juno spacecraft.
- Wrote a proposal for a general-purpose emulation system based on QEMU.
Swarming Unmanned Systems
As a subcontractor working for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), I worked as part of a team to demonstrate experimental cooperative behavior for heterogeneous unmanned systems. This work involved both fielded and simulated tests with fixed-wing aircraft, a stationary moored balloon, wheeled robots, stationary pan-tilt-zoom cameras, and seismic sensor fields.
- Developed controller code for unmanned systems.
- Interact with navigation systems (e.g., avionics on aircraft) to collect positional data and issue waypoints.
- Interact with sensors (primarily cameras) to collect, process, and store images.
- Interact with swarming algorithm software to update status, facilitate communication among entities, and translate swarm goals to navigation or sensor pointing commands.
- Refactored system software to use proprietary middleware product developed by my company.
- Integrated Pentium-M based onboard computer with unmanned systems and sensors.
- Configured and maintained Windows XP Embedded operating system for onboard computers in aircraft, robots, and cameras.
- Worked with unmanned aircraft operators to ensure compliance with all airport safety regulations. Ran hardware-in-the-loop simulations to qualify swarming aircraft for operation in controlled airspace.
- Set up, monitored, and analyzed data from field and simulated experiments.
- Created a prototype simulation system using Torque Game Engine. Simulated multiple aircraft and captured imagery of in-game “targets” for testing image recognition algorithms.
- Prepared reports and presentations for government customer.
360-Degree Security Camera System
I worked as part of a team to design, build, and deploy security camera systems built around a parabolic mirror assembly that provides a 360-degree field of view. The assembly was provided by EyeSee360 and my team provided systems and support to PNC Park, Allegheny County emergency responders, and Mon Power.
- Experimented with multiple commercially-available digital cameras and downselected based on image quality, API features, and cost.
- Determined optimal focal length, aperture, and exposure time for each camera.
- Wrote software integrating image capture API and EyeSee360’s “unwarping” libraries to create a panoramic view.
- Integrated image processing and motion detection libraries.
- Experimented with a hybrid version of the system that included both a 360-degree view and a traditional pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) camera.
- Click on panorama to focus PTZ on that point.
- Stitch PTZ images into panorama.
- Integrated cellular network card with onboard computer and Windows XP Embedded OS