MARITAL STATUS:   Divorced with 3 children (They chose to live with me!).

 QUALIFICATIONS / PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP:

CEng MIET (formerly MIEE)
BSc(Hons) in Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
UK Driving License.
City & Guilds, Level 3 Certificate in the Requirements for Electrical Installations (BS7671:June 2001)

 PRINCIPAL EXPERTISE:

Analogue and Digital electronics including microprocessors and Digital Signal Processors and their software in real time applications. CE EMC compliance. PC Software. Engineering Management.

I would describe myself as a conceptual thinker with good problem solving abilities and a strong talent for circuit and software design.

 PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES:

C, C++, Various dialects of BASIC, including Visual BASIC, Assembler including ADI's Sharc assembler and MicroChip PIC.

EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE:

TRW Automotive Electronics   November 1997 - Present
(TRW bought Lucas).

In this role I have been responsible for prototype software design and coding for a number of modules involved in the development of an Adaptive Cruise Control system. My initial responsibility was the prototype software for the Digital Signal Processor (DSP) used to process the raw radar signals then detect and provide details of the vehicles on the road ahead. The DSP used is from Analog Devices' "Sharc" range. Other modules in the prototype system (for which I have written code) use the Siemens (Infineon) C167 microprocessor. The individual system modules communicate with one another and with existing vehicle modules over a CAN bus.

I now specialise in understanding and improving the response of the radar to various road situations, general problem solving (always the most difficult problems as our very capable team solve most others!) and developing reliable self-test & self-calibration algorithms. One of my achievements was to write a simulation of the radar (using LabWindows/CVi). This allowed us to overcome a problem with very occasional 'ghosts' of very distant targets appearing to be much closer. As a result of this work I currently have two patents granted, one with 2 of my colleagues, the other as sole inventor.

Our first generation product (AC10) is in production and being fitted to the VW Phaeton and MAN & Volvo Trucks. The second generation of ACC Radar (AC20), like all such products, is smaller, cheaper and has a higher specification including extending the temperature range and increasing the functionality to include collision warning and 'stop & go' driving. I had some fun using SIMD (Single Instruction Multiple Data) coding to enhance the performance of the Sharc DSP for this product. This is also in production with an ever increasing number of customers in both the truck and car market.

The third generation (AC3) is now in development and I am responsible for specifying and devising the signal processing to go with a new modulation scheme we are planning to use to enhance the performance of the radar yet further and allow an extension of its functionality into collision mitigation/avoidance. AC4 is also at the concept phase and promises to be an even more exciting product (I cannot reveal details here!).

Lucas Control Systems Products (LCSP)  April 1991 - November 1997

Optical Sensors was sold by Cray to Lucas Industries plc and incorporated into this newly formed company within the group. Brand names owned by this company included; Deeco, Duralith, Ledex, NovaSensor, NSF and Schaevitz. The company was divided into three product areas; Sensors, Actuators and Man-Machine Interface.

Initially the optical sensing work continued with applications being found in the electrical distribution industry for condition monitoring. Eventually the three of us formed the nucleus of an Advanced Product Team providing specialist engineering skills to the whole of the LCSP group. As the former Managing Director of Optical Sensors Ltd. moved into the position of Chief Engineer of LCSP so I became Manager of the Advanced Product Team and more Engineers were recruited.

Due to my previous experience with EMC issues, I also became the LCSP 'expert' on EMC matters both technical and legal.

Advanced Product Team projects into which I made significant technical input included:

• A digitally compensated pressure sensor using a PIC micro-controller to allow fully automatic compensation of the sensors for thermal and linearity errors. I was responsible for the conceptual design, detail circuit design and writing of the embedded software. This included a software implementation of I²C using the PIC as both master and slave.
• A range of Low cost pressure sensors for the automotive market, based on the use of micro-machined silicon elements from the Novasensor facility but utilising novel packaging and a custom ASIC. I had particular involvement in the formulation of the calibration algorithms and the writing of test software for development characterisation of pressure die and ASIC's. This software was written using LabWindows/CVI.
• The circuit design of a complex display panel for a medical respirator including switched mode power regulators, LCD and LED drive circuits, incremental encoder interfacing and MC86HC16 bus interfacing.
• A test system for Brushless Torque Actuators and other solenoids based on the use of PC data acquisition and control, again using LabWindows/CVI.

Due to a business reorganisation the Advanced Product Team was disbanded and the engineers relocated to other parts of the then LucasVarity organisation, in some cases moving to America to continue their projects. Being unwilling to relocate my family to America I moved into LucasVarity's automotive electronics division as an Advanced Technology projects engineer.

