CV
From Hexten
Contents |
[edit] Technical Skills
Programming Languages Perl, C, C++, Python, Java, PHP, ARM & x86 Assembler
Operating Systems Linux, Mac OS X / Darwin, Win32
[edit] History
| 2004-2007 | Proprietor hexten.net, Independent Technology Consultant |
| 1999-2004 | Director of Tagish Ltd supplying web based solutions to the UK public sector |
| 1996-1999 | Proprietor Wonderworks, an independent software consultancy |
| 1986-1996 | Director, Armstrong Walker Limited developing hardware and software Acorn RISC systems |
| 1985-1986 | Director, Allied Interactive developing first generation multimedia hardware and software |
[edit] 2004-2007 Hexten
In response to changes in the market the core of the Tagish business has moved in the direction of systems integration. In order to get back to programming I left in 2004 and started Hexten. I'm currently working on a number of web based projects. I devote as much time as I can to contributions to free software projects.
[edit] 1999-2004 Tagish Ltd
I joined Tagish as technical director in 1999. Tagish had, at that time, been established for ten years. Having started to develop autonomous robots (physical rather than virtual) the company had been an early pioneer of web technologies and had run one of the first web servers in the UK. When I joined the company had fifteen employees and robotics work had almost entirely been overtaken by web development. I was responsible for the company's overall technical direction and was also lead or sole developer on a number of projects. During this time I developed transactional web based systems for in excess of twenty UK local authorities handling, for example, Council Tax payments, planning applications, services requests. I also worked on a number of web technologies and became a committer on the Apache Tomcat project for which I still maintain the Lotus Domino / Apache Tomcat connector. We maintained a vestigial robotics facility and I had the good fortune to develop the software (running on a PIC embedded processor) for a prototype autonomous floor cleaning robot for a major manufacturer of cleaning products.
[edit] 1996-1999 Wonderworks
As the Acorn market declined I formed Wonderworks to pursue a variety of interests. During this time I developed BlackSun – a cross platform multimedia engine supporting Win16, Acorn RISC OS and Mac OS. BlackSun was licensed to Granada Learning who used it for a number of successful CD ROMs. My interest in device drives and low level programming saw an outlet in the development of drivers for a number of hardware products developed by Simtec for the Acorn market including a multi-processor system for the Acorn RiscPC. In a similar vein I ported a number of Windows printer drivers to Acorn RISC OS for Acorn's set top box projects; this involved working with engineers at Lexmark and Hewlett Packard to port their code to the somewhat alien Acorn print system. I also became increasingly interested in web technologies and developed a comprehensive content management system in Perl.
[edit] 1987-1996 Armstrong Walker Limited
Armstrong Walker represented a diversification by the Allied Interactive team. Over a period of nearly ten years we developed add on hardware for Acorn RISC based computers which was sold under the HCCS brand (interface cards for SCSI, IDE, proprietary Mitsumi CD ROM, analogue I/O, digital I/O, direct drive laser printers among others). I was solely responsible for the supporting device drivers and applications for these products and jointly responsible for the hardware design of them. In addition we continued to manufacture the hardware products designed by Allied Interactive and developed a number of other products including Total Control - a hardware and software system for the teaching of control theory according to the UK National Curriculum.
[edit] 1986-1987 Allied Interactive
Allied Interactive was formed around a team who worked on the Interactive Video In Schools Project - a successor to the Domesday project. I was responsible for developing video overlay hardware solutions (including a sophisticated video overlay system for the Acorn Archimedes), writing driver software for this hardware and for videodisk players and writing multimedia applications in BCPL for the BBC micro and latterly in C for DOS PC and the Acorn Archimedes.
[edit] Personal
| Date of birth | 5th April 1964 |
| andy AT hexten DOT net | |
| Hobbies | Mountain Biking, Photography, Programming |
| Other | Married, full UK driving licence. |
