1991-1993: I started out my professional career in the sciences. First I worked on the Human Genome Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. This was a highly prestigious entry level position. This is also where I began programming in earnest and where I had my first exposure to the internet (1991). I performed research in genetics and chromosome mapping and in one of the greatest blunders of my career I passed on the opportunity to publish original research. The position was designed to be temporary, so after successfully completing my research assistantship I moved to New York City and obtained a research position at Mt. Sinai Hospital, one of the strongest research hospitals in the US. Although I was hired to do cell biology research, a sudden vacancy led me to assume the position of Interim Manager of the Florescence and Confocal Microscopy Facility. Working alone in an 8x8ft pitch dark room eventually took its toll and I decided to return to the west coast. I was offered a job in the neurobiology department at UC Berkeley which I declined in order to pursue opportunities in the newly expanding internet (1994).
1994-1998: I initially worked as a web developer for Brian Zisk and then as a web master for Marc Canter, the creator of Director and one of the founders of Macromedia. I created numerous firsts for the internet, including web coding both the first Shockwave animation and the first Shockwave animation with synchronized audio (RealAudio) to appear on the web. It was at this point I launched my first company, dFORM llc, which was a VRML design house focused on creating 3d content for science and education. I was the Technical Director and split my time between managing the team, providing sysadmin support, and coding for clients. VRML did not take off as so many people had anticipated it would, and dFORM eventually collapsed along with most of the other VRML devoted companies. For the next few years I focused on building my internet consulting practice. My primary client was Autodesk, creators of AutoCad. I delivered their VIP support CD quarterly for 3+ years. I also programmed the 'Product Finder' search engine for their website using the Verity search engine.
1999-2000: My next major venture was co-founding Greenwitch Internet Radio, were I was the Production Director. I helped organize and expand our business in preparation for acquisition. In 1999 Greenwitch was acquired by CMGI Inc. and our team and the technology we had developed were merged into Icast Inc. I was accountable for all aspects of the development and production process, including determining and filling HR needs, developing a middle management structure, tracking project progress, allocating resources, and assuring timely delivery of projects. I successfully built out our team from ~10 to over 30 people and delivered a multi-million dollar project ahead of time, on spec, and under budget. Sadly Icast was an early casualty of the 2000 dotcom collapse.
2001-2008: Following the collapse of Icast I returned to consulting and programming. My next major project was Marigold Technologies, which I had helped co-found a few years earlier. The company initially grew around a code base that I helped to develop. Upon focusing on the project full time I redesigned, re-engineered and then operated and maintained a distributed, 24/7, high-throughput data mining and parsing system using Perl and MySQL. I was solely responsible for all aspects of data acquisition, storage, reporting, and delivery. One highlight was optimizing the database to handle joining and updating tables with tens of millions of records numerous times a second. Eventually Marigold switched its focus and I left to pursue other opportunities. During this time I also began preparing to do Ph.D work in chemistry.
2009-2010: At this point I returned my attention to expanding my consulting and contracting client base with a focus on building LAMP (Linux/Apache/Mysql/PHP) sites. I worked building and maintaining many different site and for a while sub-contracted with Tierra Technology providing PHP and Mysql expertise to an array of clients. I eventually built out my own client base around providing development and support for custom PHP based Learning Management Systems (LMS). My primary LMS client was Nike, for whom I customized, deployed, and maintained multiple custom LMSs in the US and China. I also customized and maintained LMSs for a number of other clients, including the Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association's 'Food and Alcohol Handler Certification' system. Eventually the Nike LMS reached end-of-life and I transitioned my other LMS clients to alternate developers. During this time I also finished the requisite course work required to pursue a Ph.D in chemistry with a focus on prebiotic chemistry and bioenergetics but ultimately decided to continue with computer programming and entrepreneurship instead.
2010-2013: I now refocused my consulting and contracting services to JavaScript. Although I had used JavaScript since its inception, the language and browser support had finally evolved enough to allow for developing Single Page Applications (SPA). I also began focusing on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). I build a roof water runoff calculator SPA for PermaDesign that was recognized in an article for Sunset Magazine using Javascript, Google Maps, and customized public domain GIS percipitation data. The application allows uses to estimate how much rainwater runoff they could potentially harvest from their roof. Around the same time I also co-developed a Javascript and Greensock Animation Platform visualization that demonstrated the operation-cycle of a battery for the University of Texas at Austin's McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering.
2014-2016: At this point I again refocused my consulting and contracting services, this time to Python. I had been eager to start developing products using Python ever since I had moved away from developing with Perl. I had the good fortune to be brought on to a project contracting for Nuance, the company behind Dragon Naturally Speaking speach recognition software and the technology behind Apple's Siri. Working with a small team of remote developers, we developed a Django/PostgreSQL-based distributed custom workflow for the creation of 'Synthetic Voices' using Nuance’s proprietary software and machine learning algorithms. During this time I also consulted with Profound Networks, for whom I generated a Geolocation strategy report based on a comprehensive primary source review of academic and professional publications, including analytic, statistical, and machine learning approaches. I also provided technology stack and implementation recommendations.
2017: I temporarily joined VoicePark, a 'Smart Parking' solutions provider, as the interim CTO. I researched, designed, and began developing an end-to-end sensor based smart parking system using Python/GeoDjango, PostGIS, AWS IoT, and OpenStreetMap along with numerous other technologies. The project involved extensive research across numerous domains as well prototyping each component from embedded sensor all the way through to the mobile data consumer.
2018-2019: For my next major venture I partnered with an experienced residential property manager and leveraged a wide array of skills and experience from my extensive career to launch the start-up DoorsUp, which provided lead-generation services for residential property managers. This resulted in a very enjoyable and highly productive partnership. By collaborating closely and working extensively with numerous companies in the residential property management space we were able to build a number of Python/Django based data and GIS intensive tools to help generate new clients for our clients, culminating with us hosting a very popular booth at the annual NARPM conference. Unfortunately, although our cutting-edge products were highly regarded and had been custom built to meet the needs of the industry, DoorsUp turned out to not be financially viable.