Optical Sensors Limited   October 1989 - March 1991
(A Member of the Cray Electronics Group).

I was appointed Development Manager for this new company within the Cray group, having first been seconded from Shrewsbury Technology in January 1989. The company was set up to exploit University research into chromatic modulation based fibre optic sensors for both medical and industrial applications. The sensors developed include temperature, pressure, liquid level, chemical contamination, respiration, blood oximetry and pulse.

My responsibilities included the equipping of a new development facility and the day to day running of the development department. Other aspects of my position ranged from customer and University liaison to analogue and digital design work including IBM PC interfacing. As the company was small (just 3 of us) a wide range of skills were called for and I became familiar with the operation of several PC software packages including AutoCAD and Racal-Redac's Cadstar PCB plus schematic CAD systems (now Zuken-Redac).

My particular technical achievements included the development of a highly stable white light source and a versatile colour detection system forming the basis of the instrumentation used with a wide variety of optical fibre sensors. I was also responsible for the design of some of the optical sensors and of the PC software required to interpret, present and log the outputs of the sensors.

Immediately prior to and in preparation for my secondment to Optical Sensors, I attended a 3 day residential course on 'Electrical Safety in Potentially Hazardous Environments' run by Sira Safety Services.

Shrewsbury Technology Limited   December 1984 - October 1989
(A Member of the Cray Electronics Group formerly known as Shrewsbury Electronic Engineers Ltd.).

As a Project Engineer, reporting to the Chief Development Engineer, I was responsible for the customer liaison, planning and development of a project from conception through to production and subsequent production liaison. The projects involved analogue and digital circuit design including the use of micro-processors and writing of software. Design Engineers and Mechanical Design/Draftsmen were assigned to me as required.

Projects included:

• Solar Powered Environmental Monitor; measuring temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind speed and direction based on an NSC800 processor.
• Line Extender, Audio; A bi-directional amplifier for use in a subscriber's telephone line, designed to a British Telecom specification.
• District Manager's Revenue Meter; A 6809 based multi-input (64 to 1024) data logger with software to filter and count meter pulses in a Strowger telephone exchange.
• Telephone Call Logger; A version of the above unit with software to record dialled digits, meter pulses and duration of calls on up to 256 inputs. Two years after the initial development I designed an additional memory card containing up to 512K bytes of paged memory with battery backup.
• D.C. Alarm Concentrator; A further version of the above unit now engineered into a TEP-1E shelf and utilising HDLC communications protocol on a multi-drop RS485 serial data circuit. One particular feature of this project was the need for compliance with British Telecom electromagnetic compatibility requirements, at a time before the current importance of such requirements.
• Multi-Way Audio Frequency Coupler; An audio amplifier with one input and six outputs designed for connection to private speechband telecommunication circuits. This unit was designed to an MOD specification for use in shore based Naval radio stations. Particular features of the project were BABT approval for the unit and compliance with the electromagnetic compatibility requirements of NWS3.

L.T.R. Products Limited   August 1978 - November 1984

Following the departure of the Development / Managing Director, I was the company's only development engineer and responsible for the complete development and design of their products, these mainly consisted of professional audio equipment such as mixing consoles, both static and portable, and ancillary equipment including a volume compressor and a digitally controlled graphic equaliser. Their products were sold to the BBC and IBA as well as other broadcast and film companies world-wide under the name Audio Developments.

PRE-GRADUATE INDUSTRIAL TRAINING:

All three periods of industrial training were assessed by The North Staffordshire Polytechnic by submission of project reports and personal interview. The overall result was 'Very good'.

Walsall Timing Developments   (Later renamed L.T.R. Products)

Summer 1975 and Summer 1976

The first period of industrial training was spent in their development department working on the design of a pulse width modulation audio compressor / limiter under the guidance of the Development / Managing Director. The second period was spent partly in developing a switched mode power supply and partly in designing and building production test rigs many of which were still in daily use over 10 years later.

 Churchouse Lighting   Summer 1977

To broaden my experience before returning to Walsall Timing Developments full time, I worked in the development department of Churchouse Lighting (then part of the Ever-Ready group) designing fire alarm and emergency lighting equipment to British Standards.

EDUCATION:

'O' levels in Maths, Additional Maths, English, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Woodwork and General Studies, and an 'A' level in Physics were gained at Tettenhall College, near Wolverhampton.

At the same time as my 'A' levels I also gained a City and Guilds in 'Computer Programming and Systems Analysis' as a result of attending a two year evening course at the Wulfrun College of Further Education in Wolverhampton.

I graduated from the North Staffordshire Polytechnic (now the University of Stafford) in 1978 with a second class honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

FURTHER TRAINING: