Personal Details

Skills

• Major Skills
  • Object Orientated Programming and Design
  • Java 2, Swing and J2EE development
  • XML development
  • Web development (HTML, XHTML, CSS, ECMAScript/JavaScript)
• Supporting Skills
  • C, C++, PHP, XSL, XSL:FO and SQL development
  • Struts, Hibernate and Spring experience
  • ANT and JUnit scripting
  • Experience with Clearcase, Sourcesafe, MKS, CVS and Subversion
  • Strong skills in IntelliJ IDEA with solid knowledge of JBuilder, Eclipse and NetBeans
  • Graphic and user interface design
  • Strong Unix, Mac OS X and Windows knowledge
  • Weblogic Server 6.1, 8.1, 9.2 and JOnAS 4
  • Oracle, Postgresql, MySQL, SQL Server
  • Exposure to Ruby and Objective-C
• Personal Skills
  • Fast learner
  • Eager for a challenge and to learn
  • Adaptable
  • Works well in groups
  • Able to self-manage
  • Passionate about technology and software development
  • Excellent communication skills

Education

Academic Qualifications:

Certifications:

Employment History

June 2006 - Present :: Senior Developer, JacobsRimell Ltd.

I joined JR as an engineer on their telephony provisioning product, APS. APS is a modular J2EE-based system running on Weblogic 9.2, in which individual EJB drivers are connected by a XML bus, and is used most notably by Comcast and United Pan-Europe Communications (UPC). I have since worked on the engineering team primarily responsible for UPC related work.

My major tasks to date have been the development of a DOCSIS bootfile generation driver and to design and lead the implementation of an OSS/J interface for the APS system. The bootfile driver was intended to allow the automatic generation of device bootfiles for various devices in a format-agnostic way, driven by a template in the X.500 directory. The OSS/J interface was intended to provide an industry standard interface to the provisioning server, implemented using Web Services and WS: Notifications. Given the size of the latter task I was also responsible for the development management with a team of two other developers.

September 2005 – June 2006 :: Product Developer, Donovan Data Systems Ltd.

After relocation to London in mid-2005 I joined Donovan Data Systems (DDS) as a developer in their fledgling web applications team. DDS offer end-to-end IT systems for companies in the advertising industry and were looking to update their green-screen based system with a modern web-based interface. The new system was to be based on DDS’s MediaOcean Application Platform (MAP), a Java framework for web-based applications with an HTML/JavaScript rich UI backed by a Java applet.

I was involved as part of a small team in creating these applications. My responsibilities involved technical design and implementation, including the framework used for all applications after my arrival, as well as integration with the legacy mainframe and test MySQL database. Given the early stage of development of the MAP we worked in an environment of continuous integration, using CruiseControl and CheckStyle to maintain code standards. I was also frequently required to perform in-depth debugging to locate the source of bugs within the platform and work with the US-based MAP team to see these were resolved.

These applications have since been launched and are now marketed as BrandOcean.

March 2004 – June 2005 :: Analyst/Developer, Datacom Systems Ltd.

In March 2004 I returned to Wellington and joined Datacom as a Java developer. I was been placed on the Case Management System (CMS) project at the NZ Ministry of Justice, initially as part of a small team implementing the changes for the CleanSlate legislation. I was later involved in implementation of the SOAP based integration with the new NZ Police computer system (NIA). Finally, I was given the position of Lead Developer on the Care of Children implementation, heading a team of 3 developers.

This project was based on the client site and so I was continually required to work with the customer throughout all stages of development.

CMS is a web based 3-tier system using J2EE, WebLogic Server and Oracle 9i. Various projects have also involved the use of SOAP, XSL, Java applets and Visual Basic ASP. I was also responsible for the production of a comprehensive build script using Apache ANT.

January 2003 - February 2004 :: Software Developer, Deeper Design Ltd.

Deeper Design was a small start-up based in Taupo, NZ, producing custom solutions for a variety of small but long-term clients. The minimal size of the business resulted in a position where I was ultimately responsible for my own management and where the focus was on deliverables over process.

Initially I was responsible for the development of the AutoStats website. This project involved development of a two-tier web system with Struts, Tiles and JSP, as well as database development with Hibernate and PostgreSQL. It also involved a Swing administration client.

After this I was involved in a custom development for a long-term client. This was a 2-tier client/server product and included 2 Java Swing clients, J2EE server components accessed via SOAP and a JDBC persistence layer, as well as a reports subsystem using XML/XSLT.

January 2001 - January 2003 :: Software Developer, Unisys NZ Ltd.

I joined Unisys NZ as part of the 2001 graduate intake. After consultancy training I was placed in the Communications Centre of Excellence, a research department involved in worldwide projects for Unisys subsidiaries.

I was initially involved on the Internet Call Waiting project, a Windows NT based project originally for Telefonica Argentina. My responsibilities involved design, development and maintenance of load test software (MFC, Win32 C++ and J++), assisting the lead developer in Win32 C++ service development, contributing to environment maintenance and the development of sales tools using Adobe Flash. I later assumed an increased role: creating use cases; designing new components; and acting as a mentor to the 2 experienced developers in the project who were new to Object Orientation and Java. This phase included LDAP and administration client enhancements, as well as Windows 2000 Server and SourceSafe administration. The client was also redeveloped in Java 2 with Swing, as well as UI branding work.

I spent the following year involved in on-site work with the Ministry of Social Development, creating a JSP/EJB based web system with the aim of bringing their legacy system to the web. The solution was a 3-tier J2EE application, making use of JSP/Apache Struts/HTML on the client, Servlets and Session/Entity Enterprise Java Beans on the WebLogic 6 server and Oracle 9i as the backing database. We created a significant package for automatic generation of the entity beans from the data model, and tools to generate test data derived from this, using introspection and XML. This project also involved a significantly higher amount of client contact and development of analysis skills than previous projects.

August 2000 - December 2000 :: Research Programmer, Computer Science Department, University of Waikato

I was employed at the University of Waikato in a project to redesign the School of Computing and Mathematical Sciences web page. I was responsible for researching, making recommendations and then developing a content management system for the school.

The end result was a two-tier content management system based on PHP and MySQL. I also had the opportunity to work with a usability engineer on this project, gaining worthwhile experience in user interface design. Upon my leaving the administration system was reaching maturity, and the front end was well underway. It has since been deployed and is in current use.

General Information

After graduating with a BA in Computer Science and Drama I moved to Wellington and took up a graduate position at Unisys NZ. In 2003 I left Unisys to work at a start-up in Taupo, a small town in central NZ. In 2004 I returned to Wellington and took up a position with New Zealand’s second largest IT company, Datacom. In the middle of 2005 my partner and I relocated to London for personal reasons.

I believe I have much to offer any organisation due to my excellent communication skills, significantly enhanced by the dramatic arts component of my tertiary education, and my passion for software development and technology. These have allowed me to generate a wide technical knowledge while still possessing the skills to communicate to a non- or less-technical audience.

Outside work I am a keen SCUBA diver as well as enjoying mountain biking and the dramatic arts. I also have a keen interest in computers in general which has given me a wide range of knowledge useful during my work. I also spend time on my own software projects, some of which have been released as open-source.